Tuesday, 7 January 2014


DMAi’s inaugural Marketer of the Year (MoY) awards gets Nita Kapoor as Chair; Ramesh Iyengar as Chair for second term at DMAi’s Hall of Fame(HoF) Selection Board



Mumbai, January 8, 2014: http://www.dmai.co/ DMAi, an apex not for profit, stands for the collective cause of advancing & protecting responsible data driven marketing & advertising has announced the appointment of Nita Kapoor as the Chairperson of DMAi 2014 Marketer of the Year Awards and Ramesh Iyengar as Chairperson of DMAi Hall of Fame which will take place on the sidelines of the DMAi 2014 Convention at New Delhi from 22nd  to 24th  January 2014.
On these appointments Vatsal Asher, CEO, DMAi noted “With such stellar industry participation, the DMAi has leapfrogged from the past into the present and is poised for the future. I welcome the new chairpersons for the MoY & HoF programs to further the collective cause. With such an eminent chair & jury members, we am certain the MoY will serve as the new gold standard for marketers in the days to come. The HoF has been now established as the standard for lifetime achievement & contribution. I also wish good luck to the eligible contenders for the citation & induction”

The Marketer of the Year Award is fashioned closely on the lines of the program at the global DMA. The program however has been re-modeled to serve the needs of the fraternity here. It is a joint citation for an individual & the company.
This program accolade honors the achievement, innovation, and inspiring leadership of an individual & the company whose work represents the very best in data-driven marketing industry. The individual & company being considered will have exhibited corporate and social responsibility through the innovation and implementation of new products, services, processes and growth within the last 12 months.
Those being considered have had a positive impact on the marketing community and excelled at connecting data and the consumer through data-driven marketing.
Speaking at her appointment Nita Kapoor said, “I believe DMAi has a great idea going. I volunteered my time because recognizing and bringing forth visionaries and exhibiting their transformations have a larger impact than we assume. Responsible & sustainable marketing is the call of the times. Sharing the best practices in play can benefit the entire industry.”

The jury members for the DMAi 2014 – MoY Awards now include Abhsihek Malhotra - Vice President & Partner at Booz & Co; Ambar Chowdhury - Principal at Deloitte; Arvind Wable - CEO & Executive Director at Draftfcb Ulka; Holger E. Metzger - Managing Director at TMRC Impact; Piyush Mathur - President at India for Nielsen; Rajesh Kumar - Head of Marketing, SAP Indian Sub-continent at SAP; Reena Ramachandran - Member Task Force, Performance Division at Cabinet secretariat; Sanjay Sharma - Group Creative Director at FCB Ulka; Sanjay Thapar - CEO, India at Bates and Sanjiv Kapur - Chief Marketing Officer at Citi


The DMAi Hall of Fame, now in its third year, honors Digital & Direct marketing professionals who have made outstanding career contributions to the practice, growth, and stature of the direct marketing process. It celebrates the spirit of direct & interactive marketing with innovation, collaboration, and creativity.
In line with DMAi's continuous efforts to create recognition for marketers who have made a difference in the way brands communicate with customers and raised the standards and level of professionalism in marketing. The DMAi Hall of Fame will recognize scholars, marketers, creatives and entrepreneurs who have impacted the direct & interactive industry.
DMAi's Hall of Fame is modeled along the lines of DMA Hall of Fame, the most prestigious award bestowed in the direct & interactive marketing community. DMAi Hall of Fame will felicitate lifetime achievers in two categories - living & posthumous and as many as four individuals can be inducted every year to serve as an inspiration for future generations and encourage excellence.
In the past the DMAi has inducted Drayton Bird, UK, Winnifred Knight, SA, Late Vivek Basrur, R Sridhar, B S Nagesh & Ramesh Iyengar.

