Group A3- League of Shadows- Source T.V news

Philip kotler speaks

Janhavi Satish Patil                                                                                         All About Ads

·         5^th P of marketing is Pace.

It refers to the exasperating speed at which all the innovation, customer service etc are taking place. Innovation alone is not sufficient but innovation with speed is the necessity of the hour.

·         Change in advertising due to the data available.

Big data is changing advertising. Earlier advertisements were directed at masses but today, we have segmented the masses due to the excessive data. Today with FB, twitter one can provide the customer with specially tailored advertisements targeted particularly at you. Customization is future.

·         Many famous and well established companies have very less marketing costs?

Companies like Apple and Amazon today have minor marketing expenses as compared to their overall expenses. This is mainly due to the fan group they enjoy. Fan group is that group of individual that not only religiously buy the product but also tell about it to their friends through various mediums, e.g. Facebook. Word of mouth is the best kind of marketing, thus companies can afford to have low marketing expenses. Ideally satisfied customers are the best fans.

·         Why aren’t Indian brands becoming global?

Indian market is so huge that the Indian company need not resort to exports to extend their market. Indian companies have a vast untapped market in India itself thus there is already enough to work on.

·         Best Indian Brand according to you?

Tata nano. The thought, by which Tata came up with the car was fantastic. It suited the requirement thus the perfect timing, considering the rising accidents and the Indian consumer aspiration.

CEO’s Talk Pay for Performance

Nikhil Narayanan                                                                                            All About Ads

·         IPG Media Brands acquire Indian based digital agency company, Interactive Avenues

·         Acquisition was done in mind long term growth through multiple channels claims Amar Deep singh, Cofounder, Interactive agencies

·         Matt Seiler, Global CEO and Shashi Sinha, CEO are the two guest at the show

·         Acquisition was done in line with long term strategy of creating hub model globally via Brazil, India, Europe US, and Australia.

·         Digital content is being undersold by agencies to clients

·         Both CEO’s claim Pay for Performance is the way forward and not Lead Generation

·         Mark wants clients to move away from silos to client business needs

·         Also instead of focusing on channels all message must be customer oriented not budget oriented

·         Agencies also need to come out of the fixed base compensation model currently being followed

·         Pay for performance model has agency compensation linked to business outcomes for the client Eg: Club Mahindra

·         Conversion rates and purchasing power parity are two factors dragging India back in global competition

·         CRM, and Segmentation have not been fully utilized in India by agencies presently

·         In three years’ time they expect this model to be the need of the hour and prevalent

Group B6- Eagle- Source- Business Line 21st march,2013

Marks and Spencer sheds premium tag to enter Indian wardrobes

·         British retailer Marks and Spencer (M&S), which was perceived as a high-end brand, has undertaken a shift in strategy by positioning itself as a mid-premium retailer for India

·         “We are a value retailer globally and that is the positioning we want in India as well,” Venu Nair, Managing Director, Marks and Spencer Reliance India, said.

·         Industry watchers point that who visited M&S stores globally felt that the experience wasn’t the same in India.

·         M&S operates in India through 51:49 joint venture with Mukesh Ambani-owned Reliance Retail

·         M&S said it had increased local sourcing of its products to nearly 60 per cent.

·         It faces stiff competition from international brands such as S Oliver, Benetton, Espirit, Zara, Tommy Hifiger, and Mango, who also operate in the same price point.

·         Asked if the brand is planning to go solo following the Government’s decision to open up FDI in multi-brand retail, Nair said it did not plan to go alone in India venture.

Publisher Westland writes a new chapter to sell books

Westland, a subsidiary of Trent (part of the Tata Group), has started a pilot with five Cafe Coffee Day (CCD) outlets in Chennai to sell its top-selling published titles. Westland, a subsidiary of Trent (part of the Tata Group), has started a pilot with five Cafe Coffee Day (CCD) outlets in Chennai to sell its top-selling published titles. It is also planning to approach spas and salons. Westland would also be taking advantage of the Tata Group owned outlets such as Star Bazaar, Westside and Croma to retail its published titles. Other Tata Group retail formats such as Tanishq and Titan or even the latest venture Starbucks could be destinations for Westland’s future titles. With the advent of e-books, Westland is not threatened by the prospect of a decline in brick-and-mortar book store sales. Westland exited the books distribution business four years ago, when the publishing business was still nascent. With sales turnover of Rs 23 crore this fiscal, the company hopes to make profits by tapping into the potential of Indian authors.

