MAM
Vodafone UK hatches deal with BBC for ‘Fawlty Towers’
LONDON: This is news that should give mobile service companies looking to provide value adds to customers pause for thought. Users of Vodafone live! in the UK will be able to download Fawlty Towersexcerpts, together with other BBC comedies, directly to their handsets for the first time. This follows a deal between BBC Worldwide and Vodafone UK.
In india the comedy show starring John Cleese used to air on Star World. An official release informs that the deal, which represents the first of its kind for BBC Worldwide, was concluded following consultation and negotiation with on-screen talent, writers and/or their representatives. This ensured all contributors and rights’ holders benefit from this new business activity, which BBC Worldwide expects to grow rapidly.
BBC Worldwide’s director of commecial broadband and interactive television Jonathan Crane said, “Licensing BBC comedy sequences to Vodafone live! is a genuinely groundbreaking deal for us. Accessing video via handsets is now a reality for us all, and as demand grows, BBC Worldwide is poised to provide a range of great video content to these new mobile services.”
Fawlty Towers has sales to broadcasters in over 70 countries, including India, Russia and Thailand.
Brands
Faber-Castell India appoints Sunaina Haldar as director – marketing
With stints at Tata, SleepyCat and ADF Foods under her belt, Haldar is primed to redraw Faber-Castell’s brand story
MUMBAI: Faber-Castell India has poached Sunaina Haldar from ADF Foods, appointing her director – marketing as the German stationery brand looks to muscle up in a category that is rapidly reinventing itself around creativity and self-expression.
Haldar hit the ground running. “My first couple of weeks have been incredibly energising, understanding consumers, visiting markets, engaging with retailers and immersing myself into the world of Faber-Castell Group,” she said.
She arrives with considerable firepower. At ADF Foods, Haldar ran marketing across India and international markets for a portfolio spanning Ashoka, Aeroplane, Camel and ADF Soul. Before that, she was vice-president – marketing at direct-to-consumer mattress brand SleepyCat, where she helmed brand, content and performance marketing. Her résumé also includes a stint leading marketing, new product development and CRM for Tata SmartFoodz at Tata Consumer Products, no small proving ground.
Between corporate roles, Haldar also operated as a fractional CMO for early-stage startups, building marketing strategy and operational structures from scratch, a signal that she knows how to move fast with limited resources.
With 18 years straddling FMCG, D2C and the startup world, Haldar now takes the reins at a brand that has long owned the classroom but is clearly hungry for the living room. In a stationery market where the pencil has become a lifestyle statement, Faber-Castell has picked someone who knows exactly how to sell that story.
