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Category: Brands

  • Brands celebrate sweet-sour bonding of brothers & sisters in Raksha Bandhan’s ad campaigns

    Brands celebrate sweet-sour bonding of brothers & sisters in Raksha Bandhan’s ad campaigns

    Mumbai: Raksha Bandhan, as the festival of love and bonding, is all about creating special moments. For brands to capitalise on the opportunity to celebrate the connections, brands put forth campaigns across digital platforms.

    Celebrating the occasion of love and bonding, brands across verticals have come up with unique digital campaigns to engage the audience.

    Every year, a number of digital campaigns are launched to mark the occasion. Interestingly, this year, many brands are going a step further in creating unique advertising campaigns.

    Let’s have a look at how different brands are celebrating Raksha Bandhan this year!

    CaratLane urges everyone to celebrate their unique ‘Bandhans’

    CaratLane has launched a campaign celebrating the different unique bonds that siblings share on the occasion of Rakhi. The campaign has been conceptualised by Publicis Groupe India’s BBH India. As no two siblings are the same, the campaign captures the essence of this uniqueness through the campaign.

    Cadbury Celebrations come up with tech-driven campaign

    Cadbury Celebrations commemorates the occasion with their one-of-a-kind campaign #connectedRakhi, created by Ogilvy. In our highly busy lives, the campaign emphasises the importance of staying connected physically. It highlights how, in childhood, siblings used to spend almost all of their time together. The brand has created a bluetooth-enabled rakhi that will ensure the siblings spend the day together.

    Real Juice celebrate the real bonds of siblings

    As the brother-sister bond is all about fighting for each other and with each other, this Raksha Bandhan, Real Juice, celebrates the moments that show that protection is a two-way street. The campaign urges us to stand equal and real with the idea “Iss baar dono ka hai Raksha Bandhan!”

    Ferns N Petals spreads love with special sneh box

    FNP’s Raksha Bandhan rolled out a new ad film with actress Adah Sharma. The campaign has been launched across multiple digital platforms in India and in other countries like the US, Canada, and the UAE. It has been conceptualised by Media Monk. It presents ‘Sneh,’ the Rakhi brand from the kitty of Ferns N Petals.

    Gulf Oil launches Suraksha Bandhan campaign

    Gulf Oil is celebrating the occasion by offering a healthcare programme to the trucker community as a part of its “Gulf Superfleet Suraksha Bandhan” campaign. The concepts and screenplays for the campaign have been written by DDB Mudra. The campaign features a heart-warming brand film titled “Vachan Suraksha ka.”

    Automated savings app Gullak presents “Rishton ki Gullak’

    The savings app has launched a campaign ahead of Raksha Bandhan – ”Rishton Ki Gullak.” The feature film captures the essence of the brother-sister relationship and how their lives are a “gullak” of memories.

    Melorra celebrates sibling bond on Raksha Bandhan

    Melorra, a jewellery brand, has created a one-of-a-kind campaign and ad film called #CloserWithMelorra.The film shows a brother recollecting the times his sister was there for him, highlighting the importance of being together physically.

    Kinder Joy highlights the significance of festival

    Kinder Joy comes up with a Raksha Bandhan campaign highlighting the significance of the festival. The brand has also launched a TVC for this special occasion, which is in sync with their tagline #KhaokheloKhushRaho, which is a 360-degree campaign. Marking the occasion, the flagship brand of Ferrero also launched an edutainment platform ‘Kinder Digital Hub’ for kids to promote the significance of the festival.

    BL Agro’s Bail Kolhu lets the siblings’ bond shine

    BL Agro’s flagship product, Bail Kolhu, has rolled out a digital campaign #PyaarKiBarni. Conceptualised and executed by Leads Brand Connect, the campaign is live across all social media platforms such as YouTube, Facebook, Twitter, Linkedin, Instagram, Sharechat, and DTH.

