The Hindu Business Line : Congrats, Nirvik!

Nirvik Singh is a Page 3 regular who juggles his passion for advertising, cricket, golf, partying and many other activities with consummate dexterity.

And now Mr Singh has been entrusted with the job of overseeing the activities of several Grey offices in South-East Asian countries such as Thailand and Malaysia, sitting right here in sunny Mumbai.

Old industry watchers recall cynics delightedly whispering that the chances of Mr Singh succeeding after the departure of creative hot shot Alok Nanda from Trikaya Grey were dim. Well, he has not just grown the business, but also overseen the complete "Greying" of the company with élan and then seems to have impressed the owners of Grey Worldwide enough to add on responsibilities to his plate.

Well, a couple of years ago, when the industry was moaning and groaning about negative or poor growth, the debonair Nirvik was almost embarrassed to state that his agency had recorded 26 per cent growth.

Last year he took Grey to new heights with the India Shining campaign and the massive ONGC advertising. And the change in government does not seem to have hit him very hard. The smooth-talking Singh seems to know how to get along with rapidly changing scenarios. A trait that should hold him in good stead in this upgraded job.

We wish him well.

Hello India TV!

Media managers must be used to seeing interesting things popping up on their desks as every newspaper and TV channel tries to grab their attention and then their media rupee. Yet I am told that even they were impressed when an actual telephone instrument neatly packaged landed up in agencies with a little card that read, "Pick up the phone and speak to our sales team now!"

The interesting sales hook was from India TV and was accompanied by some sales literature. Well, for their sake one hopes their phones are ringing off their hooks.

Air India

Air India, the beleaguered national carrier, has been advertising a new advance check-in service. God knows it needs every innovation it can think of to keep the faithful flocking to it! With Jet and Sahara plumping up their feathers to begin flying to more international destinations very soon, they better look very sharp. Their woes never seem to end. Civil Aviation Minister Praful Patel had a taste of the Air-India medicine when he waited endlessly for his flight to depart for New York recently. It is reported he gave a manager a mouthful, exhorting the airline to at least keep passengers informed about what was going on. We second that with feeling.

Coming back to the check-in scheme, it requires one member of the group travelling to personally hoof it all the way to distant Sahar and check in the day earlier to the flight. I think they will have to get a bit more realistic. Catch a frequent traveller from South Mumbai spending three hours to save one-and-a-half hours!

AAAI

Well, the advertising industry seems to have a heart after all. The Advertising Agencies Association of India (AAAI) is apparently readying an advertisement for release to help garner more funds for rehabilitation work for those affected by the tsunami. We are sure the media will chip in and carry the communication extensively.

Brand Summit

Mumbai will be looking southwards very soon. The CII has announced its Brand Summit to be held in Chennai on February17 and 18. Old industry-watchers remember earlier Brand Summits organised by the Chennai group very fondly. The speakers were top class (C. K. Prahalad and the like), the organising was very competent and the warm Southern hospitality really makes a great difference. It makes the rest of the industry appear distant and cold.

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