Planman Stars, the sports management vertical of the Planman Group brings a fresh approach to advertising and marketing with the advent of 'virtual advertising' in India. Using cutting edge technology enabling virtual ad inserts during live TV broadcasts for the first time in the upcoming Micromax Cup Tri-series (ODI) cricket tournament in Sri Lanka today; this pioneering effort to bring brands closer to consumers is being supported by the host broadcaster, Ten Sports part of the Zee Entertainment Enterprises Ltd.

"As a sports management company, we at Planman Stars are committed to providing the best solutions to cater to an advertiser's needs. With virtual advertising we want marketers to exploit this new and innovative medium we are bringing to the table for maximum brand visibility and share of eyes. We are very excited with the initial response from the market as most of the slots have been sold out. We hope this will benefit the brands and would be a popular medium of advertising in the sports business in India" says Mr. Vikram Tanwar, Chief Executive Officer, Planman Stars.

Virtual advertising pertains to the seamless insertion of digitized images during live television broadcast and has been gaining wide acceptance in the west with advertisers having profited much delving in popular sports such as baseball and soccer. The mass audience who would be watching from the comfort of their homes will be exposed to this third dimension of advertising. However, for the live audience at the venue, they will not have access to this as this is electronically embedded and generated on television.

With this novel approach, virtual advertisers can create greater brand exposure inserting their brands anywhere on screen. Consumer behaviour studies suggest that multiple exposures to brands aid higher recall than that if exposed only once or twice. Hence the effectiveness of this form of advertising promises enhanced ROI for marketers the world over.

Commenting on the occasion, Mr. Joy Chakraborthy, Chief Revenue Officer & Head Niche Channels of Zee Entertainment Enterprises Ltd said, "When this tournament kicks off on August 10th, we believe Zee Networks would be revolutionizing advertising in the sports business in the country pioneering the introduction of Virtual Advertising by broadcasting this live on Ten Sports. We are happy to take this step forward with Planman Stars facilitating this extraordinary communication platform for our viewers and will continue to support ground breaking ventures which benefit them".

Planman Stars ensures the conversion of mass sport like cricket, royal sport like Polo & niche sport like Golf to a high benefit marketing medium. Compounding the best combination of aggressive marketing policies and customizing the requirements of marketers, it promises to provide impact and better bang for the buck to their clients. "Virtual advertising has been tired and tested in the West, we realized the potential and brought this new technology to the forefront in India and want to use the benefits of the medium in an subtle yet impactful manner and we are confident it will receive the same acceptance and praise as in the west." Mr. Vikram Tanwar added.

Notes to Editor

About Planman Stars

Planman Stars is the sports vertical of the "Planman Group" promoted by Prof. Arindam Chaudhuri, renowned management guru & economist. Planman stars allies with the world's foremost brands to build their businesses through strategic consulting, concept development, innovative branding solutions, rights negotiation and sponsorship sales. Planman Stars is headquartered in Bangalore and is present across all major cities in India. Through innovation and by measured design, it promises a formidable combination in achieving all that their clients have envisioned for themselves and more.