ITV

Category: Brands

  • Marico buys majority stake in breakfast and snacks brand True Elements

    Marico buys majority stake in breakfast and snacks brand True Elements

    Mumbai: Marico Limited has announced a strategic investment in HW Wellness Solutions Private Limited with an acquisition of a 54 per cent equity stake through primary infusion and secondary buyouts.

    Co-founded by Puru Gupta and Sreejith Moolayil, HW Wellness Solutions Private Limited owns True Elements, a clean label, digital-first brand playing in the rapidly growing healthy breakfast and snacks segment in India.

    True Elements is India’s only food brand to be recognized as both clean label and 100 percent wholegrain. It is anchored on providing food that does not lie to you and promises zero percent preservatives, zero percent chemicals and zero percent added sugar in its offerings. It offers a wide range of over 70 products spanning across categories of western breakfast such as oats, quinoa, muesli, granola, flakes, and Indian breakfast such as poha, upma, dosa, snacks such as roasted seeds, seed mixes, raw seeds amongst others.

    Available on over ninety online platforms and in over twelve thousand retail outlets, True Elements currently garners the majority of its business through online marketplaces and plans to significantly ramp up its offline presence over the next few years.

    Commenting on this step, Marico Limited managing director and CEO Saugata Gupta said, “True Elements is another step towards expanding our total addressable market in the healthy foods segment. We believe the ethos of the brand complements the purpose that drives Marico. The exciting range of products bring to life the rare and virtuous blend of quality, taste and health at the right price. This adds another digital-first brand in our portfolio, which not only has a distinct proposition but also exhibits strong fundamentals along with a growing digital and offline presence.”

    Speaking of Marico’s investment in True Elements, HW Wellness Solutions CEO and co-founder Puru Gupta said, “We are delighted to have entered a strategic partnership with Marico. As a brand, True Elements has always focused on staying ‘True’ across all its touchpoints – including Purpose, People, Product and Planet, and we are glad to have found a partner who echoes this way of thinking. True Elements built its first phase of growth behind a portfolio of innovative Clean Food and building high consumer trust- while we continue to push the bar on those, our next phase will be focused on long term brand building and accelerating our entry into newer households.”

    Adding to it, HR Wellness Solutions COO and co-founder Sreejith Moolayil said, “In addition to value systems, we see strong synergies with Marico in terms of our aspirations for the brand and are confident that this partnership will only make our promise of providing clean, healthy & no nonsense food much stronger.”

  • Protinex unveils new commercial to maintain muscle strength

    Protinex unveils new commercial to maintain muscle strength

    Mumbai: Protinex, the flagship brand of Danone India, has unveiled a new television and digital commercial to drive conversations around the critical need to maintain adequate muscle strength among adults through the right protein and nutrition intake.

    Conceptualised by DDB Mudra, the TVC portrays the life of an adult who is unable to carry out basic household chores due to tiredness and lack of strength. The TVC culminates with an expert shedding light on muscle loss as one ages and expresses his concern over the declining muscle strength of males over thirty years of age.

    Poor muscle mass and strength are a growing concern. A sedentary lifestyle among adults has become more common than before. People above thirty are now experiencing multiple health problems due to lack of physical activity, improper diets, and poor lifestyle choices, leading to tiredness and lack of strength. As per a recent study – more than a whopping 70 per cent of adults have poor muscle health with 68 per cent lacking adequate protein levels. The low consumption of vital nutrients has led to nutritional deficiencies among people, thereby causing a decline in their energy levels to perform regular tasks, and lower physical stamina and wellbeing. And the TVC is created to initiate a talk around it.

    While talking about the latest commercial and how it taps into a serious issue of today, Danone India Marketing Director Sriram Padmanabhan said, “Protinex is committed to creating awareness about Protein. Indians often neglect protein in their diets and the core reason behind this is a lack of understanding of adequate protein intake and the pivotal role it plays in helping one lead an active and healthy life. Through this TVC, we intend to build awareness around the fact that muscle loss can lead to lack of strength, if not addressed appropriately with adequate protein intake and physical activity.”

    Speaking about the concept of the TVC, DDB Mudra Creative Head-West Pallavi Chakravarti said, “As someone who was thirty a long time ago, it shook me up to know about the muscle loss and weakness that starts to creep up on us post thirty years of age. Because it is not outwardly visible, we end up telling ourselves that we don’t feel the tiredness either. Time to acknowledge the need for protein and therefore, for Protinex in our daily lives. Through this TVC we want to bring alive the dilemma grappling adults as they deal with the decline in the health of their muscles.”

