BANGALORE: Caf? Coffee Day (CCD) and Indian t-shirt major Proline introduced a new line of themed t-shirts which will be sold through the 1250 plus CCD outlets in the country and a few of the major Coffee Express outlets. Both the brands are betting big on the online and digital mediums for growth. The brands plan to leverage CCD?s 2 million plus Facebook fan page, CCD?s e-commerce platform and its outlets to sell the tees?.

The tees? will be sold at the outlets using the catalog method will deliveries being done within a week of order. Said Coffee Day President-New Business Initiatives, Vejay Anand, ?As a youth brand our endeavor has not only been to provide a great caf? experience, but also introduce new products that is as per the interests and aspirations of the youth. The introduction of these smart and trendy coffee t-shirts is an extension of our brand?s youth philosophy."

?Even if we manage to sell one t-shirt per outlet per month, we are talking in terms of 1250 plus tees? per month. I?d like that to average one t-shirt per day per outlet, or about 35,000 plus t-shirts a month,? said Proline CEO Sandeep Mukim.

The initial launch comprises of a range of 17 tees ? 7 for women and 10 for men in four sizes. The tee?s have been given whacky names such as Bean Art, Latte Art, Stain Art, Vapour Art, Coffee & Attitude, etc. CCD and Proline plan to launch a new range every two months, as opposed to the two launches per year for most apparel brands.

The Rs. 650 million revenue brand Proline is looking to double its revenues to Rs.1.3 billion next fiscal. It has categorized is product portfolio to target three segments of consumers ?Proline Varsity, Proline Active and Proline Original. Additional opportunities like mass customization, as in the case with CCD is the next level. Mukim plans to go even further up to personalization in some time to achieve faster growth.

Besides the CCD outlets, cobranded tees will also be sold through the existing 22 Proline stores and Proline?s twenty distributors that service around 700 multi-brand stores in the country. Mukim says that his company plans to add ten more Proline stores over the next fiscal.

Creatives are done in-house in the case of CCD. Proline is in talks with a British agency for its creative work and store design. It has yet to appoint a media buying agency.

Mumbai: CNBC-TV18 will offer a comprehensive lineup of dedicated programming on the budget day led by its editorial team and a stellar panel of global and Indian voices from markets, policy and India Inc. CNBC-TV18 has launched a special line-up of initiatives analyzing the challenges and opportunities facing the Finance Minister this year and will also air views and expectations of stakeholders across the country.

On the morning of March 16, 2012, CNBC-TV18 shall initiate Budget day with an exclusive Budget Breakfast at 7 am. Following that, CNBC-TV18 Managing Editor, Udayan Mukherjee will present Budget Day: Morning Call, at 8 am. Post the show, CNBC-TV18 will telecast LIVE and uninterrupted coverage of the FM?s Budget Speech from 11 am-12:30 pm. During the speech, CNBC-TV18 will focus on the minute details and impact of budgetary proposals, as they are presented in the parliament, through razor sharp on-air graphics. This will be done by a battery of experts who will be analyzing the measures announced and its ramifications on the Indian economy. The channel will present exclusive and comprehensive LIVE budget coverage through the day from multiple locations. It will showcase reactions from corporate India, government voices, market experts and leading thinkers in The Market Verdict & The Corporate Verdict. This will be followed by the Final Trade, the definitive markets ending show on Budget 2012?s impact. In primetime evening, CNBC-TV18 will present a budget special of its primetime show, India Business Hour ? Budget Special, which will round up the day?s coverage and provide a comprehensive review of the national reaction to Budget 2012.

Speaking on the Budget Programming special, Mr. Anil Uniyal, CEO, CNBC-TV18 said, ?Considering the context that this budget has for the govt. and our nation, it is all the more crucial as it can impact the near future of the Indian economy. Therefore the channels approached Budget 2012 with a theme that epitomized the expectant atmosphere prevalent and looked to answer the big question, ?Will Budget 2012 lead to bounceback or breakdown?? As in earlier years, on Budget day, CNBC-TV18 will present exclusive and comprehensive budget coverage through the day and from multiple locations, showcasing reactions from the leading names in India Inc. and policy making, the nation?s biggest market experts and fund managers, tax specialists and views of India?s flagship industry bodies. Thus, ensuring we can give the most comprehensive views and analysis to the various stakeholders be it the CEOs, the SMEs, the professionals or the common man.?

On March 17th, day after the budget, CNBC-TV18 will host an exclusive star-studded ground event called The Verdict, which will present the definitive and decisive analysis of Budget 2012 from the corporate and personal finance perspective. Led by CNBC-TV18?s Senthil Chengalvarayan, The Verdict will include leading names from markets, policy and corporate India.

CNBC-TV18 will also engage viewers through a variety of new media platforms, delivering its power packed Budget day content. On the online front, this will include LIVE STREAMING on the Budget day programming on Moneycontrol.com as well as You Tube, an exclusive alliance with the global online major (www.youtube.com/cnbctv18), special budget initiatives on LinkedIn.com and Facebook.com including polls and contests.

