ITV

Category: Brands

  • Rahul Bose’s overpriced bananas feed creativity of brands on Twitter

    Rahul Bose’s overpriced bananas feed creativity of brands on Twitter

    MUMBAI: While the Chandigarh Police and Excise and Taxation department is looking into the “illegal and exorbitant charge of GST” by JW Marriott Hotels as they sold a pair of bananas at a whopping Rs 442.5 to bollywood actor Rahul Bose, the Twitter-verse is jumping on the marketing wagon to make the most of this bizarre incident.

    A user posted a photo of Taj Hotels in Santacruz Mumbai offering fresh season fruits ‘with best compliments’ with a candid caption “Meanwhile, in the land of trolling JW Marriott….”

    A number of brands including the star of ‘moment-marketing’, Zomato, used the opportunity to share some great creatives around it. Here are some of the most creative pieces from the land of Twitter:

    1. Amazon Prime Video India

    2. Arre

    3. Natures Basket

    4. Oyo

    5. PolicyBazaar

    6. Reliance Smart

    7. Star Quick

    8. Zomato

    9. Coco Soul

    10. Anchor by Panasonic

    11. TEZ

  • Premium category growth double that of entire FMCG sector

    Premium category growth double that of entire FMCG sector

    MUMBAI: Even though the FMCG sector in rural India is facing a slow down for the past few quarters, the number of households buying more than 20 categories in a year saw a jump of nearly 50 per cent in the past year, Kantar managing director for Worldpanel Division south Asia K Ramakrishnan told Indiantelevision.com as he highlighted the key findings from the Consumer Connection 2019 report, which is based on the buying habits of around 8200 households in India across 95 categories.

    Ramakrishnan said, “Rural India is in a conundrum. On the one hand, there is a slowdown (for FMCG) and on the other hand, they are trying more categories. Rural aspirations are just like urban consumers’ right now. So, they are trying newer things by cutting on staples like atta, oil, salt, etc. They are rationing it in such a way that they avoid the wastage of these staples and also the stocking.”

    One of the reasons behind this increase in categories that the rural consumers buy from are actions taken by various brands in making products available at cheaper price points in the form of trial packs.

    Ramakrishnan highlighted that along with Indian consumers’ move towards bigger packs—as compared to their affinity to sachets like earlier—increasing, there has been a substantial jump in the sale of premium category products across the country. “The growth of premium category is twice that of the FMCG category as a whole,” he said.

    He further noted, “We see it as a result of several things like there have been strong pricing actions by manufacturers for promoting larger packs; strong promotional actions to popularise these larger packs; and interesting innovations like Kissan’s ketchup sachets with a nozzle.”

    Ramakrishnan added, “The premiumisation is showing tremendous growth not just because the base is small, but also because a lot of premium brands are offering trial packs. For example, Surf Excel is a premium brand but it has grown, largely, on its Rs 10 pack.”

    He also mentioned that after a slowdown in the FMCG sector, that started from the second quarter from 2018, the industry is now looking towards a revival. The first quarter of 2019 has shown improvements, and Ramakrishnan believes that the worst is over.

    Ramakrishnan also elaborated on the increased penetration of e-commerce in the Indian market. He shared that though the category has witnessed 3-time increase in its penetration, it is largely because the base is small. He attributed this growth to the increasing smartphone penetration and cheaper data prices.

    Some other key findings of the Consumer Connections 2019 include a dip, of about 50 per cent, in the success rate of newly launched products, a 15 per cent volume drop in the sale of baby foods, and loss of volumes for unbranded products.

  • Artimas Fashions assigns 12-15% marketing spend for Virat Kohli’s innerwear range one8

    Artimas Fashions assigns 12-15% marketing spend for Virat Kohli’s innerwear range one8

    MUMBAI: Virat Kohli is not only the number 1 cricket sportsperson in the world but also a dynamic youth icon whose personality allures millions of youngsters across the world. He is known for his determination, rigour, and the undying zest towards achieving success. Embodying the same facets of his personality, the cricketer, in association with Artimas Fashions, recently launched the innerwear collection of his brand one8-conceptualised by Cornerstone.

