The corporate management of the Aditya Birla Group has decided to do away with the multi-agency system and move towards a consolidated media AoR. A three-staged pitch process was called for this some time in April 2008, but it got reduced to a single round of credential presentations, and the decision is in favour of MindShare India. However, Idea Cellular was not a part of this pitch process at all, nor is there any clarity yet on whether Madura Garments and UltraTech would align with the single-media AoR proposition.  more...

Having donned a new identity with ‘Whatte Fun’ last year, Radio City is now looking to give a fresh impetus to its communication. For this, the FM player has assigned its creative duties to Bates 141. No pitch process preceded this move. The account size is pegged upwards of Rs 10 crore. The incumbent on the business is Meridian.  more...

Noshe Oceanic has won the 360-degree creative account of a premier real estate property coming up in Rajasthan, the World Trade Park. The account size is pegged at Rs 10 crore. The campaign is expected to start shortly.  more...

Orissa is set to get a new 24-hour news channel soon. Naxatra News channel, promoted by Prabhat Ranjan Mallick who has several business interests in Orissa, is scheduled to go on air from July 4. The channel, which is headquartered in Bhubaneshwar, has already got its license from the I&B Ministry.  more...

Star Plus is launching yet another family saga, ‘Hamari Devrani’, beginning May 26 in the weekday matinee band from Monday to Friday at 1.30 pm. After the success of ‘Shagun’, Star Plus and Shobhana Desai Pvt Ltd have come together again for ‘Hamari Devrani’.  more...

With everyone wanting a piece of the IPL action, can the Internet be far behind? As the Tournament is inching towards an exciting finale, media and fan frenzy is only growing by the day. While evenings are spent following the matches on TV, the buzz in cyber space is no less with various websites dedicated to the eight IPL teams.  more...

From a salty-snacky proposition, Monaco has gone nice and naughty with Aamir Khan and his ‘Dil Chahta Hai’ style cool and smart act. Conceptualised by Everest Brand Solutions, the biscuit brand from Parle Product Ltd has associated with Khan in a bid to re-position Monaco with more focus on the consumer.  more...

0-100 kmph in 30 seconds, 2000 bhp, four-wheel drive. India may boast of some of the meanest machines on four wheels today, yet it takes longer to travel within Delhi in a car today than it did 100 years ago on a horse! This was one of the startling findings by a team of Star News correspondents. Read on to find out more.  more...

Real estate major Omaxe Ltd has tied up with ‘Leander Sports’, the company promoted by tennis ace Leander Paes wherein the latter would provide the concept and design of health clubs, spas, meditation centres, and sports complexes in the upcoming five townships of Omaxe, including Ludhiana, Yamuna Nagar, Faridabad, Indore and Noida.  more...

HTC, a global company dealing in mobile phone innovation and design, and Bharti Airtel have announced a strategic alliance to introduce the HTC Touch Diamond phone in India exclusively on the Airtel network. The HTC Touch Diamond, priced at Rs 27,500, will be available through Airtel in top 25 cities across India from the second week of June.  more...

An ACNielsen study has found out that while Modern Trade has grown 90 per cent across India’s eight key metros in the past year (November 2006-November 2007 period) the number of customers who have shopped at a supermarket or a hypermarket store in the span of four weeks has also nearly doubled over the same period.  more...

Delay in opening of malls, closure of retail complexes and surging property rentals among others have made Tata group's retail company Trent to opt for franchisee route to open its Westside chain of department stores in tier II and III cities. Under the franchisee deal, Trent will own and provide stock to the franchisees who will run day to day business of the stores.  more...