Sabeer Bhatia’s Jaxtr Inc launches global SIM card

Jaxtr Inc, a company co-founded by Hotmail fame Sabeer Bhatia, launched Jaxtr SIM - a global SIM card with an eye on increasing number of international travellers out of the country after rolling out the product in the US recently. Priced at Rs 600, the card is 70 per cent cheaper than other existing solutions. With the Jaxtr SIM, travellers to the Europe including Britain, US, and Canada can make inexpensive local and international calls by using a local number, while in other markets; they can avail of this facility at cheaper tariffs.

Jaxtr aims to sell around 1 million cards to Indian travellers over the next two years.

PVR bluO eyes bowling centres, dart stations to hit bull’s eye

Turning its focus on non-cinema entertainment, PVR is looking to chart the next stage of its growth strategy for PVR bluO branded bowling centres.

PVR bluO, a 51:49 joint venture between PVR and Major Cineplex Group of Thailand, has about 110 cosmic bowling lanes and expects this to increase to about 400 lanes in the mid to long term.

“We have established bowling centres in cities such as New Delhi, Gurgaon, Bangalore and Pune, and are close to reaching the critical mass of 150 bowling lanes. We will now consolidate our position, pause a bit, and look at deeper analysis of consumer patterns,” said Gautam Dutta, Chief Operating Officer, PVR and Chief Executive Officer, PVR bluO. The company is also in talks with real estate players to take its bowling centres to cities such as Chandigarh, Ludhiana, Cochin, Hyderabad and Mumbai,

Fashion bowling

Dutta said, “We are into fashion bowling and, therefore, need to keep refreshing the concept to increase consumer stickiness.” From offering Karaoke to tattoo parlours, to live music, XBOX lounges and, more recently, Playstation lounges, the company has been offering consumers more than just bowling.

Next, PVR bluO will be adding pool tables, darts stations as well creating sport lounges. He said the company may rethink its strategy as it would need to go, perhaps, into larger spaces in malls to be able to fit in the various concepts for entertainment.

Expansion

The company is also considering expanding into tier 2 cities. But, the format for these regions will need to be smaller to be able to achieve economies of scale, he said.

IPL 6 ad inventory sold out after drop in rates

MUMBAI/DELHI, MARCH 19:  

Indian Premier League 6 has managed to sell its complete ad inventory this season by dropping ad rates between 8 and 10 per cent. The tournament has sold 10-minute ad spots between Rs 4 lakh and Rs 4.5 lakh (lowering it from Rs 5 lakh last season).

Rohit Gupta, President, MSM (the owners of SET Max, the official IPL broadcaster), said, “We are getting ad growth due to the 25 to 30 per cent unsold inventory of last season. Today, we are back to what we were 3-4 seasons ago, with a complete sell out of the inventory, with 11 key sponsors this season. IPL has now matured to a great tournament and is growing between 5 and 10 per cent every year. With 180 million viewers, it gives enough reason for advertisers wanting to come back.” Previous advertisers such as Samsung and Godrej are back this season, while new ones such as Panasonic, Honda cars, Asian Paints and Usha have jumped on board. Spot buys made by brands such as Coca Cola India, Airtel and Parle Agro (Frooti and Appy) have also helped in picking up significant inventory for the upcoming IPL season.

A senior media planner, who did not wish to be named, said, “MSM India is unlikely to grow its revenues by a huge margin, and is expected to have revenues at the same level as last year.” Last year, MSM is expected to have raked in ad revenues to the tune of Rs 700 crore.

While there are IPL loyalists such as Vodafone and PepsiCo (the presenting sponsors), other big spenders such as Hyundai have decided to stay away from the tournament despite associating with cricketing properties such as the ICC (International Cricket Council), the woman’s world cup recently.

Nalin Kapoor, Senior General Manager and Group Head Marketing, Hyundai Motor said, “We did buy airtime during IPL 4, but have not associated with the property since the fifth year. Today, we have a deal with the ICC on a global level and this includes the World Cup.”

Shripad Kulkarni, CEO, Percept Media, said, “Rationalising of rates by IPL will help get more advertising but, since the first quarter of this year ad spends have not been very encouraging, IPL revenues can increase only if TV advertising spends pick up.”Basabdutta Chowdhury, CEO, Platinum Media, (part of Madison Media Group) said, “Last year, the channel had unsold inventory and they had given bonus spots to brands. This year, they may sell their entire inventory and may also see higher subscription revenues.”