    A subsidiary of Lux Industries Ltd, Artimas Fashions Pvt Ltd is the official licensee for cricketer Kohli’s one8 innerwear collection and is working diligently to place this newest offering from the one8 basket as the preferred choice of the millennial population.

    Its positioning as a functional brand offering ‘comfort to the restless’ is going to be the hook holding the interest of the target consumer group who will feel a huge connection with the messaging, Artimas Fashions Pvt Ltd MD Nishchal Puri tells Indiantelevision.com.

    Speaking about the brand, he says, “one8 has been conceptualised by Virat (Kohli) and his team. When we were approached for the innerwear collection, we realised, with our experience in the industry, that there is a huge gap in the market. While it is a Rs 15,000 crore market, the premium segment is just Rs 5,200 crore. So, when we were conceptualising and deliberating (on marketing strategies), we found a phenomenal opportunity because with Virat onboard, the brand has great scope to develop connectivity with the right target consumer group.”

    He says that the brand is working towards rekindling and rejuvenating the innerwear market. “We have developed a great range and it is targeted at mid to premium price points. We are not a super premium brand because we want the comfort to reach as many consumers as possible.”

    The brand has currently been launched on e-commerce platforms and Puri is expecting that they will be able to take it to offline retail stores by the first quarter of the next year. He reveals that his team along with Virat’s team from Cornerstone is planning a lot of activities for the online as well as the offline activation of the brand. They have started with the launch of a high-quality video, featuring Virat Kohli, on digital platforms.

    “We initially, intend to use it (the brand video) on digital and then take it to cinemas before launching it on television in the next couple of quarters. The idea is when we launch on television, we should be recognised by as many people as possible. So, we are trying to use a mix of all these three media to reach the maximum of the target consumer base,” he shares.

    Shedding light on the marketing budgets that they are working with, Puri reveals that they have started with 8 per cent of the budget initially and will be cumulatively spending 12-15 per cent in terms of marketing engagement. “We have a substantial amount of investment that goes in in-store publicity. Also, we are marketing across multiple platforms. So, including all of this, the ATL-BTL spends combined, we will be spending some 12-15 per cent on the innerwear range.”

    He added that they will be taking the brand to the Middle Eastern market as well and are planning some consumer integration activities with Kohli for the same.

    With this new product range, Artimas Fashions wants one8, which is in the third year of its inception, to touch the Rs 100 crore revenue mark.

  • POPxo expecting to see a considerable increase in ad revenues in vernacular space

    POPxo expecting to see a considerable increase in ad revenues in vernacular space

    MUMBAI: Started a few years ago from a small working space in Delhi’s Hauz Khas, POPxo is the one-stop destination for millennial women looking for questions to their answers related to beauty, healthcare, relationships, and everything that concerns their world. The content-website hosts a great deal of written and video content connecting communities of women with similar interests and offering them an easy platform to communicate and discuss.

    POPxo growth lead Manan Jain told Indiantelevision.com that the company was started with an idea to bridge the big gap that was there in content specific to millennial women. “When we started, there was no single brand that was producing content exclusively for women, especially for millennial women. Yes, there were magazines but nobody was doing what POPxo is doing. We saw a huge growth in search and social at that time and it has been great for the past 3-4 years.”

    As per Jain, the site now is getting 42 million active MAU and 4-5 million DAU, across platforms, however, the ad revenue from programmatic ads has a potential for further improvement.

    POPxo has started experimenting in the regional content space as well and launched four vernacular content sites—Marathi, Bangla, Tamil, and Telugu—last year, complementing the English and Hindi versions. Jain stated that the new sites are performing well, especially Marathi, of which the team has got a good hold in both social and search paradigms.

    Speaking about the performance of the newly launched vernacular sites, Jain revealed that they are witnessing a 300 per cent month-on-month traffic growth. "The ad revenues for vernacular content are low as compared to the same for English content. However, the user acquisition through content is a little easier. I expect that in the next 5-6 years, just like English, we are going to see ad revenues increase considerably in the vernacular space as well."  

    Like many content platforms, POPxo also is finding its space in the merchandise market. Apart from affiliate collaborations, it is converting some of its content into merchandise for the millennial young.