According to Iyengar, “I have the proud distinction of being the first Indian inductee to the DMAi Hall of Fame and I am delighted to serve the DMAi & the fraternity for the second term as the chairperson of the selection board. Like the previous year this year too we have an eminent board of selectors that will bring about rightful recognition to the truly deserving.”
The selection board members including Jodie Sangster, Chairperson of the IFDMA, Winnifred Knight, - Managing Director and Owner, The Marketingsite.com; Ashok Ananthraman, Ex-ITC, Aditya Atri -Loyalty and CRM Consultant; Leena Basrur - Executive Chairman, Direxions Marketing Solutions Pvt Ltd; Raj Bhatia- Managing Director, UCP Loyalty Marketing Pvt Ltd; Nabanita Chaudhri- CRM Consultant, Nespresso SA; Kayzad Hiramanek- Senior Vice president Customer service& operations, ICICI Prudential life insurance; USA; Ramesh Ratan- CEO – Bell & Howells,  Director, Joyanto Mukherjee - SVKM's Harkisan Mehta Foundation Institute of Journalism and Mass Communication; and Shankar Seetaraman.

With the annual DMAi convention having expanded manifold, The DMA International ECHO Awards India edition has been retained back in Mumbai and will happen in June 2014.

The nominations for MoY & HoF are both open till 8 January 2014. The jury for the MoY meets in Delhi on 18 Jan and the selection board for the HoF meets on Jan 10 at Mumbai. The new recipients & inductees will be honored at a glittering ceremony on 23 Jan 2014 at the opulent Radisson blu, Mahipalpur, Delhi on the sidelines the 3rd Annual DMAi Convention. Apart from the awards program the 3 day convention from 22nd to 24 Jan will have 100+ speakers, 164 intense sessions, 15 Dynamic Conference streams.

About DMAi


As an apex, not for profit DMAi, since 1992, brings about collective action for advancing & protecting responsible Data Driven Marketing and Advertising. As the key to making marketing relevant and provide sustained customer engagement DMAi advocates for creating industry standards for ethical conduct and effective self-regulation of the Data driven, Marketing & Advertising community. DMAi is also co-founder of the International Federation of DMA’s.


The DMAi, in recent times, has successfully conducted two annual global conventions drawing participation from over 125 corporations from India & afar. DMAi also sets stage for learning opportunities & intra vertical networking forums like-Day Learning Events called Master classes, peer to peer networking forums like the UNWIND, the CxO Roundtable. As a platform for motivation, the DMAi has established a credible Awards & Recognition program with industry participation. The DMAi Awards instituted in alliance with the DMA International ECHO Awards aim at providing global recognition for response driven and result oriented marketing. The Hall of Fame awards felicitates individuals with lifetime awards for their noteworthy contribution.


25000 MSMEs of India Now Successfully Credit Rated by SMERA Ratings Ltd.


  • SMERA is a SEBI & RBI Approved Rating Agency
  • SMERA enables ratings for various long and short term bank 
  • loans
  • Facilitates MSME build confidence in customers, employees as well as suppliers

Mumbai: January 08, 2014: India’s leading bank loan credit rating agency, SMERA has recently completed 25,000 MSME ratings in India. This milestone was achieved by SMERA in 8 years of its operations. SMERA Ratings Ltd, is a pioneer in MSME ratings and is also approved by RBI & SEBI. Within a short span SMERA ratings have established a credible track record within the lending fraternity with MOU’s with 36 Banks in the country. The popularity of credit ratings within the MSME sector was possible due to affordable cost of rating facilitated by the subsidy provided by the MSME Ministry, Govt.of India and efficient execution of the scheme by NSIC (National Small Industries Corporation).

Speaking on the occasion, Mr. Parag Patki, CEO, SMERA Ratings Ltd, said “The MSME sector is the backbone of any economy, and the heath of the MSME sector is critical to ride the forthcoming wave of economic revival for the country. We expect increasing opportunities for the MSME sector with the Indian Government taking measures to improve investment climate along with initial signs of economic revival in the developed economies. SMERA believes that better managed, efficient and SMERA rated units are eminently positioned to harness these opportunities”.

He further added,” SMERA remains committed to facilitating the growth of the MSME sector in India through its Credit Ratings Services and is looking forward to participate in the orderly growth of the sector”
Mr. Virendra Goyal - Vice President- SME (Sales), said “The MSME sector has a huge growth potential in India and the penetration of credit rating culture in the MSME sector is yet low. SMERA, in association with MSME development institutions, Ministry of MSME and the Lender fraternity will continue to work towards improving the adoption and thus penetration of credit ratings within the MSME sector.”