    BL Agro’s Nourish celebrates the lifetime bond

    Nourish celebrates Raksha Bandhan as the lifetime bond with their digital campaign “Umar Bhar Ka Vaada.” The campaign honours a lifetime of love and understanding between a pair of siblings featuring a senior citizen couple, where an old brother is seen cooking while waiting for her sister to come home for Rakhi.

  • RD&X network partners with ADDX to strengthen its global footprint

    RD&X network partners with ADDX to strengthen its global footprint

    Mumbai: A global advertising and marketing transformation startup called RD&X network has partnered with Singapore’s ADDX, a provider of financial technology. The collaboration revolves around ReBid, RD&X Network’s unified advertising and marketing AI automation platform.

    The platform is intended to provide a unified, real-time view of all search, social, and programmatic campaigns in order to generate value and maximise returns. The MarTech collaboration with ADDX also marks RD&X’s first foray into Singapore’s financial sector.

    RD&X network founder & CEO Rajiv Dingra said, “The fact that cutting-edge fintech startups like ADDX are trusting our ReBid platform to automate their digital marketing activation, reporting, and insights shows how we have truly created a market-leading platform for advanced marketers. We are excited to partner with ADDX, and together we believe we are building the platform-driven future of advertising and marketing.”

    RD&X network co-founder and chairman Ashish Bhasin added, “We are delighted to welcome ADDX, a forward-looking, future-oriented company, as our client. It is heartening to see progressive clients rapidly adopting ReBid as we together build the future of advertising and marketing, which we believe will be platform-based and tech-supported. We look forward to a long and fruitful partnership with ADDX. We are also pleased that clients across continents and countries are adopting ReBid, encouraging us to get truly global, faster.”

    ReBid is intended to provide ADDX with a comprehensive view of the customer and to scale its growth in a straightforward manner. ADDX intends to integrate its mobile measurement platforms’ tracking attribution with ReBid in order to gain a 360-degree automated view of all of its marketing and advertising efforts.

    ADDX head of digital marketing Ankit Narang said, “We are eager to partner with the RD&X network and look forward to driving data- and insights-driven growth for our digital marketing endeavours. As a fintech company delivering a fully digital experience to our clients, ADDX appreciates the intuitive user interface and experience on ReBid.”

    The ReBid platform will add value to ADDX’s marketing campaigns in three ways: effortless campaign activation across channels; simultaneous tracking of diverse campaigns across social media and programmatic; and optimisation of campaign returns.

    ADDX head of marketing and PR Ata Haftchenary said “With ReBid, we are aiming to gain access to instantaneous data across our marketing and digital campaigns, which will enable us to make key decisions in real time. In a rapidly changing market, responding quickly to investor behaviour will give ADDX a competitive edge and help us achieve our mission of democratising private markets.”

    RD&X network now serves clients in all three regions – MENA, the Americas, and APAC – with engineering and customer excellence teams based in India providing back-end support and product development.

  • Amazon buys robot vacuum maker iRobot for $1.7 billion

    Amazon buys robot vacuum maker iRobot for $1.7 billion

    Mumbai: Amazon is all set to expand its collection of smart home appliances. It has announced plans to acquire the vacuum maker, iRobot, for approximately $1.7 billion.

    iRobot is famous for its list of smart home appliances, including the Roomba vacuum, the Astro robot, and the Ring security camera, among others.

    GlobalData Retail managing director Neil Saunders said, “The move is part of Amazon’s bid to own part of the home space through services and accelerate its growth beyond retail. A slew of home-cleaning robots adds to the company’s tech arsenal, making it more involved in consumers’ lives beyond static things like voice control. The latest line of Roombas use sensors to map—and remember—a home’s floor plan, offering a trove of data that Amazon could potentially integrate with its other products.”

    Amazon will acquire iRobot for $61 per share in an all-cash transaction, including iRobot’s net debt. The company has total current debt of approximately $332.1 million as of 2 July.

    This is not the first time that Amazon has made a move in this space. It has been aggressively tackling the robotics space in the decade since it acquired Kiva Systems. Last year, Amazon also unveiled the Astro Robot at an introductory price of $1,000.