  • SoCheers partners with MindPeers to promote employee wellness

    SoCheers partners with MindPeers to promote employee wellness

    Mumbai: Digital agency, SoCheers has partnered with MindPeers, a leading mental strength platform. This association is the agency’s constant and ever-going attempt to create a thriving and conducive work environment for its employees.

    The association also marks the Mental Health Awareness Month of May in India. MindPeers, adding renewed efforts, yet again, to effectively and holistically strengthen its most valuable resource – its people.

    MindPeers which combines technological empathy and human expertise to provide science-backed interventions and personalised modules, kick-started this partnership by hosting an online event with the agency’s employees where they elucidated on their range of mental health services which includes one-on-one online therapy sessions with seasoned professionals, self-care and personalised digital tools, Neuro Games, Employee Awareness and Uptake, Boats/Workshops, community group sessions, and more. MindPeers also provides a mobile application to facilitate convenience for the users.

    The importance of mental health in the workplace is not a new topic anymore. Conversations about overworking, burnout and the lack of work-life balance can be often seen floating on social media. Additionally, as per current reports, mental health issues have been the primary cause for over a quarter, almost 28 per cent, of employee exits in recent times. Moreover, reports also revealed that two out of five employees battle with depression at the workplace today. It’s no wonder that the Indian government allocated a substantial amount of nearly six hundred crores to combat mental health in last year’s budget.

    Speaking of this partnership, SoCheers co-founder and director commented, “We are an advertising agency where our core expertise lies in the creative campaigns we consistently build for our brands. We strongly believe that creativity can thrive only if the mind is healthy, clear and, most importantly, happy. There is no denying the fact that everyone, myself included, goes through various episodes in life, some of which can exact a heavy toll on the mind. Hence, this association with MindPeers is crucial in our endeavour to build a workplace where people feel positive and heard, which for me, is critical for the sustainability of any organisation.”

    Adding to it, SoCheers head of people operations Nupoor Pradhan said, “SoCheers firmly holds that mental health should be one of the key priorities, not only during a time when people are adjusting to the hybrid work set-up in a post-lockdown era or earlier when the world was going through a crisis but for a more sustained and long-term period. This thought forms the crux of our partnership with MindPeers. Moreover, our core philosophy places the organisation’s culture at the very center and this initiative is a rather significant step towards reinforcing its importance.”

    Further, MindPeers founder Kanika Aggarwal said, “We, at MindPeers, consistently work towards making ‘taking care of your mind’ a lifestyle. Therefore, we strongly believe that boarding workplaces to our philosophy would play a vital role in helping us achieve that, as a majority of the population spends a significant amount of their day at their offices. Also, advertising being one of the densely populated ecosystems, to have SoCheers on board is yet another step to help combat mental health issues on a larger front.”

  • CleverTap acquires San Francisco based company Leanplum

    CleverTap acquires San Francisco based company Leanplum

    Mumbai: The retention cloud leader, CleverTap on Thursday has announced that it has signed definitive agreements to fully acquire San Francisco based Leanplum, a leading multi-channel customer engagement platform, for an undisclosed amount.

    This acquisition will make CleverTap a truly global company with development centers and customer-facing and success teams across North America, Europe, Latin America, India, South East Asia and the Middle East. Combining the product stack of the two organizations, this acquisition will enhance CleverTap’s capabilities and take its total customer base to over 1200 in more than 100 countries around the world. The deal is expected to close in Q2 of 2022.

    Together CleverTap and Leanplum will work with digital brands to help increase their users’ engagement, retention and lifetime value by making every user experience hyper-personalized, relevant and contextual at scale in real-time.  

    CleverTap and Leanplum will now bring real-time hyper-personalization, A/B testing and increased scalability to its omnichannel engagement, analytics and segmentation product lines. As a result, growth and marketing teams globally will now be able to utilize the only end-to-end user engagement and retention cloud platform, enabling them to break down user communication silos and increase the overall lifetime value of each user.

    CleverTap co-founder and executive chairman Sunil Thomas, “We are seeing a seismic shift in the marketing technology landscape. Users today demand to be treated as individuals, and this has forced brands to change how they engage with them. CleverTap and Leanplum have both purposely built for a mobile-centric omnichannel world.”

