Kerala Business

Mobile Phone Handsets: Prices in Kerala

2010-01-16T16:57:00.005+05:30

Following is a list of fast moving mobile phone handsets from various brands and their pricing in Kerala market.

Black Berry
BLA8520	Rs.14650/-
BLA8310	Rs.12990/-

HTC
HTCP3490	Rs.20990/-
HTCT2223TOUCH	Rs.11490/-

LG
GB100	Rs.1450/-
GB105	Rs.1790/-
GB106	Rs.1890/-
GB170	Rs.2490/-
GB210	Rs.4250/-
GB230	Rs.5790/-
GB270	Rs.4450/-
LGEKP106	Rs.1690/-
LGEKP107B	Rs.1390/-
LGEKP199	Rs.4190/-
LGEKP265	Rs.4950/-

NOKIA
NOK1202C	Rs.1390/-
NOK1209	Rs.1550/-
NOK1661	Rs.1950/-
NOK1662	Rs.1950/-
NOK2323	Rs.2450/-
NOK2330C	Rs.2950/-
NOK2700	Rs.4450/-
NOK5030	Rs.2150/-
NOK5130	Rs.5130/-
NOK6303	Rs.7350/-
NOK7310C	Rs.7950/-

SAMSUNG
SAMSGHB2100	Rs.4990/-
SAMSGHC3010	Rs.3850/-
SAMSGHE1085	Rs.1890/-

SONY
SONC510	Rs.10490/-
SONF305	Rs.6890/-
SONJ105I	Rs.7390/-
SONJ132	Rs.1890/-
SONS312	Rs.6190/-
SONW205	Rs.5490/-
SONW350I	Rs.4750/-

Courtesy: QRS Retail Ltd

Celebrity Endorsement in Kerala: Actors & Celebrities

2009-11-24T10:06:00.002+05:30

In continuation with our previous posts: Celebrity Endorsement in Kerala & Celebrity Endorsement in Kerala: Actresses

Following is a list of actors, TV Stars and celebrities from various other fields, doing Celebrity Endorsement Advertisements.

Celebrities	Brands	Category
Sreenivasan	KSFE Chit Funds	Finance
Sreenivasan	Matha Herbal Oil	Beauty & Health
Thilakan	Maavila Paste	Beauty & Health
Thilakan	Manorama Calender	Calender
Innocent	Coral Gold	Textile
Jagathy	Gopu Nandilath	Home Appliances
	Sikkim Manipal Lottery	Lottery
	Dear Weekly	Lottery
Atlas Ramendran	Atlas Group	Jewellery
Cochin Haneefa	Kalyan jewellers	Jewellery
K S Pradeep	School Master	Education
Krishna	Sumangala	Beauty & Health
Mukesh	Josco Jewellers	Jewellery
Santhosh Palee	Chungath Prince Jewellery	Jewellery
Sharath	Harpic	Household
Shwetha	Seematti	Textile
Siddique	Gate Way Hair Fixing	Hair Fixing
Sreeshanth	Muthoot Group	Finance
Sreeshanth	Parachute After Shower	Beauty & Health
Sujatha	Seematti	Textile
Vineeth	Lens & Frames	Opticals

This by no way a comprehensive list. We request the readers to enrich this post by interacting through the comment system.

Celebrity Endorsements in Kerala - Actresses

2009-11-16T13:27:00.001+05:30

This is a continuation of our previous post about Celebrity Endoresements in Kerala.The below list contains a list of actresses from movies and mini screen, who does various brand promotions.

Celebrities	Brands	Category
Ambili Devi	Anna Tone	Beauty & Health
Asin	Fair Ever	Beauty & Health
Aswathy	Kalyan jewellers	Jewellery
Ayilya	Parakkat Jewellers	Jewellery
Bhanupriya	Melam Curry Powder	Food
Bhavana	Pulimoottil Silks	Textile
Gopika	Emmanuel Silks	Textile
Karthika	Josco Jewellers	Jewellery
Kaviyoor Ponnamma	Shanthimadam Villas	Construction
Kavya madhavan	Parachute Advance	Oil
	VKC	Footwear
	A Geeri Pai Jewellery	Jewellery
	Dhathri Face Pack	Beauty & Health
KPAC Lalitha	Shanthimadam Villas	Construction
Lakshmi Rai	Nirapara	Food
	Lunar Lite	Footwear
	Emmanuel Silks	Textile
Mallika Sukumaran	Rubco	Footwear
Mamtha	Chandrika	Beauty & Health
Meena	Jos Alukkas	Jewellery
Meenakshi	Kumarikalpam	Beauty & Health
Meera Jasmine	Nirmal Cocunut Oil	Food
Meera Vasudev	Preethi Mixi	Household
Mukhta	Date Riche	Beauty & Health
Nadiya Moidu	Dhathri Hair Oil	Beauty & Health
NayanThara	Choice Jewellers	Jewellery
Rambha	Emmanuel Silks	Textile
Revathi	Dhathri Shampoo	Beauty & Health
Samyukhta Varma	Dhathri	Hair care
Sharanya Mohan	Malayala Manorama Thozhil Veedhi	Education
Sneha	Jos Alukkas	Jewellery
Sukanya	Priyanka Facial	Beauty & Health
Sukumaari	Shanthimadam Villas	Construction
Vaani Viswanath	Fat Free	Beauty & Health

We request the readers to add on to the list, by commenting.

Celebrity Endorsement in Kerala

2009-11-11T16:22:00.003+05:30

With Television channels invading the Kerala households, a trend of celebrities endorsing brands has been steadily increasing. Celebrity Endorsement is a type of brand communication/advertisement, in which a celebrity acts as the brand’s representative for promoting the brand’s title and position by making use of his/her popularity and name. They may be appearing as their own self or as a character in the advertisement. Anyone with their fare share of fame could be categorized as a celebrity - film stars, sports stars, athletes, TV stars, politicians, entrepreneurs, business persons – the list goes on.