On mobile, CNBC-TV18 will be delivering a host of power packed content on the mobile through the 51818 platform, focusing strongly on adding value to the viewer experience and building interactivity on the day of India?s most important economic event. From BUDGET NEWS ALERTS (SMS ALERT TO 51818) to PROGRAMMING UPDATES (SMS BUD to 51818), from MARKET REACTIONS to LIVE TV (SMS MOM to 51818), the channels will provide the best on budget day, to investors and consumers, on the move.

In the past month, CNBC-TV18 has initiated a comprehensive programming plan for Budget 2011. These initiatives included editorial shows, ground events, on-air segments and vignettes and other special initiatives. From capturing the expectations of the markets and investors to India Inc.?s voices, from the voices of young India to the average tax payer, the channels focused on multiple perspectives within the larger theme of ?Will Budget 2011 make the Impact India Needs?. This programming plan was supported through a multiplatform marketing campaign, ranging from television to outdoor, radio, print, social media, mobile and direct marketing targeting both viewers as well as the marketing trade community.

Mumbai: At Comedy Central we believe in laughing out loud and offering the best to our viewers. 2012 being a Leap Year, we don?t want to miss out on laughing off at it too. So here we are... we?ve decided to share our ?Laugh It Off? goodies with everyone!

The rule of the game is easy-peasy-lemon-squeezy! The contest will run on the 29th of February 2012 throughout the day on Comedy Central, where viewers have to spot and count the number of ?Bleeps? they see during the day and Facebook their answers to win prizes. There will be a special tab created on the Facebook page www.facebook.com/comedycentralindia, where the participants will have to select the right number of bleeps they have seen in each show. The ones with the maximum number of correct answers stand a chance to win some super cool limited edition Comedy Central merchandise.

This is our BLEEP YEAR stunt for the Leap Year. So gear up because only 10 lucky participants will win Comedy Central goodies. Keep your eyes and ears opened to spot the ?Bleeps? that will feature in the shows. May your Leap Year be filled with Bleeps and laughter; for everything else there is Comedy Central...!

Participate to win exciting Comedy Central goodies only on 29th February, 2012 and hope you have a Bleep Year ahead!

Mumbai: After a successful series of ?Youth Debates with Arnab Goswami? in Mumbai and Bengaluru, TIMES NOW, India?s leading English News Channel, is all set to present the biggest and the much awaited 3rd edition of the Youth Debates in New Delhi.

The Youth Debates moderated by Arnab Goswami, Editor-in-Chief, TIMES NOW, encourages forthright opinions from young India and gives the country?s youth a chance to voice their opinions on issues ranging from politics and terrorism to business and social scenario amongst others, through an unparalleled vocal platform.

Slated for the second week of February 2012, the Delhi edition invites students and young professionals alike to come forward and participate in this lively debate along with renowned panelists. Through extensive on-ground auditions TIMES NOW will select the best candidates from college campuses and popular youth hangouts across the capital city.

The criteria for selecting top notch candidates by the editorial team of TIMES NOW will be based on the candidate?s debating abilities and knowledge on current affairs.

Aspiring participants can also upload their videos on the facebook page (facebook.com/Timesnow). Entries for submission of videos closes on February 21st 2012.

Mumbai: Vserv.mobi, a leading Mobile Advertising Network for App Developers, Publishers and Advertisers for emerging markets, today announced that T. S. Ramakrishnan (TS) will be associated with the company as its Technology Advisor in an exclusive arrangement. With an illustrious career history of over 22 years, TS is a veteran technology architect, who has been instrumental in powering innovations at Facebook, Skype, Yahoo!, AdMob and Oracle. His role with Vserv would be to provide expert counsel and insights on new media industry to strengthen Vserv.mobi?s technology edge in the marketplace.

Commenting on the new development, Mr. Dippak Khurana, Co-Founder and CEO of Vserv.mobi, said, ?We are excited to have TS Ramakrishnan be associated with us. His impactful contributions in building today?s new media behemoths will help us accelerate our growth and learning curve required to achieve our goal of becoming the number #1 mobile advertising network in emerging markets. Vserv has a technologically robust proposition and TS will play a crucial role in sharpening our prowess in this area.?

Speaking on his association, Mr. T.S. Ramakrishnan, Technology Advisor, Vserv.mobi said, ?Vserv?s significant growth in the last two years is commendable and can be attributed to their unique and strong product proposition. I believe that this differentiating edge will help the company in being ahead of the curve in a rapidly evolving mobile space. I am excited to be associated with Vserv team and to be able to guide and advise the company at this critical juncture in their growth.?