Group A1- News hounds- Source- Mint 21st March,2013

Source – Mint

Volkswagen recalls over 384,000 cars in China

(By Arpit Aggarwal)

·                  China’s largest foreign carmaker, will recall 384,181 cars in China to fix a long-standing gearbox problem, China’s quality watchdog said on Wednesday.

·                  The recall will be effective from 2 April, the General Administration of Quality Supervision, Inspection and Quarantine of China said in a statement on its website.

·                  The recall comes after the German automaker was named in state-run China Central Television’s annual investigative special on corporate malpractice aired on Friday.

·                  The TV show, one of the most widely watched in China, said that the direct shift gearbox (DSG) transmission, a long-standing issue for Volkswagen, was causing cars to speed up or slow down during driving.

·                  VW, which makes cars in China in partnership with SAIC Motor Corp. and FAW Group, sold 2.81 million cars in the country last year. It plans to almost double production capacity in the country to 4 million in the next five years.

Kingfisher may not fly again, says Capa ’s South Asia CEO Kapil Kaul

(By Anirudh Seshadri)

·         The revival of Vijay Mallya’s Kingfisher Airlines Ltd is not feasible, consulting firm Capa-Centre for Aviation has said, downgrading its October estimate of flight resumption if $1 billion is infused.

·         The airline owes $1.5 billion to banks and dozens of other creditors

·         Kaul said that the decision to start recovery by banks is likely to take the Kingfisher case to its logical conclusion, but he continues to believe that recovery will be a long-drawn process and will require a big hair cut.

·         He also added that no time frame can be set and to expect Kingfisher to pay some of the employees dues and clear all statutory dues.

·         In October, Capa had estimated that atleast $1 billion would be required to restart the airline on a viable basis.

Sales and discounts fail to attract consumers

(By Ruchika shrivastava)

·         Sales and promotions used to be confined to end-of-season sales, at the most twice a year, that allowed retailers to dispose of inventory and restock stores. Now, they take place through the year as retailers attempt to attract reluctant consumers to open up their wallets.

·         Retail price inflation that rose to a record high of 10.91% in February and economic growth forecast by the government at 5% this fiscal year to March, the slowest in 10 years, has forced consumers in Asia’s third largest economy to watch their spending.

·         Luxury Italian menswear brand Hugo Boss is offering a 60% discount; fast food restaurant chain McDonald’s is running a promotion in which consumers can double the burger patties in their order and effectively gain a 20-25% discount.

·         Retailers have had to resort to such discounts to attract shoppers in an economy where growth in inflation-adjusted household spending, or real private final consumption expenditure (PFCE), is set to fall sharply in 2012-13, according to advance estimates from the Central Statistics Office.

·         At constant (2004-05) prices, PFCE is estimated to expand only 4.1% in the year to 31 March fromRs.34.73 trillion in 2012-13. The growth rate was 6.5% in 2011-12 and 8.1% in 2010-11, according to a report by industry lobby Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (Ficci) and consultancy KPMG released on Tuesday.

·         Retail inflation moved up for the fifth consecutive month in February on rising prices of household essentials such as vegetables, edible oil, cereals and protein-based items. Clothing and footwear prices increased 10.87% in the month, according to the consumer price index (CPI) report published on Tuesday.

·         Consumers are not only cutting back on large or discretionary spending, but also on daily essentials. It has prompted consumer packaged goods makers like Hindustan Unilever Ltd (HUL), Godrej Consumer Products Ltd, Wipro Ltd’s consumer arm Wipro Consumer Care and Lighting to offer discounts on soaps, shampoos and conditioners.

·         Be it 0% interest finance schemes, forfeiting of processing fees or retailers offering freebies and discounts, there is always something on offer for consumers when they walk into a retail showroom..

·         Likewise, growth in the food, restaurant and hotel industry is slowing. According to the Federation of Hotel and Restaurant Associations of India, an umbrella group, the hotel industry grew at a compounded average growth rate of 5-8% in 2011 and 2012, lower than the projected 12% growth rate for the period.

·         Similarly, the restaurant sector grew three percentage points lower than the projected 20% compounded average growth rate for 2011 and 2012, said M.D. Kapoor, secretary general of the federation.