Mr. Ashutosh Satsangi-Vice President (Operations) said, “SMERA has rated the companies diversified across sectors including Metal and Metal products, Electrical and Engineering Goods, Capital Goods, Textile, Plastic, and Food & Agro along with the companies in to Trading and Auto Ancillary business. The portfolio is geographically diversified with the Western region contributing the most to the total rated universe of SMERA with 42% followed by Northern region contributing to the tune of 28%. Contribution from Southern region and Eastern region stands at to 24% and 6% respectively.”

Many MSME’s have derived monetary as well non-monetary benefits by availing SMERA’s Credit Rating services, besides building confidence in their customers, employees as well as suppliers.

About SMERA – http://www.smera.in/


SMERA is registered with the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) as a Credit Rating Agency (6th in India). The Company has received accreditation from the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) as an External Credit Assessment Institution (ECAI) under BASEL - II norms for undertaking bank loan ratings. SMERA is also empanelled as an approved rating agency by the National Small Industries Corporation Ltd. (NSIC) under the "Performance & Credit Rating Scheme for Small Industries", approved by the Ministry of Small Scale Industries, Government of India. SMERA with its Registered and Head Office in Mumbai, currently operates from 13 locations spread across the country.

Friday, 29 November 2013



Lodha Group Enters UK with Acquisition of London’s Most Prime Real Estate Asset

-         Aims to create world class development at 1 Grosvenor Square in Prime Central London


Mumbai, Nov 30, 2013: Lodha Group, India’s largest real estate developer has exchanged contracts to acquire the landmark MacDonald House in Prime Central London from the Canadian Government for a consideration of over GBP 300 million. Located on Grosvenor Square, this prominent building bears the address of 1 Grosvenor Square and is touted as the most prestigious address in the world.

Commenting on the closure of the deal, Abhinandan Lodha, Deputy Managing Director of Lodha Group said “London and the United Kingdom offer significant opportunities for a high quality developer focussed on creating a large scale housing development business there. We plan to focus on Mumbai and London as our two main markets and serve London in the same manner that we serve Mumbai – with world class products intended to serve all key market segments. Historically, Indian companies have contributed in a wholesome way to the UK economy and we hope to continue in those footsteps by creating a significant number of jobs and providing excellent quality housing there. It is a very proud moment for our country that an Indian company has been chosen as the purchaser by the Canadian Government after a highly competitive bidding process involving top global developers and sovereign wealth funds.

Further added Abhishek Lodha, Managing Director of Lodha Group “The acquisition of this marquee asset overlooking London’s most renowned garden square, in the heart of Mayfairand in close proximity to Bond Street & Mount Street is a great opportunity for our company.1 Grosvenor Square is the best address in the world and we will create a world class development which befits the status of this address. We thank everyone associated with us in completing this transaction.

Located on the corner of Grosvenor Square, the property is in the heart of London’s West End and is one of Mayfair’s most prominent buildings. The building first served as the High Commission for the United States of America and subsequently, as the High Commission for Canada.
Lodha was advised by the London office of Knight Frank on this acquisition.

The Lodha Group:  www.lodhagroup.com
Privately held Lodha Group is India’s No 1 real estate developer with net sales exceeding INR 8,700 crores in FY 12-13. The Group is currently developing over 35 million sq.ft. of prime real estate, with over 20 projects in Mumbai, Pune & Hyderabad. The company is one of the largest employers in Mumbai with over 3400 direct associates and over 25,000 workmen at its sites. It is constructing the world’s tallest residential tower, World One, in Mumbai and has brought some of the top global names including Armani/Casa, Trump, Philip Starck, Jade Jagger, Greg Norman and Pei Cobb Freed to India. In the last 12 months, the group has acquired two other landmark land parcels - the 17 acres Mumbai Textile Mills parcel for over GBP 250 million from DLF and the landmark Washington House property from the American government on Altamount Road in Mumbai.

