MAM
Zip Television goes ‘crazy sensible’ for Honda campaign
MUMBAI: Zip TV’s has rolled out the latest Honda interactive ad campaign, which combines brand extension and increased data capture with mobile content.
Zip Television unveiled its ‘Honda Crazy Sensible’ interactive ad campaign, which will be aired on Sky, Channel 4, Channel 5 and IDS channels.
The objective of the campaign is to encourage consumers to participate in, and have fun with, Honda’s advertising. Viewers are urged to e-mail in their crazy-sensible stories and see them appear in the advert. Zip TV has improved accountability via requesting important vehicle ownership and reintention information, a ‘smart email’ function and postcode-driven dealer locator; all providing powerful data capture tools.
Honda marketing communications manager Matthew Coombe says, “Working with Zip Television enables potential Honda customers to interact with the brand for a much longer period of time than they would have with a linear ad campaign. As a result, they can have some fun with the interactive content, and importantly, the Honda brand!”
The campaign, uniquely developed by Zip TV, extends the Honda brand experience from 60 seconds to one that lasts for several minutes through interactive creative that engenders a sense of fun and desire.
Zip Television client services head John Dalziel adds, “In the ‘send us your stories’ section consumers can see the crazy sensible stories that have been e-mailed in or send in their own tales. A great example is running 26 miles wearing a chicken suit, which sounds like a crazy idea, but when it’s running a marathon for a cancer charity then this becomes a sensible one.”
Dalziel further added, “In the past, capturing extended automotive data in iTV has been slow and difficult, but Zip TV’s simple ownership and reintention questions, smart e-mail function and dealer locator changes that dramatically.”
The additional ownership and reintention questions enable Honda to find out whether a company purchase is public or private, when they are thinking of changing their car and what type of car they will replace it with. The smart e-mail function, which is unique to Zip TV, is a first for Honda and unique to automotive advertising, provides an increasingly user-focused way of collecting e-mail addresses by using a predictive fill function.
This has proven highly successful in previous Zip campaigns with upwards of 40 per cent of those who pressed the red button using the ‘smart email’ function to complete their details. Finally, the dealer locator function uses the postcode data, which has just been captured, to pinpoint the address of the nearest Honda dealership and passes this information on to the viewer in the connection screen.
As a way of increasing brand interaction Zip TV has, for the first time, incorporated mobile content into its campaign making ring tones and wallpaper available to consumers. This is further evidence of how the company is looking to push the boundaries and explore more converged markets. It is believed that Zip TV’s latest interactive content and innovative data capture tools will have a positive long-term affect on advertisers and agencies, as they look for greater efficiency and measurability from their campaigns.
Zip Television specialises in the creation and measurement of new TV advertising models in a changing digital and interactive TV landscape. It’s client base represents 40 per cent of the TV advertising spend of the top 50 UK advertisers and includes: Honda, Orange, Unilever, Reckitt Benckiser, BT, Gillette, Masterfoods, Daimler, Chrysler and UIP.
Brands
JP Morgan names Rahul Badhwar as senior country officer for India
HSBC veteran to drive growth and strategy as US bank strengthens India presence
MUMBAI: JP Morgan has appointed Rahul Badhwar as its senior country officer for India, signalling a renewed push in one of Asia Pacific’s most critical markets.
Badhwar, who joins from UK-based HSBC, brings three decades of experience in sales and trading, most recently serving as global head of corporate sales for markets and securities services in London. His career spans stints in India, Dubai and Hong Kong, giving him a strong international perspective.
He will replace Kaustubh Kulkarni, who left JP Morgan in September 2025 to join rival Citigroup. Badhwar will be based in Mumbai from July, report to Leenart, and join JP Morgan’s Asia Pacific Management Committee.
According to an internal memo reviewed by PTI, Badhwar’s responsibilities include expanding the bank’s full suite of offerings to clients, strengthening governance and controls, and supporting talent development and community initiatives.
JP Morgan operates across trade solutions, investment banking, and equity capital markets in India, employing more than 55,000 people nationwide. Badhwar’s appointment is expected to reinforce the bank’s strategy and growth ambitions in a market critical to its Asia Pacific operations.