T S Ramakrishnan serves as an Advisor to several technology startup companies in Silicon Valley, Europe and Asia. T S has a long track record of helping build some fairly successful startups ? including Oracle, Yahoo!, Skype, Facebook, and Admob. Prior to Bubble Motion, he was VP of Engineering at AdMob, mobile advertising marketplace acquired by Google. As an early executive at Admob, he played a key role in its formative period. Prior to AdMob, TS worked as VP of Engineering for Facebook, where he oversaw the social networking site‘s architecture and led Facebook‘s product engineering team. At Facebook, TS managed a technology rollout that expanded Facebook beyond its college community, developed and launched the first Facebook Platform and built the site‘s first mobile version. Prior to Facebook, TS served as Head of Partner Technologies for Skype. TS also pioneered Yahoo! Instant Messenger and Mobile Messaging, which he led for over seven years. Prior to his decade building out Yahoo products, TS spent another decade helping to build out Oracle from its infancy.

Ramakrishnan holds BE in Computer Science from National Institute of Technology, Tiruchirappalli. He also completed his MS in Computer Science from University of Alabama.

Mumbai: Mumbai?s favorite newspaper Hindustan Times returned with it?s unique, popular and inclusive initiative on January 28 this year. Last year on 29 January 2011, Hindustan Times Mumbai created No TV Day and made the entire city come to a standstill. What started as an HT initiative became a people?s movement in Mumbai. That made Mumbai the only city in the world to have it?s own special day. Hindustan Times called upon Mumbai to switch off TV and be open to the immense possibilities that their relationships and the city had to offer.To drive the message, TV OFF. MUMBAI ON, Mudra Max-OOH planned and executed an effective OOH media campaign for No TV Day (NTD)beginning 13 Jan 2012.The agency deployed a wide mix of OOH media namely Billboards, Gantries, BQS, DBQS, Pole kiosks, Inside train branding, Bus back/side panels, station branding & Domestic Airport branding.

Considering the growing population preferring air travel these days, a few interesting media vehicles inside domestic terminals (cutouts on conveyer belts & standees at strategic locations)were deployed.

To break through the clutter, Mudra Max -OOH executed a couple of innovations at marquee sites in Mumbai (Juhu Koliwada & Mahim Causeway).

Innovation 1: This was executed at Mahim Causeway (one of the important congregation points for vehicular traffic in Mumbai), the idea was to create the NTD facebook homepage on a billboard.The way one updatestheir statuses, likewise there was a daily change in the status & the number of growing facebook fans on the billboard. The status updated continued was for 5 days as a build up towards No TV Day.

Innovation 2: This was executed at Juhu Koliwada / Juhu Tara Road (one of main arterial roads of Mumbai), since the core essence of NTD is TV OFF, MUMBAI ON, this execution tried to bring that alive on a billboard by showing a father ? son having fun in a park. Father pushing the swing, while the kid enjoys being on it & the copy read as ?TV OFF, FUN ON?. The swinging movement on the billboardcaught a lot of attention & was really talked about.

Like last year Hindustan Times organized a plethora of activities on Jan 28,encouragingMumbaiites to step out of their homes and explore the citythey love with their family and friends.The activities ranged from school painting competition attended by around 34000 children with their parents, helicopter rides, and exclusive discount deals at more than 400 outlets in the city, heritage rides, dance workshops and many others.

Across the city around 250 housing societies registered for the No TV Day Best Society contest. A city specific treasure hunt was organized across three zones in Mumbai (western suburbs, Navi Mumbai and South Mumbai). While 1300 participants raced against time to reach the finishing point, 3 winners were selected in each zone. The engagement with Mumbai was sustained in the social media spaceas well with the HT Mumbai No TV Day Facebook page and a special microsite. In just 3 weeks, 1.5 lakh new fans were added to the No TV Day Facebook community taking the total strength to 2.5 lakh fans.The Facebook page also generated 6.5 million unique impressions and was the among the top branded Facebook pages in India in terms of engagement. On Jan 28th, the strong buzz about the initiative resulted in No TV Day featuring among the top trending topics nationally on Twitter.

There were various partners who joined in this initiative. These include organizations like Railways, Prince of Wales museum, MTDC, over 300 schools?.etcand brands like Surf Excel, Toyota, Lays, Micro Technologies and Scrabble.

Mandeep Malhotra, President, Mudra Max (OOH, Retail, Experiential), ?NO TV DAY is an annual property built by HT and we required to createa history connecting the brandwith Mumbaikars. Our aim was to establish a property better and louder than the last year?s campaign. In a city dominated by competitors, it was an indispensable task to keep Mumbai ?On? for a quality life. We along with HT, aleading national daily of India delivered the message effectively and took OOHfrom the position of a reminder medium to a call for action platform.?

Says Ajay Dang, Marketing Head (West and South), Hindustan Times, ?Very few times does an initiative by a brand/ newspaper becomes a people?s movement. Hindustan Times has added an important day in the calendar of Mumbai when the city pauses and takes time to reconnect to important relationships be it family and friends or the city that we call home.?