For more information, please email corp.comm@lodhagroup.com or call +91 91672 00449.
Tags : Lodha, Abhinandan Lodha, Abhishek Lodha, London, Grosvenor Square, Real Estate, Luxury Property, world-class, property



Tuesday, 19 November 2013


Intellect Bizware – One of India’s leading SAP Service Provider signs up their 100th Customer



Navi Mumbai: Nov 19th 2013 :  Intellect Bizware, a leading end-to-end SAP Service Provider in India, today announced signing up with the Anthea Group of companies to implement and support their SAP ERP deployment. Anthea is a leading manufacturer of speciality chemicals for the Flavours & Fragrances industry and are headquartered in Navi Mumbai, India.

Speaking on the occasion Mr. Mathew V Menacherry, Co-Founder & Director, Anthea Group said, “We are extremely delighted to partner with Intellect Bizware for our SAP needs, as a preferred partner.We have selected Intellect after careful vetting of several vendors and are confident in their ability to deliver superior value in this engagement.”

Owing to this development, Anthea becomes the 100th prestigious customer of Intellect Bizware. As per the project plan, they intend to go live with all processes in Sales, Production, Quality, Purchase, Maintenance, Projects, Finance and Costing on the SAP system from 1stApril, 2014.
On this milestone Mr. Sabahat Kazi, Co-Founder, Intellect Bizware Services said, “It’s a proud moment for us, to have the opportunity to serve our 100th enterprise client. We are delighted with the interactions with the dynamic management team at Anthea, and this has given us the confidence to jointly target the Best SAP implementation tag for the year 2014’.
About Intellect Bizware

Intellect Bizware Services Pvt. Ltd. specializes in implementing, supporting and enhancing SAP Solutions, building Mobility apps and Portals around core ERP systems. Intellect’s expertise lies in helping customers large and small, extract benefits from the ERP system and gain a competitive edge by innovatively exploiting its huge list of functions and processes.

Intellect was recently recognized as a Top 3  - “Tech Savvy SME”  from among close to 1,50,000 Indian enterprises at the Emerging India Awards 2013 organized by CNBC TV18, ICICI Bank and CRISIL.

Established in 2007,Intellect today has offices Navi Mumbai, Thane, Vadodara, Nagpur and Sharjah. The company has expertise in verticals such as consumer goods, chemicals and pharmaceuticals, metals, engineering and construction and diamond and jewellery.


Sunday, 17 November 2013






SAP’s Rajesh Kumar coveted as the Chairperson for the 3rd DMAi 2014 International Marketing Convention


Illustrious advisory board to curate the Mega Opus in Delhi from Jan 22-24, 2014; Convention themed as ‘Be the Change’ adds 20 new features & improvements, aims to unravel what future holds for marketers.


New Delhi : November 18, 2013 : Rajesh Kumar, Marketing Head, SAP, Indian Subcontinent has been announced as the chair for the third edition of the DMAi’s (Association for Data Driven Marketing & Advertising in India) International Marketing Convention scheduled to be held in January 2014 at New Delhi.

Umang Bedi, Managing Director – South Asia, Adobe & member of the DMAi Board of Governors, received the chairperson enthusiastically by saying “We are glad to welcome an experienced industry professional as Rajesh to chair the 3rd edition of the DMAi International Marketing Convention. I have seen the format of the show grow in the recent years to become a real power packed show that is of immense value to any traditional or digital marketer alike and we look forward to the change that Rajesh ushers in.“

The convention aims to addresses the quest of CMO’s and agency professionals who want to leverage data and ‘Re-define customer understanding’ – due to richer context, stronger behavior insights beyond simple demographic construct. The agenda accent this year remains on harnessing data responsibly to ultra-segment our customers, hyper personalize marketing programs through specific product, pricing & promotion actions resulting to innovation, delightful customer experience and improvement on marketing ROI.

Speaking at his appointment Rajesh Kumar said "The world today is experiencing dramatic shifts in the economy, technology, demographics, and the environment. The collective impact of the big data, social & mobile revolution has given people a new voice – as consumers, as employees, as citizens, and as societies. Organizations like DMAi have the responsibility to orchestrate conversations amongst marketers to champion this change and harness innovation to drive growth. I am happy to be associated with DMAi and look forward to working with peers in the industry to bring together content, best practices and experiences that will drive this agenda and unravel together what future holds for us”.

