MAM
USA Network plans multimedia campaign for WWE
MUMBAI: American cable network USA Network has planned a multimedia campaign to promote World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) which recently returned to it. In India WWE action airs on ten Sports.
USA and WWE have teamed up on an intense, coordinated and integrated multimedia marketing campaign. Raw will air on USA Network from 3 October 2005.
USA Network plans to unleash a flurry of promotional activity around the WWE’s return to it that includes leveraging all of its NBC Universal assets. A live-action, scripted campaign in which Raw superstars pay tribute to a typical family’s moving day starring WWE chairman Vince McMahon, along with superstars Triple H, John Cena, Torrie Wilson, Carlito, Kurt Angle and Rowdy Roddy Piper. Spots will be featured on USA, across all NBCU networks and other male-targeted cable channels. To view the spots one can go to usanetwork.com. There is also a print campaign featuring Superstars “away from the ring” shot by photographer Martin Schoeller.
Over 5,450 movie screens across the US will air 30-second trailers. Universal Studio’s City Walk in Orlando and Hollywood will host viewing parties for the 3 October launch. The NBC Experience Store will display signage, sell WWE memorabilia and host an autograph session with WWE Champion John Cena.
NBC is also conducting the Raw Ringside Sweepstakes. This offers winners roundtrip airfare, three nights hotel accommodations and a Meet and Greet with WWE Superstars and Divas at the 2006 Royal Rumble.
Pizza lovers will receive nearly 500,000 branded pizza boxes from selected pizzerias across the US depicting some of the WWE’s most famous superstars. Traditional radio, television and print ads will be in play including an aggressive online presence on Yahoo!, gaming, sports and entertainment sites, as well as usanetwork.com. Street Teams will canvass the urban landscape by distributing more than 500,000 WWE trading cards with Superstar tattoos.
On 3 October 2005 the Raw edition will see legends and current Superstars slated to appear. They include Stone Cold Steve Austin, Hulk Hogan, Mick Foley, Triple H, Ric Flair, Shawn Michaels, Kurt Angle, Vince McMahon as well as Cena. Immediately following Raw’s premiere, USA will air a one-hour Raw special on the programme’s greatest moments over the past 10 years.
MUMBAI: In India’s fast-moving payments race, Visa has just swiped in a new leader. The company has named Suresh Sethi as its India country head, marking a key leadership shift as it sharpens its focus on digital payments growth in the market. Sethi steps into the role following his recent exit from Protean eGov Technologies, where he served as chief executive officer. He succeeds Sandeep Ghosh, who has moved on after more than four years at Visa to pursue an external opportunity.
The appointment comes at a time when Visa is doubling down on its expansion strategy across India and the wider region, deepening partnerships and accelerating adoption in an increasingly competitive digital payments ecosystem.
Sethi brings with him a broad, cross-market perspective shaped by decades of experience across corporate banking, retail financial services, mobile money and large-scale government technology initiatives. He began his career at Citigroup, where he spent 14 years working across India, Africa, South America and the United States, focusing on transaction banking services within the corporate bank.
His appointment signals a blend of institutional experience and market familiarity qualities that could prove critical as Visa navigates a landscape where fintech innovation, regulatory evolution and consumer adoption are all accelerating at once.
As digital payments in India continue to scale rapidly, the leadership change underscores a simple reality, in a market where every tap, scan and swipe counts, who leads the charge can matter just as much as the technology itself.
