MAM
Reliance Infocomm organises live video chat with Big B
MUMBAI: After the much hyped launch of the Reliance pre-paid mobile, Reliance Infocomm is out there again, guzzling customer attention. And what can get bigger than the Big B himself?
Reliance WebWorld and Reliance IndiaMobile Showtime organised a live multi-city video chat with the team of Khakee – Amitabh Bachchan, Tushar Kapoor and director Raj Kumar Santoshi with winners of R World and WebWorld contest simultaneously across 13 cities of India at the Reliance WebWorld center in Mumbai yesterday.
“Can you count the number of rings I’m wearing?” – Amitabh Bachchan and Tushar Kapoor with Reliance Infocomm officials at the live multi-city video chat in Mumbai
“Reliance IndiaMobile Showtime is a unique film promotion platform and has brought other stars like Saif Ali Khan, Preity Zinta and Sanjay Dutt for a live video chat conference prior to this and there will more,” said Reliance Infocomm head marketing Kaushik Roy.
Khakee is promoted under the banner of Reliance IndiaMobile Showtime. Besides the conventional channels of press, outdoors and collaterals, it also employs R World (the data application suite of Reliance IndiaMobile and Reliance Web World stores) in 13 cities for a true BroadBand experience.
“This kind of promotion is an on going thing for us. We form a relationship with a movie production house and promote their movie through our service. We have the infrastructural support for this kind of innovation and have almost 15 lakh customer hits per day,” added Roy.
Through the service that Reliance IndiaMobile provides, the subscribers can experience the variety of movie excitement on their phones through R World, watch movie trailers, download wallpapers of their favourite stars, read the storyline and also participate in interactive programmes.
Thirteen cities including Mumbai, Delhi, Kolkata, Bangalore, Chennai, Hyderabad, Jaipur, Ahmedabad, Chandigarh, Lucknow, Indore, Bhopal and Pune were simultaneously linked at 768 kbps speed for this video conference with the team of Khakee.
Speaking on the occasion, Reliance WebWorld CEO Sarup Chowdhary said, “The company intends to keep stepping up the availability of true digital experience through such BroadBand centers at Reliance WebWorlds across an increasing number of cities. Based on our current initiatives, such Showtime movie promo events will soon be available in nearly 100 cities over the next few months.”
With over 50 lakh regular users its not much of a surprise that the service is so popular among the Reliance cell phone subscribers. “Reliance mobiles are a medium to promote films. We weave interactive sessions with our customers through such contests. This service is very popular among the youth as they get an opportunity to interact with the stars,” explained Roy.
Reliance WebWorld is in the process of setting up a nationwide chain of retail stores for digital entertainment and communication and will serve as a one-stop-shop for Reliance Infocomm products and services. Each store will contain three key modules – a Customer Convenience Center, JavaGreen – a gourmet coffee bar and a True BroadBand center to showcase Broadband connectivity through applications like video chat and conferencing, multiplayer online gaming, digital personalised music, digital theatre, digital photo imaging, virtual office and true BroadBand high speed Internet which is about 100 times faster than the dial up access in today’s homes.
Reliance has some big progressive and promising plans up its sleeves. The BroadBand centres are available in 14 cities and are expected to grow and be available in over a 100 towns across the country. At last count, there are 250 Reliance WebWorld stores that operate all over India which will progressively be extended to nearly 2000 stores across 600 cities.
MAM
Publicis Groupe acquires sports marketing agency 160over90
Deal strengthens Publicis Sports with global scale and talent partnerships.
MUMBAI: Publicis Groupe has just scored a major goal in the sports marketing arena and this time, it’s not just about fans in the stands, but brands looking to win big. The French advertising giant has entered into a definitive agreement to acquire 160over90, a leading global sports and culture-first agency that is part of WME Group. The move builds on Publicis Sports’ recent expansions, including the acquisitions of Adopt and Bespoke in 2025, a partnership with Magic Johnson Enterprises, and the launch of Influential Sports.
The combined Publicis Sports group will be led by Suzy Deering, CEO of Publicis Sports. Robbie Henchman, most recently President of 160over90, will stay with WME Group as Senior Partner and President of its brand representation business while overseeing the strategic partnership between WME Group and Publicis Groupe.
160over90 employs over 670 people across the US, UK, EMEA and APAC. It specialises in creating meaningful connections between brands, sports events, properties and culture. The sports media market is valued at $150 billion globally, while sports sponsorships have crossed $90 billion, yet many marketers still struggle with fragmented and outdated approaches.
With this acquisition, Publicis aims to offer brands a more unified solution through greater scale and reach across key markets, data-first optimisation powered by the Publicis Sports Intelligence platform, activation of the creator economy via Influential, and a new strategic talent and entertainment partnership with WME Group.
Publicis Groupe CEO Arthur Sadoun described sport as one of the most high-value channels in the age of AI. “This acquisition is the latest demonstration of our ongoing commitment to investing in the channels and capabilities that deliver the highest value for our clients,” he said.
Publicis Connected Media CEO Dave Penski added that sport has become the most powerful intersection of culture, commerce and community.
WME Group president and managing partner Mark Shapiro noted that combining 160over90 with Publicis Sports will create an unmatched offering for brands seeking deeper connections with sports fans.
In a fragmented sports marketing landscape, Publicis has clearly decided that the best way to win is to bring the whole team together turning scattered plays into one powerful, end-to-end strategy that connects brands to fans in meaningful and measurable ways.