    Talking about the same, Jain said, “We have just started our online and offline commerce platforms. Right now, the base is very small and so is the SKU but the revenue is substantial. It is also because we don’t have to spend much on marketing. We promote the products through our own machinery. We have a big name and good social media following. We have a full 40-people edit team that writes the concepts and we distribute it on our own platforms through videos.”

    He added that the products are in the lifestyle space right now but soon it will be revealing some offerings in beauty and fashion.

  • Facebook’s ‘Why Am I Seeing This Ad’ update to help brands create better impact

    Facebook’s ‘Why Am I Seeing This Ad’ update to help brands create better impact

    MUMBAI: Social media giant Facebook recently announced some new controls to its ‘Why Am I Seeing This Ad’ feature offering more transparency and control to its users. The platform will now show more detailed information on the targeting parameters used and the source of information for a particular ad, among several other control measures for the users to pick which ads they want to see and which they don’t.

    Digichefs co-founder Deep Mehta feels that there was a strong need for Facebook to roll out features like these given ‘the scandals’ it had been involved in during the last few years.

    Logicserve Digital co-founder and CEO Prasad Shejale thinks that the social media company is making conscious efforts to take care of  users’ data & privacy and gain back their trust after numerous concerns that it has faced around user data misuse.

    He adds, “Also, we saw many countries passing laws to ensure user data is protected and not misused by companies and brands including GDPR, California Consumer Privacy Act and also India's Personal Data Protection Bill to be discussed in the upcoming parliament session. The new-age users are smart and becoming mindful about their data, its usage, and how, at times, unwanted ads often cross the fine line between being helpful and being spooky. This further adds to consumers' concern about how their information reaches the brand. They also feel the need for an option to opt-out of such marketing activities and, sometimes, judge the brands for exploiting users' behavioural data.”

    Times Internet COO-Indiatimes and lifestyle brands Angad Bhatia notes that this is a step in the right direction. “Empowering users to further control their newsfeed experience helps build a stronger relationship between the user and the platform. The more control users have, the better is the retention and higher is the uptake of the platform. Facebook has reached a critical mass from both the advertiser demand and user supply sides. This only leads to a better advertising recommendation. With this, advertisers can gauge customer affinity and organic pull of the brands by serving them their brands of choice.”

    Most of the digital industry is of the view that the move won’t impact the advertisers’ reach immediately. Shejale says, “I really don't think any good step like this can truly impact the reach. Rather, if they adhere to the rules, it will only help brands create better impact among the audiences and build their brand equity.”

    1702 Digital co-founder Mihir Joshi mentions that this is just the ‘learning phase’ for Facebook. He adds, “The new update in the Facebook feature won't impact the advertisers reach. Diligent audience targeting helps marketers achieve their goals. Seldom, they do bombard the user, which is when the question of ''Why do I see this Ad?'' arises.”

    However, Zolo co-founder and CEO Nikhil Sikri says that the move will impact the advertisers who use Facebook retargeting by uploading user lists which they’ve not generated themselves i.e. purchased from 3rd party vendors. “This change will have a long-standing impact on those businesses which are using the non-opt-in database as Facebook might stop those brands from targeting custom audiences and thus limit their reach on social channels.”

    The move is not only a great proposition for users worried about the safety of their data but comes as a great opportunity for advertisers looking to streamline their strategies and targeting approach.

    Triton Communications executive vice president Virendra Saini shares that it can help advertisers in checking competitors' ad targeting. This might help them in better planning their approach as well.

    Bhatia quips that such initiatives are a part of the bigger shift in the industry’s perspective of the advertiser-consumer relationship and thus they should look at it with an approach to embrace this system.

    He says, “The ‘spray and pray’ approach in advertising has rarely worked and is rightfully on its way out. It pays to effectively engage potential customers via a meaningful conversation about your brand than sneak in pop-up ads that are jarring and disrupt their experience.”

  • Colgate-Palmolive (India) appoints Ram Raghavan as MD

    Colgate-Palmolive (India) appoints Ram Raghavan as MD

    MUMBAI: Colgate-Palmolive( India) Limited has appointed Ram Raghavan as managing director during a decision was taken in a board meeting held on 18 July. The appointment will be effective 1 August.

    “This is to inform you that the Board of Directors of the Company, in their meeting held on July 18, 2019 have appointed Mr. Ram Raghavan (DIN 0008511606} as Managing Director of the Company with effect from August 1, 2019,” the company posted in a fining on Bombay stock exchange (BSE).