The theme for the third edition is Be the Change’ and the convention spread over 3 days will host a strategic summit for the C-Suite, keynotes, debates, 15 dynamic conference streams, live certification & workshops, an expo and an awards program. Over 24 Marketing Masterminds have come together to shape the agenda & format of the convention. The convention will have over 100+ finest marketing minds as speakers and over 164 sessions to choose from.

The convention is backed by an illustrious leadership ensuring active participation from leading brand marketers of India and overseas. Participating in curating the mega opus at the 3rd edition of the International DMAi 2014 Convention are leaders from Adobe, SAP, Select Direct, Godfrey Phillips, Komli, IBM, Urja, MRM, AIMIA, Ogilvy One, Kotak Mahindra Group, Aravato, HDFC Life, Harley Davidson, Starwood’s, HCL, Motorola, Oberoi, NIIT, Yatra, Religare, Quikr, IprospectCommunicate2, SVG Media, Percept, HSBC, ICICI,  Synergy, Merck, Dynaflex, HP, Saatchi, Monster, Bacardi, Perfetti, Accenture, Citi, Infiniti Retail, Tata AIG,  UTI, CNH, Borges, Abott, M & C Saatchi, Ad Magnet, Hansa Cequity, Raymond, Tata Trent, Tribal DDB & RAPP India, Star TV, Shoppers Stop, Page Traffic & Octane. International fraternity participation led by global DMA’s & ADMA (Australian DMA), DDV (Germany),  South Africa & GAB Members from DMA USA, Gurus from Denmark, UK & Argentina.

With so much to offer in an action-oriented & practical platter, the 3rd DMAi International Marketing Convention is the Marketing event to watch out for.  Vatsal Asher, CEO, DMAi, noted “Rajesh has been involved over several weeks on shaping the event. The format & experience of the show has been redesigned from scratch to encompass the needs of our attendees He added, “At this point we are both humbled & overwhelmed with unflinching support from the global DMA’s, the international fraternity and the marketing leadership in India to create India’s most comprehensive & largest marketing convention ever. With this we are confident of the Convention becoming a landmark event for all real time marketers.”

Never before have there been so many channels open to marketers. That’s why the DMAi 2014 Convention has an agenda that covers ten of the most vital issues when it comes to marketing your company in 2014:

1.     A Strategic Summit - Board Room challenges & opportunities
2.     Acquisition & Lead Generation
3.     Social, SEO, Web, Email & Content Marketing
4.     Copy, Data Driven Creative, Production & Application, Branding
5.     CRM, Engagement and Loyalty
6.     Data & Analytics
7.     Cross-Channel-Strategies (Including PR, Print, TV, Radio in a Digital era)
8.     Mobile Marketing
9.     Real-time Automated Marketing
10.  Vertical focus on Retail, E-commerce, BFSI

Attendees that are a mix of client side senior marketers & agency professionals will get industry insight, backed by real case studies, into each one of these topics, to be fully-equipped to draft an integrated marketing plan that will drive their brand and company forward in 2014. To sum it up we advise Be there. Be the change.


About DMAi


As an apex, not for profit DMAi, since 1992, brings about collective action for advancing & protecting responsible Data Driven Marketing and Advertising. As the key to making marketing relevant and provide sustained customer engagement DMAi advocates for creating industry standards for ethical conduct and effective self-regulation of the Data driven, Marketing & Advertising community. DMAi is also co-founder of the International Federation of DMA’s.

The DMAi, in recent times, has successfully conducted two annual global conventions drawing participation from over 125 corporations from India & afar. DMAi also sets stage for learning opportunities & intra vertical networking forums like-Day Learning Events called Masterclasses, peer to peer networking forums like the UNWIND, the CxO Roundtable. As a platform for motivation, the DMAi has established a credible Awards & Recognition program with industry participation. The DMAi Awards instituted in alliance with the DMA International ECHO Awards aim at providing global recognition for response driven and result oriented marketing. The Hall of Fame awards felicitates individuals with lifetime awards for their noteworthy contribution.

