MAM
BBC World’s campaign for ‘University Challenge’ pays off
MUMBAI: A 360 degree marketing and promotion plan that the beeb conceived for the new quiz seriesUniversity Challenge has paid rich dividends.
An official release informs that its microsite for the show hosted by Yahoo! India got over two million entries. In addition the beeb also organised a roadshow which attracted 18,000 students. The series is sponsored by Samsung Sound. In addition Singapore Roars also signed a sponsorship agreement for eight weeks of the programme starting 21 August. The show commenced airing from 7 August.
In addition the channel is also using the SMS medium and claims to have received 90,000 entries through this route. Meanwhile the roadshows have targetted the top ten colleges in Mumbai, Delhi, Bangalore and Kokata. They featured quiz question cards and prizes. In addition there is a contest where two winners get a chance to have dinner with the presenter of the show Siddhartha Basu.
On the Yahoo! India University Challenge microsite visitors can click on banners to access a page containing details about the show as well as on BBC World. An online contest offers Samsung DVD players and a Kinetic Zing scooter. The campaign also used Radio City as well as outdoor hoardings and the print medium.
Samsung VP marketing M.B. Lee added,” We are very happy with the terrific response that theUniversity Challenge online and radio contests have elicited from the youth market who are the largest group for our audio category. We can also gauge the response from the amount of enquiries and the interest that has been generated for Witz. This is the caricature who is representing Samsung Audio in all our communication for this product category.”
The programme airs at 10 pm every Thursday.and repeats at 10 am on Sundays.
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.