    Speaking about this acquisition, Amazon Devices SVP Dave Limp said, “We know that saving time matters, and chores take precious time that can be better spent doing something that customers love.”

    He also added, “Over many years, the iRobot team has proven its ability to reinvent how people clean with products that are incredibly practical and inventive—from cleaning when and where customers want while avoiding common obstacles in the home, to automatically emptying the collection bin. Customers love iRobot products—and I’m excited to work with the iRobot team to invent ways that make customers’ lives easier and more enjoyable.”

    iRobot CEO Colin Angle commented, “Since we started iRobot, our team has been on a mission to create innovative, practical products that make customers’ lives easier, leading to inventions like the Roomba and iRobot OS.”

    “Amazon shares our passion for building thoughtful innovations that empower people to do more at home, and I cannot think of a better place for our team to continue our mission. I’m hugely excited to be a part of Amazon and to see what we can build together for customers in the years ahead,” he added.

    The deal is subject to approval by shareholders and regulators. Upon completion, iRobot’s CEO, Colin Angle, will remain in his position.

  • Nykaa gets board approval to buy digital lifestyle platform Little Black Book

    Nykaa gets board approval to buy digital lifestyle platform Little Black Book

    Mumbai: Nykaa has confirmed its board’s approval for the acquisition of Iluminar Media’s Little Black Book (LBB), a millennial-focused lifestyle discovery platform. This is in line with Nykaa’s fundamental, content-first strategy for connecting with its devoted customer base.

    LBB is a popular content hub thanks to its sizable, discerning user base, content creation ability, curation mindset, and connections to up-and-coming brands. Nykaa believes that LBB’s emphasis on the fashion, home, and beauty categories will complement Nykaa’s strong points.  

    Nykaa spokesperson Nihir Parikh said, “At Nykaa, we are committed to offering the best to our consumers and making their shopping experience delightful. We are excited about the strong synergies we share with LBB, much like Nykaa, they have sharply focused on driving discovery and spotlighting promising homegrown brands across their channels since day one.”

    “We welcome their like-minded leadership into the Nykaa family and look forward to helping them scale, as together we better serve our audience base,” added Parikh.  

    According to Nykaa, its market leadership in beauty and lifestyle is a result of its core strengths, which include a content-first approach, curated offerings, and a discovery-led shopping experience. LBB’s strengths in these areas will complement Nykaa and Nykaa Fashion’s vision of constantly enriching their customers’ shopping experiences.  

    LBB co-founder and CEO Suchita Salwan said, “Through this partnership with Nykaa, we’re excited to scale to even greater heights. Together, we want to drive value to Nykaa and LBB’s shared goals to build discovery for India’s emerging brands through content, community, and a discovery-first approach.”  

    She further added, “LBB’s robust content creation capabilities and creator network will be leveraged within Nykaa’s platforms to drive consumer engagement and retention, further scaling reach and engagement for our brand partners.”

    Suchita Salwan and Dhruv Mathur co-founded LBB (Little Black Book) in 2015, and it has grown from a Tumblr blog to a popular online marketplace.  LBB has established a brand and an audience among India’s urban millennials, reaching over 70 million users through various channels. Their emphasis on audience engagement through content and discovery has made them a brand beloved by both users and brand partners.

  • Emami ropes in Katrina Kaif as the face of ‘Mantra’ spice range

    Emami ropes in Katrina Kaif as the face of ‘Mantra’ spice range

    Mumbai: Emami Group’s branded food arm, Emami Agrotech, on Thursday announced onboarding Bollywood actress Katrina Kaif as brand ambassador for its spice range, ‘Emami Healthy & Tasty Mantra Masala.’

    Mantra’s collaboration with Kaif is expected to reach out to audiences across age groups with ever-changing taste preferences across Indian geographies.

    The brand has also drawn up aggressive marketing plans for Mantra and a target to reach around 25 lakh outlets (both direct and indirect) by the next three years, revealed Emami Group director Jayant Goenka.