·         To be sure, retailers are exploring new ways to win consumers and improve stressed cash flows, apart from taking recourse to sales and promotions.

·         Big Bazaar, the supermarket chain of India’s largest listed retail company Pantaloon Retail (India) Ltd, is piloting a loyalty programme in which consumers can pay in advance for their yearly groceries and ensure the prices of important staples remain stable regardless of inflation.

·         Sahara group, which launched its own private label and retail venture Q Shop in November, is looking at a mix of different business models. The group is offering consumers a loyalty programme in which they pay an advance deposit to avail of its benefits like bonus points on purchases which can be redeemed against Q Shop merchandise, discounts on medical test from associates, and on rooms and beverages in Sahara Hotels.

·         The  consumer is completely battered by inflation and is uncertain about the future. Whatever purchases they can defer, delay, they are doing that,” said Arvind Singhal, chairman, Technopak Advisors Pvt. Ltd, a Gurgaon-based retail consultancy firm.

Group B4-The marketers- Source- Exchange4media.com 21st march,2013

BrandNEW signs up with Kwality Group

New entrants in the agency fraternity, BrandNEW has signed on Kwality Group, which owns a chain of food outlets including flagship brand Kwality (Restaurant and Catering Services), Gaylord, Chopsticks, Bread & More, Angeethi and other allied outlets in India and abroad. The contract inked this week will pave the way for an exclusive and long-term relationship on a 360-degree level in all marketing communication endeavours of the group.

One of BrandNEW’s areas of business focus is start-up ventures. In a market where 90 per cent of start-up brands bite the dust, brand building carries a big responsibility in this area to get it right the first time. Armed with sufficient experience in the area of brand value-building and identity creations, BrandNEW aims to bring in a solid, professional approach to help clients who believe in the value of brands. “Start-ups is also a state of mind,” explained Gupta, adding, “Even old brands have the opportunity to throw away their baggage and start fresh with a new mindset.”

Odonil expands its product bouquet, signs on Samantha Ruth

“Odonil has enjoyed decades of unchallenged leadership as a bathroom freshening product, and is now expanding its presence in the air fragrance market to strengthen its position as a complete air fragrance expert. The brand launch campaign targets the young upscale consumer who understand the importance of fragrance at home, and positions Odonil Gel as a new and premium format for 24x7 fragrances across the home.” The brand proposition is ‘Fragrances that bring alive every corner of your home’. The campaign broke with a TVC built around the premise ‘life khil khil jaye’. The film captures a naughty, romantic interaction between a young couple in an upscale house, sparked off by the fragrance of Odonil Gel. “The brand is moving from bathrooms into our living spaces with premium and contemporary product formats like gels and exotic fragrances. The primary target audience for the brand is female, SEC A, in the age group of 25 to 44 years. Keeping in mind the young and upscale target audience of Odonil Gel, there is a substantial focus on promotion through social media. Odonil Gel has its own interactive website and Facebook page to extend the brand campaign. An interactive contest is also planned to further engage consumers with the brand.

Shobhana Bhartia, Vinita Bali, Ekta Kapoor among 50 Most Influential Women

The second edition of ‘50 Most Influential Women’ in the Indian marketing, advertising and media ecosystems was unveiled by IMPACT magazine at a glitzy, star studded event in Mumbai on March 15, 2013.

The list recognizes women across mediums, who have not only done path-breaking work, but have also helped in redefining the dynamics in their fields.

Shobhana Bhartia, Chairperson and Editorial Director HT Media Group lead the list this year. Ranked second in the list is Vinita Bali, Managing Director, Britannia Industries, followed by Ekta Kapoor, Joint Managing Director, Balaji Telefilms.

Bhartia joined Hindustan Times in 1986 and was the first woman CEO of a national newspaper in India. She looks after the editorial and the financial aspects of the newspaper and is known for upgrading Hindustan Times to a brighter version that appeals to the youth. She has been conferred with a number of awards in the past, such as Global Leader of Tomorrow, Outstanding Business Woman of the Year and National Press India Award.

The other leading ladies among the top 10 include Tanya Dubash, Board of Godrej Group of Companies; Executive Director & President, Marketing, Godrej Group; Gauri Shinde, Ad-Film and Feature Film Director; Prabha Parameswaran, Managing Director, Colgate Palmolive; Barkha Dutt, Managing Editor, NDTV; Mini Menon, Executive Editor, Bloomberg TV; Sangeeta Pendurkar, Managing Director, Kellogg India; and Geetu Verma, Executive Director & Vice President – Innovations, Hindustan Unilever.