    The acquisition, he says, combines platforms and teams to deliver the best behaviour analytics, segmentation, and engagement tools that will enable digital brands to build valuable, long-term relationships with their users. “Our combined strength will be a game-changing force for user engagement, retention and monetization, creating tremendous value for our customers. I am very excited to welcome Leanplum to the CleverTap family.”

    “When we started Leanplum, our vision was to meet customers’ real-time needs at the cutting edge of technology,” said Leanplum’s Co-founder and chief product officer Momchil Kyurkchiev. “We have succeeded in that, but as the market has matured, to fully meet the increasing demands put on brands today, we needed to bring in the best analytics, segmentation, and engagement tools, to help our customers build valuable, long-term relationships with their customers. This is why joining forces with CleverTap makes the most sense, and I am excited about the combined capabilities we will now bring to Leanplum customers worldwide.”

    “I am looking forward to the journey with Leanplum. This coming together with Leanplum marks a monumental moment across the marketing technology landscape,” said CleverTap Chief Executive Officer Sidharth Malik. “This bridges the gap created by multiple martech tools and customer data platforms and will meet the growing needs of user-obsessed digital brands in a much more efficient way. Our ‘better together’ vision is about integrating our cumulative strengths around people, process and technology to cement our position as the global leader in the user engagement and retention space.”

    “Joining forces allows us to bring advanced product and technology capabilities as brands strive to do live segmentation, anticipate user intentions and actions, automate and deploy real-time campaigns for the highest possible conversions, all from one single dashboard,” he added.

  • YS Guleria resigns from Honda Motorcycle and Scooter India

    YS Guleria resigns from Honda Motorcycle and Scooter India

    Industry veteran YS Guleria has resigned from the position of director, sales and marketing, Honda Motorcycle and Scooter India (HMSI). He will continue in his position with HMSI till June.

    He has been associated with the company ever since its inception and has moved after two decades.

    In 2020, he was elevated to the company’s board and was responsible for sales and marketing, customer service, logistics, brand and communication along with the new vertical of the premium motorcycle business.

    Speaking about Guleria’s move, HMSI managing director, president and chief executive officer Atsushi Ogata said, “Guleria has made an invaluable contribution in expanding and accelerating our business while leading several critical functions in the company. He has cited personal reasons for his decision, and we wish him the very best in his future endeavours.”

  • HCPL acquires a majority stake in skincare brand Dr. Sheth’s

    HCPL acquires a majority stake in skincare brand Dr. Sheth’s

    Mumbai: The parent company of Mamaearth and The Derma Co., Honasa Consumer has acquired skincare brand Dr. Sheth’s. Through this acquisition, the company has control of the majority stake in Dr. Sheth’s at a valuation of Rs 28 crore. The primary round of funds will be directed to accelerate future growth of the  brand.  

    While Honasa Consumers will have control of the majority stake in Dr. Sheth’s, Dr Aneesh Sheth will continue to lead the business and product innovation for the brand.  

    The products of Dr Sheth’s have been developed with expertise accrued by three generations of accomplished cosmetologists and dermatologists. The products are formulated knowing that Indian skin is unique and requires specialized care. The brands’ product portfolio has solutions for skin concerns like pigmentation, acne, dryness, wrinkles, and many  others. Some of the popular products by the brand are amla vc20 vitamin c serum, haldi and hyaluronic  acid sleeping mask, cica and ceramide overnight repair serum, among others. With over 30+ Skus, the brand has catered to over 200,000 consumers.  

    Dr. Sharat Desai, probably India’s first dermatologist, worked to put  India on the map for the field of dermatology. Following in the father’s footsteps, his daughter, Dr. Rekha Sheth, became India’s first cosmetic dermatologist and one of the preferred dermatologists by bollywood  celebrities. Dr. Aneesh Sheth, PhD Pharmacology and an Ivy league trained cosmetic scientist, founded  Dr. Sheth’s with the ambition of formulating skincare products using the knowledge aggregated over three  generations and bringing the best of nature and science together.

    Millennials are evolving and there is a growing appreciation for sophisticated ingredients. While they seek  comfort in traditional Indian ingredients in skincare, they also want to go beyond the conventional and  experiment. Sheth’s has identified this void and created a portfolio of products that blend natural  ingredients with science-based active ingredients, providing the best of both worlds. With a digital-first  approach Honasa Consumer Pvt. Ltd. has established its leadership in understanding millennial  consumer behavior and launching and successfully scaling consumer brands with a strong millennial  connect. The expertise of Dr. Sheth’s in creating specialized skincare for Indian consumers, coupled with the digital expertise of HCPL, will help scale the business of Dr. Sheth’s and further strengthen the  leadership of HCPL in digital-first brands.  