    Speaking of this partnership, Goenka said, “We are extremely elated to be associated with Katrina Kaif, one of the leading and vibrant actors in Indian cinema. We believe that she is a perfect fit for Mantra Masala as her credibility, hard work, and commitment resonate with the values of our brand.  We do believe that her popularity and huge fan following will help us connect better with our consumers across the country and make Mantra a preferred choice of spice brand.”

    Speaking about this association, the brand ambassador, Katrina Kaif said, “Emami is a very popular and trusted household name in India, known for its quality and efficacy. I’m glad to be associated with a brand of such stature and am confident the Emami Healthy & Tasty Mantra range of spices will soon become a preferred choice of Indian households as well. I am certain that the audience will love our new campaign as well as the wide range of products that Emami Healthy & Tasty Mantra has to offer.”

  • “Creating a culture that fosters new ideas and constant innovation is a key to building a successful business”: Marico’s founder H Mariwala

    “Creating a culture that fosters new ideas and constant innovation is a key to building a successful business”: Marico’s founder H Mariwala

    Mumbai: Indian multinational consumer goods company Marico’s founder and Chairman Harsh Mariwala reckons that companies should place a greater emphasis on innovation when conducting business. Harsh Mariwala, speaking at the FICCI-FLO seminar ‘Right to Win,’ revealed that Marico’s three D2C brands have grown to a Rs 500 crore business.

    “If we look at Marico’s brands, in every segment they are market leaders, and this is because the company has innovated or pioneered the segment,” said Mariwala. Marico now has operations in 25 countries across Asia and Africa. Since then, the company and its products have become a part of every Indian household.

    While giving an example of Marico’s brand Parachute, Mariwala explained how its packaging was innovative. Mariwala said, “In a product like the Parachute, Marico constantly innovated in its packaging, Saffola was a pioneer in healthy edible oil, and so on. My belief in innovation is very high, and that’s why we started the Marico Innovation Foundation. I think if India has to succeed, innovation has to play a very important role.”

    Mariwala believes that it is difficult to create a culture of innovation in businesses and it is the leadership to ensure that people in the organisation experiment and take risks and remove the fear of failure. “Constant innovation and creating a culture that encourages new ideas are key to building a successful business,” he said.

    He further added, “I realised the importance of innovation 20 years back, when I look back at our brands, they all have something different that has succeeded in the market. So, if you want to succeed in the marketplace, you have to innovate, not just to launch a product but also on a perpetual basis, because it is only a matter of time before others will start copying you.”

    He also stressed how technology has influenced every business, even defensive sectors like FMCG. He gave the example of Mamaearth, which has emerged in the FMCG space. Before the advent of e-commerce and digital market initiatives, companies required a budget of Rs 20–30 crore just to launch a product with an all-India distribution network. According to Mariwala with the right approach, the industry should prioritise its digital initiatives and capitalise on this business growth opportunity.

    While speaking on high standards of governance, Mariwala advised not to take shortcuts on compliance. “This is my advice to entrepreneurs of any size. Get the highest thrust on governance,” he said.

    He believes once a promoter begins to compromise on compliance, the organisation’s culture is destroyed. He believes it is critical for society and potential employees who are interested in governance. Furthermore, good governance and compliance pay off when a company is listed and commands a much higher price, he added.

    Mariwala also emphasised the significance of identifying and cultivating talent. He believes that as India advances, talent will be scarce.

    “Marico, which also owns brands such as Hair and Care, Nihar, and Livon, will continue to maintain a sharp focus on driving penetration and market share gains across its portfolios aided by distribution expansion, cost controls, and investment in market development and brand building,”  Mariwala concluded.

  • Infectious Advertising bags creative duties for multiple Bayer brands

    Infectious Advertising bags creative duties for multiple Bayer brands

    Mumbai: Infectious Advertising on Thursday entrusted with the creative duties of five brands of Bayer. Bayer is a global enterprise with core competencies in the life science fields of healthcare and agriculture. The accounts fall under Bayer’s crop science division and were won after a closely contested pitch.