Use of mobile technology in outdoors for interactive

Consumers are in a different frame of mind when they are away from their home or office and near the point of sale. Consumers are making buying decisions when they are on the go, and out of home keeps a brand top of mind.

Out of home advertising has the ability to reach a broad audience, but can also be hyperlocal – letting consumers know about businesses in close proximity to an out of home display or products sold in the area.

DDB Stockholm created a lot of noise for McDonalds by bringing interaction on a digital billboard in 2011. The campaign, called ‘Pick N’ Play’, offered users a fun and interactive challenge, where they could play for their favourite McDonalds’ treat.

Using a large interactive billboard, users controlled the game via their mobile phones, enabling interaction with the billboard.

By using geo location the brand could verify that the user was in the game area so that the users didn’t have to download the app in order to participate in the game. Players chose their treats, and if they lasted for more than 30 seconds they won a coupon, earning them free fast food at a nearby McDonalds. This digital coupon was automatically sent to the users’ phones along with instructions on how to claim their McDonalds’ treat at the nearest store.

Group B2- Radicals- Source- Financial Express 20th March,2013

The Park Hotels to invest Rs 1,200 crore

By Jacob joseph

Hospitality chain Apeejay Surrendra Park Hotels today said it will invest Rs 1,200 crore over the next 4-5 years to set up four new properties that will add over 800 rooms.

The company, which announced a new brand identity, also said in about the same period of time, it would consider expanding its footprints into global markets.

The other three new properties are at Pune, Kolkata and Jaipur, apart from Cochin.

Currently the chain has 12 properties with over 1,200 rooms in total. While the Cochin property will have 170 rooms, the Pune hotel will have 250 rooms. The company's second hotel in Kolkata will have 350 rooms and the one at Jaipur will have 100 rooms.

Out of the total of Rs 1,200 crore investments, Dewan said the biggest chunk will go to the new Kolkata hotel at Rs 500 crore, followed by Pune at Rs 350 crore. 

BlackBerry hits out at Apple Inc, says iPhone under threat--- Mar 19 2013

By Sangeeta keni

BlackBerry's chief executive Thorsten Heins has suggested that Apple Inc has not kept up with the pace of innovation, saying the iPhone maker is 'five years out of date'.

Paying tribute to Apple’s achievements with the original iPhone in 2007 Heins said that the company’s market-leading reputation was vulnerable to newer ideas.

Apple did a fantastic job in bringing touch devices, user interface and their design icon to market. But the rate of innovation is so high in the mobile industry that if you don’t innovate at that speed you can be replaced pretty quickly. The user interface on the iPhone is now five years old.

According to the Telegraph, Heins' remarks came while speaking at the launch of the new BlackBerry mobile phones in Australia. He claimed that BlackBerry's multi-tasking was superior to the iPhone's because it runs multiple apps on a smartphone as they do on a laptop. Apple runs apps differently to reduce power consumption. BlackBerry was making progress persuading more app developers to use its platform, which has 70,000 native apps at launch and can also run some Google apps.

Asian Paints to acquire Sleek Group, foray into kitchen space

PTI: MUMBAI, MAR 19 2013, 17:03 IST

By Utsav Joshi

Asian Paints said it will acquire 51 per cent stake in Sleek Group, an organised player in the modern kitchen space, to foray into home improvement segment. The company, however, did not disclose the amount paid for the acquisition.

"Sleek is well poised to be a meaningful and enriching partner for Asian Paints' foray into modern kitchens. This acquisition will offer significant opportunities and synergy for the company," Asian Paints Managing Director and CEO K B S Anand said.

Sleek Group is a major organised player in the modern kitchen space and is engaged in the business of manufacturing, selling and distributing kitchen components including wire baskets, cabinets, appliances, accessories with a pan India presence.

The company has a retail network of more than 30 showrooms and a network of over 250 dealers.

Asian Paints is a leading paint company and ranked among the top 10 decorative coatings companies in the world with a turnover of Rs 963.2 crore.

It, along with its subsidiaries, has operations in 17 countries across the world with 24 paint manufacturing facilities, servicing consumers in 65 countries through Berger

International, SCIB Paints Egypt, Asian Paints, Apco Coatings and Taubmans.