For more information, please contact –
Rachana Chowdhary |  +91-9619776084 | rachana@mediavalueworks.com
Sudiksha Singhal | +918285603924 | secretary@dmai.co

Tags – DMAi, Rajesh Kumar, SAP, Umang Bedi, Adobe, Vatsal Asher, Marketing, Advertising, Media, Digital, Social Media.


Thursday, 14 November 2013


‘Change Management Certification Programme’ being organised by CII and CustomerLab in Mumbai on Nov 20, 2013


To register for the full day session of Leading Change, please visit http://imgyan.com/ns/leading_change/index.php

Mumbai November 14, 2013- Customer Lab, a leading consulting company in association with CII, announces World-class Program me on Managing Change based on the works of  the ultimate leadership guru and Harvard professor John Kotter at The Leela, Mumbai  on November 20, 2013. The program me 8-Step Process of Kotter will highlight how organisations can avoid failure and become adept at change. 

30 years of research by the ultimate leadership and change guru Dr John Kotter (Harvard) has proven that 70% of all major change efforts in organisations fail. However by following
John’s methodology of believing in continuous learning, organisations can bring in immense potential among st the average managers.

Speaking on the occasion, Dr. M Muneer, CEO of Customer Lab and author of the book ‘Capitalising on Customers’ said, “India today is at the cusp of building on a global framework. It’s imperative for the Indian business Leaders to recognize and revisit their value proposition. The time is now for leading the change and driving breakthrough results. It is in this respect that we are bringing the John Kotter’s – Change Management master class to help Indian leaders become change masters.”

Master classes are branded training programmer, which will give you exhilarating tools, plans and insights for proven success in both work and life. Delegates will leave the session with self discovery of their leadership style, how to create a sense of urgency within their organisations or departments, how to mobilize the driving force and coalition and keep doing small things quickly. There are several templates available for the participants to take back and use internally with other members of their teams.
For More Information, please contact-

Nishi –9960672518








Tuesday, 12 November 2013


 ‘Change Management Certification Programme’ by Dr. John Kotter (Harvard) being organised by Customer Labs and CII in Mumbai on Nov 20, 2013


To register for the full day session of Leading Change, please visit http://imgyan.com/ns/leading_change/index.php
                                                                                                           
Mumbai November 13, 2013- Customer Lab, a leading consulting company in association with CII, announces unique Certification Programme on Change Management by  the world recognized industry stalwart John Kotter at The Leela, Mumbai  on November 20, 2013. The programme 8-Step Process of Kotter will highlight how organisations can avoid failure and become adept at change. 

30 years of research by the ultimate leadership and change guru Dr John Kotter (Harvard) has proven that 70% of all major change efforts in organisations fail. However by following
John’s methodology of believing in continuous learning, organisations can bring in immense potential amongst the average managers.

Speaking on the occasion, Dr. M Muneer, CEO of Customer Lab and author of the book ‘Capitalising on Customers’ said, “India today is at the cusp of building on a global framework. It’s imperative for the Indian business Leaders to recognize and revisit their value proposition. The time is now for leading the change and driving breakthrough results. It is in this respect that we are bringing the John Kotter’s – Change Management master classes to help Indian leaders become change masters.”
Master classes are branded training programmes, which will give you exhilarating tools, plans and insights for proven success in both work and life. Delegates will leave the session with self discovery of their leadership style, how to create a sense of urgency within their organisations or departments, how to mobilise the driving force and coalition and keep doing small things quickly. There are several templates available for the participants to take back and use internally with other members of their teams.

About Customer Lab Solutions: - www.customerlab.biz

CustomerLab is a boutique consulting company in partnership with a number of leading management gurus from around the world. It is a sister company of INNOVATIVE MEDIA, the leaders in seminars, workshops and knowledge management.

CUSTOMERLAB provides several patented tools of leading management and marketing gurus on a platter, direct from them. We have presence across the region in Asia Pacific and Middle East.

For More Information, please contact-

Nishikant –9960672518