    Infectious’ task will be to strategize and deploy creative campaigns for the brands Arize, Dekalb, Laudis, Nativo and Vayego in multiple tiers and markets across the country.

    Infectious Advertising director & co-founder Nisha Singhania said, “It is always an honour when a client trusts you with their brand and gives you both, the strategic and creative mandate. We are thrilled to partner with a trusted and respected company like Bayer for five of their brands and look forward to creating waves for them.”

    Bayer Crop Science VP Marketing (IBSL) Ravishankar Cherukuri added, “We are looking forward to taking up a transformational journey for some of our key brands with Infectious as our creative agency partners. The team’s ability to relate to the category nuances and mine out core insights gives us the confidence that this will be a fruitful alliance.”

  • Chinese smartphone brands Oppo, Vivo India & Xiaomi under tax sleuths’ lens

    Chinese smartphone brands Oppo, Vivo India & Xiaomi under tax sleuths’ lens

    Mumbai: Chinese smartphone makers have once again come under the scanner of Indian agencies for cases of alleged tax evasion. Notices have been issued to Oppo, Vivo India and Xiaomi, finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman informed Rajya Sabha recently. The three Chinese mobile phone companies, between them, hold a major share of the Indian smartphone market.

    The Finance Minister said that the department of revenue intelligence (DRI) has issued a notice to Oppo for a total customs duty of Rs 4,389 crore. This is on the grounds that misdeclaration of certain goods leads to a short payment in customs duty.

    The duty evasion is about Rs 2,981 crore, Sitharaman said replying to a question in the Upper House.

    “Undervaluation of imported goods for the purpose of payment of customs duty, that we think is an evasion of Rs 1,408 crore,” she said.

    She stated that they came voluntarily to deposit Rs 450 crore, much less than the demand of Rs 4,389 crore.

    Regarding the other companies, she said Xiaomi, which deals with assembling MI mobile phones, has been issued three show-cause notices.

    “The approximate duty liability there is about Rs 653 crore. For the three show cause notices that have been issued, they have deposited only Rs 46 lakh,” the minister said.

    She informed Rajya Sabha that a demand notice has been issued for Rs 2,217 crore for which they have deposited Rs 60 crore as a voluntary deposit.

    “Besides these, the ED is looking at 18 companies that were established by the same group as Vivo, and there they have voluntarily remitted Rs 62 crore as deposits, but the parent company outside of India has total sales of 1.25 lakh crore.

    “Of the Rs 1.25 lakh crore total sales, Vivo has transferred through these 18 companies huge amounts of funds, and it is believed that Vivo India has, in turn, remitted 0.62 lakh crore to its parent company, which is outside India,” Sitharaman said.

    In her written reply, the finance minister said a show cause notice demanding Rs 4,403.88 crore has been served on Oppo Mobiles India based on the investigation conducted by the directorate of revenue intelligence (DRI).

    Five cases of customs duty evasion have been booked against Xiaomi Technology India, she said.

    “During the period 2019 to 2022, in respect of the central board of indirect taxes & customs (CBIC), cases against 43 other such companies have been booked.”

    “‘As regards to the central board of direct taxes (CBDT), investigation directorates have undertaken search and seizure actions in cases of five groups pertaining to the telecom sector, in which tax evasion has been detected,” Sitharaman added.

    Meanwhile, the market share of these three brands, which make up the top five smartphone brands in India, has been steadily growing, despite the scrutiny. Xiaomi remained the market leader in 2022 with a share of 24 per cent, followed by Vivo with 18 per cent share and Oppo with a ten per cent share, according to a report by Cyber Media Research (CMR). The three brands, along with Realme and Korean smartphone major Samsung, account for nearly three quarters of India’s smartphone market.

  • Blue Dart re-appoints Balfour Manuel as managing director for second five-year term

    Blue Dart re-appoints Balfour Manuel as managing director for second five-year term

    Mumbai: Integrated transportation and distribution logistics company, Blue Dart Express has re-appointed Balfour Manuel as managing director for another term of five years with effect from 16 May 2022. The shareholders of the company approved his re-appointment at the recently held Annual General Meeting, the company said in a statement.