    Honasa Consumer co-founder and CEO Varun Alagh said, “Dr.  Sheth’s is a brand that is synonymous with heritage and legacy, and we are excited about this partnership  as it will help us widen our portfolio offerings under the HCPL umbrella. It will be a symbiotic relationship  wherein there will be knowledge sharing across brands and collaboratively build the brand and its product  portfolio.”

    “Being a house of brands, Honasa Consumer has attained expertise in building millennial  brands with a digital-first approach. We will utilize our expertise and proficiency in digital marketing to  accelerate the growth and scale growth for Dr. Sheth’s and we are confident that we will make it a 100 crores run rate brand in two years. HCPL & Dr. Sheth’s synergize on fundamental ideologies of distinctive product  innovation and strong millennial connect, we are confident this collaboration will be a success for  consumers and for both brands,” he added.

    Commenting on the partnership Aneesh Sheth said, “We are very excited about the partnership with HCPL  – they bring a level of operational excellence that will make our expertise and our products accessible to a  wider community. Their experience as a house of brands will also help us optimize our innovation and bring  about a great range of skincare that combines the best of both worlds – science and nature.”

  • Neo HBM ropes in Saif Ali Khan as brand ambassador

    Neo HBM ropes in Saif Ali Khan as brand ambassador

    Mumbai: Neo HBM on Monday roped in Saif Ali Khan as its brand ambassador. As a part of this partnership, the actor will promote HBM Gold Cement and Steel in India. He will also appear in multi-media campaigns for the brand and raise awareness through direct consumer outreach, the brand said.

    Neo HBM aims to create the best combination of cost and quality to meet customer requirements. In its first phase, HBM Gold Cement and Steel is entering the Indian market through its vast network of sales promoters, stockists, and districts in Western Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Delhi, and Haryana, and soon it’s planning to enter Eastern Uttar Pradesh and Bihar.

    On signing in Khan, Neo HBM founder and managing director Vishal Kanodia said, “We are delighted to introduce Saif Ali Khan as brand ambassador for Neo HBM. Our products have carved a niche for customer focus, quality, and consistency. Khan’s consistent performance, commitment, and continued desire to scale new heights and standards personifies our brand.”

    “Saif Ali Khan will play a key role in familiarising our brand and value proposition to consumers. Our association with him will strengthen our brand image which offers the most reliable and innovative cement & steel products with best-in-class quality and strength,” he added.

    Speaking about this brand association with NEO HBM, Saif Ali Khan said, “It’s an honor and a privilege to be associated with the pioneer of the Cement & Steel industry in India. The company has a legacy of bringing high-quality products to the market and I look forward to this association with the HBM family.”

  • Rage Coffee rebrands its visual identity

    Rage Coffee rebrands its visual identity

    Mumbai: Homegrown FMCG brand Rage Coffee has announced the launch of its rebranded logo, colors, aesthetics, and packaging. The brand comes with a new visual identity to create a more enhanced connection with a wider and more evolved audience through this modern brand ambiance.

    As one of the fastest-growing FMCG brands in India, Rage wants to create a more comprehensive community of consumers through some revamped brand touchpoints/creatives. The revamped creatives are designed to create more meaningful conversations, connections, and bonds with the evolved and diverse set of audiences that Rage Coffee caters to. A consistent theme that is ingrained with the changes is the reflection of the company’s achievements, success, and resilience. It also exhibits a sense of gratitude to all the loyal consumers who’ve helped the brand grow, said the statement.

    The brand would still align with the already established brand identity, which reflects the energy, dynamism, and the virtues of learning and winning; basically, to never give up and be yourself – bold, straightforward, and ambitious, it added.

    Commenting on the creative rebranding of the company, Rage Coffee founder and CEO Bharat Sethi said, “Rage has long been known as a highly passionate and lovable brand. We are a caffeine innovation brand that has disrupted the conventional coffee market with our trailblazing products.”

    He added, “We are immensely grateful to be backed by a strong community of consumers. However, there was a tiny prejudice towards our target audience. We want to broaden our community perspective to include Rage as the premium coffee brand for all age groups. The revolutionary re-invention of the creatives will expand our brand’s reach while remaining true to our existing brand identity and native DNA.”