Implications: Asian Paints leading paint company is planning for inorganic growth. By acquiring 51 percent stake in Sleek India, it plans to venture into modern kitchen space. Today diversification is the strategy employed by companies to grow and sustain. 

To beat TV channels, newspapers to focus on entertainment-related pullouts: Deloitte 

By- kaushik Narayan

Review: - This article talks about the shift in the focus of newspapers to entertainment-related supplements  in a bid to beat stiff competition from TV channels, consultancy as per deloitte

"By the time the newspaper lands in the morning, the news is already six hours old and everybody has watched it on television channels the previous evening," Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu India director Sandip Biswas told reporters here. But still India  "wakes up" with a cup of tea and the newspaper and the entertainment focused pullouts are the differentiating factors which the newspapers may take out to fight the impact of television on circulations, however, it is forecasted that the circulation figures of newspapers would continue to rise at about 6 per cent average for many years.

The domestic newspaper industry, unlike in the developed world where newspapers are shutting down or struggling to survive, will be driven primarily by the regional dailies. However, it would be the magazines space which may face some headwinds in the country.

"Magazines could have a bumpy road ahead," as per Mr. Sandip biswas , adding circulation is on the decline due to exposure of similar content on television and other medium. The printing industry's focus will be on making investments in digital printing, he said

Implication:- The focus is shifting from hardcore news to entertainment so that the readers don’t switch to other mediums since news is already old. The only leverage print media has now is the traditional mindset of the target market once there is a change in the mindset of the readers the print media will be in trouble. So the media companies are moving towards digital printing rather than traditional approach.

Group B2- Radicals- Source- Rural marketing

1. Coco-Cola goes Rural.

By- Kaushik Narayan

Review:- The article talks about Coco-colas new campaign called “project Unnati” which states that coco-cola will tie up with jain irrigation which will collaborate and work together to double the yield of mango. The company is going to train farmers from village and will educate them regarding how to double agricultural produce. This project will be in a demo mode. They will train 50000 farmers in 100 farms as a part of pilot testing. This project unnati will be train farmers on specialized buses which will provide the farmers a on the go training. This training will be based on “ultra-high density plantation techniques” which will help farmers to double the mango yield. The first phase of project had an initial investment  2 million dollars. The training module is designed by coco-cola university and will use their expertise to impart skills in the farmers.

2. Idea on transit to rural Karnataka

By- Utsav Joshi

Abstract: With an aim to increase its presence in the rural areas of Karnataka, Idea Cellular has launched a massive out of home campaign that began in January and will continue till the end of March.

The campaign uses transit media such as state government buses and water tankers branded with the Idea logo and a message in Kannada saying 'Idea Network Connects More than 21,000 Towns and Villages across Karnataka'. Idea has painted 200 buses and 60 tankers that carry water in six to eight districts.

The telecom brand aims to create awareness about its seamless coverage and network across rural Karnataka. The campaign is spread over 80 towns of South India, including Tier 2 and Tier 3 towns that provide a potential market beyond the over-penetrated metros.

The main consideration for this campaign was to increase reach and exposure to the rural population with minimum logistic hassle.

Idea is the 3rd largest mobile services operator in India with a subscriber base of over 117 million. It operates across all 22 service areas with 2G services and 3G services spread over 3,000 towns and 10,000 villages. Recently, it launched a major outdoor activity at Kumbh Mela in Allahabad.

Implication: Idea cellular is now focusing on rural market (Tier II and III cities) for which it has devised innovative strategies so that it can reach to masses.

3. Future Group ties up with NIF to promote rural innovation

By – Sangeeta Keni

Abstract: Some 10,000 innovative devices are developed every year in the country, but most of them of them don’t go beyond the prototype stage.

Kishore Biyani-backed future group has partnered with Ahmedabad- based national innovation foundation to start a separate company called ‘Idea India Ka Innovation Pvt. Ltd.’, that will hold the intellectual property rights (I Pr) for the products it will back. The company will back these innovative products, which range from quirky agricultural implements to clever consumer electronics modifications.

The Group is stumping up Rs. 5 crore for the effort to develop rural inventions into marketable products. Other initiatives include around Rs. 72 crore government- backed venture fund, specifically targeted at the rural innovators. The money involved is modest, and experts say it will be quite a while before rural inventors manage to arouse the interest of venture capital funds.