Today celebrities play important role in Kerala advertisements and it is hard to find an advertisement without the presence of a celebrity. Celebrities provide easy access for marketers to the mind of the consumers: they need no introduction. They influence consumer decisions to great extent and thus using celebs for product promotion turns out to be an obvious choice.

Though access and affordability seems the deciding factory is choosing starts for marketing, Kerala Brands does make some clever decisions in matching the star’s image with their brand persona.

We are listing some of the well known examples of celebrity endorsement in Kerala.

Category 1 – Superstars

Celebrities	Brands	Category
Mohanlal	Malabar Gold	Jewellery
	Mohanlal Taste Buds	Food
	Oceanus	Construction
	Pankajakasthuri	Health/Ayurveda
	Kanan Devan	Tea
	MCR	Textile
Mammootty	South Indian Bank	Finance
Mammootty	Kerala IT Mission	Public Service
Jayaram	Francis Alukkas	Jewellery
	Wipro Smart Life	Household
	Jairaj Builders	Construction
	Ramraj Cotton	Textile
Dileep	Kalyan Jewellers	Jewellery
Dileep	Chennai Silks	Textile
Suresh Gopi	KSEB	Public Service

We wish to come back with a follow up post or two, covering other celebrities in Kerala, endorsing products and brands. Meanwhile, we suggest the readers to add to the above list, by using the comment facility.

Kerala – Gold’s Own Country?

2009-09-18T17:34:00.002+05:30

Malayalee's fondness for gold has always been on the rise and so are the prices of Gold.

All the major jewellers in Kerala are nursing expansion plans and are opening new branches in major cities of Kerala and outside. Some of the established groups have even multiple shops in the same city itself. Even banks and other financial institutions are into selling of gold bars and biscuits. A parallel market for imitation gold ornaments is also booming.

One major aspect to be noted is the scale in which gold retailing has evolved. The outlets are running into tens of thousands square feet and are centrally air conditioned. They also offer other amenities like cafes, play areas for children etc. Another trend seen in gold retailing is introducing textile showrooms along with jewellery showrooms (or vice versa).

Bhima, Joy Alukkas, Chemmanur, Josco, Alapatt, Jos Alukka, Francis Alukkas, Malabar Gold, Kalyan Jewellers, Prince Jewellery, A Geeripai Jewellery…. think of any familiar name in the gold industry of Kerala, everyone is into a path of expansion and growth. All of them are starting new branches, hiring professional marketing and advertising team to handle promotions, employing celebrity endorsements using cinema and television stars, sponsoring mega events and buying lots of ad space in print, air and even online media.

Some leading brands are even venturing into contextual advertising in media like cinema. If you happen to see a very large sized hording of a leading jeweller in the backdrop of an interesting duet or dance in a cinema, do not take it for an accident. Chances are most likely that it was carefully planted.

And how can we not notice the mega schemes and prizes that are being offered. Gone are the days when a suitcase, bag, calendar with a God/Godess’s or Film star’s picture or beautiful plastic bags accompanied a gold purchase. Cars, motor bikes, foreign trips, opportunity to spent time with favourite stars – it is turning out like there will be a gift or prize with every gold purchase, big or small.

Why has there been a boom in gold industry of Kerala?

The answer should be multifaceted. Buying gold has been an age old practice in the Kerala society. It is not just a passion for ornaments; gold is also seen as an investment which will never deteriorate in value. The value of gold has increased many folds in the past decades and even the past quarter has shown more returns than a traditional bank fixed deposit or investment in mutual fund and shares. Portfolio managers have started advising to make some investment in gold or e-gold. Mutual fund companies have also jumped in by offering gold funds.

With the emergence of the new era high paying jobs like IT and management, not just the NRIs, but even local professionals have lot of expendable money. A portion of this directly and indirectly flows into the gold market. The fashion consciousness of the new generation adds on to this. The gift habits have also changed, showing a positive change towards ‘golden’ gifts. The use of gold among men is also on the rise. Gold retailers have stepped in right, to cater to the demand.

It is worth to have an incidental mention about another business that popped up and established during the gold rush – specialised money lending. Lot of people avail gold loans from nationalised and private banks as well as local money lenders. Many of them are not able to repay the loan and interest to recover the gold. The actual value of the pledged gold is more than the total repayment amount. Here enters the new specialist money lender. He helps the debtors to recover the gold from the bank and sell it in the open market. The lender gets some quick, risk free money, bankers save the recovery procedures and the debtor gets some difference money, which he would have lost, if the gold was auctioned. It seems a win-win for all parties involved.

Coming back to the jewellery retailing front, it is not just the gold in demand. Diamonds and platinum usage is also on the rise. Merchants are also interested because of the higher margins that are involved.

Recent estimates have shown that Kerala accounts for almost 35% of the total gold sale happening across India. With very high per capita consumption of gold and gold retailing floor area, it would not be out of place to parody the famous by-line of Kerala Tourism as "Kerala - Gold’s Own Country".

Credits

2009-09-14T19:11:00.003+05:30

When we decided to start a blog on Kerala Business, the blogging platform of our choice was Blogger. It is a widely popular platform, supported by Google.

The template we have used is 'Emire Blogger XML Template' by 'GeckoandFly' modified and converted by 'Blogcrowds' and we are really grateful to them for giving us a quick start and good looks.

We would also like to thank various bloggers and websites that helped us learn to customize the template and use the blogger platform effectively.

Credits for the images used in the site goes to various photographers who shared their creation through free stock image websites like Stock.XCHNG.