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
UniVicoustic names Nataraju Shiva to steer business growth
Industry veteran to drive expansion, partnerships and strategy across global markets
MUMBAI: UniVicoustic has brought in seasoned industry hand Nataraju Shiva as head of business & strategy, a newly minted role aimed at sharpening its global ambitions and widening its footprint.
Formed through a partnership between Unitile and Vicoustic, UniVicoustic is looking well beyond its roots in acoustic panels. The company is steadily recasting itself as a full-spectrum spatial solutions player, catering to offices, hotels, hospitals, schools and premium homes with design-led, sound-smart environments.
Shiva steps in at a moment when the company is tuning up for scale. With operations spanning more than 70 countries and India emerging as a key growth engine, his mandate is clear: build a sharper strategy, deepen ties with architects and designers, and unlock new markets without missing a beat.
A three-decade veteran of the built environment and workspace solutions space, Shiva is no stranger to building businesses from scratch. His past stints include shaping brands such as Wipro Furniture, Wipro Lighting and Spacewood Office Solutions into credible names in India’s design and office ecosystem. Along the way, he helped set benchmarks in sustainability, certifications and design innovation.
In his new role, he will focus on aligning strategy with execution across markets, strengthening the specification network, and ensuring UniVicoustic’s offerings stay globally competitive. The brief also includes weaving innovation, wellbeing and sustainability into the company’s core playbook.
Shabbir Rajkotwala said Shiva’s track record of building purpose-led businesses makes him a natural fit as UniVicoustic eyes its next phase of growth.
For Shiva, the opportunity lies at the crossroads of design and human experience. He noted that the future of spaces will be shaped by how well they balance productivity, wellbeing and sustainability, adding that UniVicoustic is well placed to lead that shift.
The appointment signals more than just a leadership change. It reflects a broader pivot as UniVicoustic moves from being product-focused to becoming a solutions-driven platform, ready to craft spaces that sound as good as they look.