    Balfour Manuel has been instrumental in the success of Blue Dart since its inception. He has been with the organisation since its initial days in 1983 and has played a key role in focusing its ‘People Centric’ philosophy.  

    Blue Dart chairman Sharad Upasani commented, “Despite the VUCA environment, under Balfour’s leadership, we are elated to see the robust growth that Blue Dart has achieved in the last four years. His extensive knowledge and all-round experience in the logistics sector has enabled the organisation to surpass emerging challenges and remain a leader in the logistics space. We are optimistic that, the ensuing years, will be more rewarding and Blue Dart will continue to deliver excellent results year over years.

    Balfour Manuel said, “The next five years are going to be challenging and I am grateful to have this opportunity to set new benchmarks. Like always, we will persistently focus on overall sustainable growth and expansion and remain the nation’s trade facilitator and a deeply customer-centric brand, offering wide range of logistics solutions that cater to our customers’ needs.”

    “With a keen focus on technology & digitalization, infrastructure, strengthening of our aircraft fleet, our brand and ‘people connect’, we will continue to remain a Provider of Choice, consistently working towards the group’s credo, ‘Connecting People, Improving Lives,” he added.

    Further, Blue Dart has strengthened its present Board composition with the induction of Prakash Apte and Padmini Khare Kaicker as Independent Directors of the Company for a term of five years, effective from 28 July 2022.

    Prakash Apte’s professional career spans over 40 years, most of which has been with multinationals in various positions related to Specialty Chemicals, Pharma & Agribusiness industries.  He brings with him experience in the areas of global business & strategy, finance, governance, leadership and personal values.

    A qualified chartered accountant from ICAI, Padmini Khare Kaicker is managing partner of B. K. Khare & Co.. She brings with her experience in the areas of strategy, finance, risk & governance, business and organisational matters.

     

  • Honasa Consumer onboards Pratik Mukherjee as vice president of Brand Factory

    Honasa Consumer onboards Pratik Mukherjee as vice president of Brand Factory

    Mumbai: Fast growing house of brands for personal care and parent company of Mamaearth, The Derma Co., Ayuga, & Aqualogica, Honasa Consumer (HCPL) has appointed Pratik Mukherjee as vice president, Brand Factory, where he will be responsible for crafting, launching, and building new brands business for Honasa. Mukherjee will be based out of the Honasa Consumer head office in Gurgaon.

    With over a decade of experience, Mukherjee has been a part of prestigious brands like P&G, Gillette, and Urban Company. He began his professional career with Tata Consultancy Group before moving on to IIM-Ahmedabad to complete his master’s degree. Thereafter, he joined Procter & Gamble, where he worked on the Gillette brand and oversaw brand launches and campaigns, earning him awards. He served as the head of Procter & Gamble’s DTC business for India and South Asia.

    Later, he joined Urban Company as the marketing head for beauty, grooming & cleaning verticals. As the head of marketing at Infra.Market (a construction unicorn), A Cannes awardee, Mukherjee has been acknowledged with various other awards like the Asia President’s Award and Global President Awards.

    Speaking on his role, Pratik Mukherjee said, “I am honoured and excited to join Honasa and contribute towards the journey to build a house of consumer-loved brands leveraging the digital-first D2C playbook. Honasa Consumer’s brands have created tremendous displacement, capturing sizable market share and garnering consumer trust in a very short period. I look forward to joining this trailblazing team and contributing to the next wave of growth for the company.”

    Honasa Consumer co-founder and CEO Varun Alagh said, “Honasa has emerged as the fastest growing D2C brand and being a digital-first brand, it is critical to constantly innovate and stay ahead of competition in this extremely dynamic digital ecosystem.”

    “Pratik has extensive experience of building millennial brands, and he will elevate and support us as we plan to implement efficient strategies to launch new brands and take the businesses to the next level with his knowledge and expertise. We are thrilled to have him on board as we expand the company,” he further said.