  • Swiggy announces acquisition of Dineout from Times Internet

    Swiggy announces acquisition of Dineout from Times Internet

    Mumbai: Marking its foray into the high-use dining out category, Swiggy India on Saturday announced that it has entered into a definitive agreement with Times Internet to acquire its dining out and restaurant tech platform, Dineout. Its founders Ankit Mehrotra, Nikhil Bakshi, Sahil Jain and Vivek Kapoor will join Swiggy once the acquisition is completed, while Dineout will continue to operate as an independent app, the food aggregator said in a statement.

    Announcing the development on Saturday on LinkedIn, Swiggy India posted: “It’s a big day for #Swiggy and we’re happy to announce that we have acquired #Dineout – India’s leading dining out and restaurant tech platform.”

    Dineout brings with it a network of over 50,000 restaurant partners along with a ‘proven technology’ and ‘invaluable experience’ that Swiggy can benefit from.  

    “Dineout is a well-loved brand that enjoys loyalty from both consumers and restaurants. Times Internet and the founding team should be credited for the transformational impact they have brought about in the dining out experience through their products, technology and vast selection of restaurant partners,” said Swiggy CEO Sriharsha Majety. “The acquisition will allow Swiggy to explore synergies and offer new experiences in a high-use category.”

    The acquisition will enable the food aggregator to cater to every food occasion by capitalising on Dineout’s assets and position in the dining out space, the statement said. “Swiggy will double down on the synergies with Dineout’s offerings, including dining out table reservations and events. In time, restaurant partners will be able to reach more customers and grow their business,” it added.

    “At Dineout, we always wanted to revolutionise the restaurant industry and this acquisition is an accelerating step towards the same goal. We strongly feel that with Swiggy’s deep understanding of the ecosystem and our shared passion for a superior consumer and restaurant experience, our joint forces will help provide a holistic platform in this industry,” said Dineout co-founder & CEO Ankit Mehrotra.

    Times Internet vice chairman Satyan Gajwani added, “We are proud of the positive impact that Dineout has created for consumers and restaurants, helping streamline and improve the eating out experience. Swiggy + Dineout is a powerful combination, and we are excited to join forces with Swiggy as we continue to look for ways to delight customers.”

    In the last 20 months, Swiggy has strengthened its food delivery business, expanded Instamart, its quick commerce grocery delivery to 28 cities, and Genie, its pick up and drop service to 68 cities.

  • Knight Riders Group acquires Abu Dhabi franchise in UAE T20 League

    Knight Riders Group acquires Abu Dhabi franchise in UAE T20 League

    Mumbai: UAE’s T20 League has announced that Knight Riders Group has acquired the rights to own and operate the Abu Dhabi franchise and will set up Abu Dhabi Knight Riders (ADKR) as a part of the UAE’s flagship T20 league.

    After establishing Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) in 2008 in the Indian Premier League (IPL), the Knight Riders became owners of the Trinbago Knight Riders (TKR) in the Caribbean Premier League (CPL) in 2015. Recently, the Knight Riders Group made an investment in Major League Cricket (MLC) in the US and intends to set up a franchise in the greater Los Angeles area.

    This investment by the Knight Riders Group, which is led by Bollywood star Shah Rukh Khan, along with Juhi Chawla & her husband Jay Mehta, will establish their fourth T20 franchise around the world in IPL, CPL, MLC and now in UAE’s T20 league.

    Khan said, “For several years now, we have been expanding the Knight Riders brand globally and closely watching the potential for T20 cricket in the UAE. We are excited about becoming part of UAE’s T20 League, which no doubt will become hugely successful.”

    “The commitment to grow the T20 format and the expertise gathered by the Knight Riders Group, through their involvement in franchise cricket across the world, is undisputed,” commented UAE’s T20 League chairman Khalid Al Zarooni. “We are exceptionally pleased with their foresight to join forces with the UAE’s T20 League and firmly believe it will elevate the reputation, and professionalism of the League throughout the cricket community.”

    “We are pleased with the association of the Knight Riders Group with the League as a franchise team owner, we are very confident that this association will be mutually beneficial for both Knight Riders brand and the League,” said Emirates Cricket Board general secretary Mubashshir Usmani. “UAE’s T20 League will attract some of the biggest names in world cricket while also giving a platform and international exposure to local and upcoming players.”

    “We feel fortunate to have been consistently recognised as a global brand in T20 cricket,” stated KKR, Red Chillies Entertainment CEO Venky Mysore. “As T20 cricket expands around the world, we are flattered by the regular invitations to play a major role in growing the sport across the world. We have had a keen interest in the developments in the UAE and our expansion is consistent with our long-term strategy.”