    Raghavan has been associated with the organization since 1997 and assumed increasing responsibilities in Customer Development and Marketing. Over the years, he progressed through a series of leadership roles across various divisions and subsidiaries of Colgate-Palmolive.

    Before being elevated to the new position, Raghavan served as Vice President Marketing of Asia Pacific Division of Colgate-Palmolive. Raghavan holds a bachelor's degree in Accounting from Narsee Monjee College of Commerce and Economics and an MBA from Jamnalal Bajaj Institute of Management Studies.

  • Force Motors announces principal sponsorship of Puneri Paltan

    Force Motors announces principal sponsorship of Puneri Paltan

    MUMBAI: Force Motors, Pune based automotive manufacturer, today announced its Principal Sponsorship for Team Puneri Paltan for Season 7 of the Pro Kabaddi league once again.Puneri Paltan has proven its capabilities and was amongst the top contenders for the title position.This year, the team will be captained by Surjeet Singh and coached by Arjuna awardeeAnup Kumar. Under his helm, the Indian kabaddi team won Kabaddi World Cup in 2016 and Asian Gold medal in 2010 and 2014. 

    This year its power packed team includes star players from Haryana, Maharashtra and Iran. Puneri Paltan plays its first match of this season on July 22 against Haryana Steelers in Hyderabad.

    Force Motors’ sponsorship of this indigenous sport is based on the common characteristics shared by this earthy sport and its rugged, reliable and proven vehicles like Kargo Kingrange, Shaktiman pick-ups and Sanman,Balwan range of Agricultural Tractors.

    Mr. PrasanFirodia, Managing Director Force Motors said, “Kabaddi is an indigenous and popular sport followed by most of our customers in rural India. The association strengthens the common ground of this earthy sport and our product range- Indigenous, Rugged and Agile.  Our Kargo King, Shaktimanpick-up and Sanman&Balwan agricultural Tractors resonate these qualities. We are pleased to be the principal partner of our local Pune team- Puneri Paltan. We are hopeful for a spectacular performance and wish all the players very best for this season! ”
     

  • UNIQLO Unveils India plans – announces 3 stores in Delhi area, with the first to open in october

    UNIQLO Unveils India plans – announces 3 stores in Delhi area, with the first to open in october

    MUMBAI: UNIQLO, the Japanese global apparel retailer, today announces the strategic rollout plan for its introduction in India this fall. Given the size and fast growth of the Indian market, the launch will for the first time involve three separate stores, to be able to offer LifeWear to as many people as possible. The first of three UNIQLO stores will open in October in New Delhi.

    "We are committed to the Indian market and are very excited to be launching our first three stores in Delhi, a region that embraces diversity and culture, from art and design to craftmanship and fashion,” said Tadashi Yanai, UNIQLO Founder and Chairman, President & CEO, Fast Retailing. “The opening of our first store, UNIQLO Ambience Mall Vasant Kunj, followed by a second and third store a little later, represents a significant step in our company's global strategy. We look forward to offering our high-quality, affordable LifeWear apparel to the people of India,” he added.

    LifeWear is the UNIQLO commitment to creating perfect clothing that meets the needs of everyone’s daily lifestyles. High-quality, highly functional, affordable and constantly evolving, LifeWear is inspired by life’s needs to provide thoughtful and timeless clothing available in a variety of colours and styles for people of all ages.

    The first UNIQLO store will be located at Ambience Mall, Vasant Kunj, one of the most popular shopping districts of the Delhi metropolitan area. UNIQLO Ambience Mall Vasant Kunj measures close to 35,000 square feet in total sales area on three levels and will feature prominent store-front branding through UNIQLO’s unique red colour. The full range of LifeWear will be available for men, women, kids and babies, including the popular line of UTs (UNIQLO T-shirts).

    The second and third UNIQLO stores will be located at DLF Place Saket, a newly renovated shopping destination set to reopen in Fall, and DLF CyberHub, the heart of the millennial city of Gurugram, respectively. Each of the two sites will be sized to offer the full range of LifeWear for men, women, kids and babies.

  • World Emoji Day: Emojis For Brand Marketing

    World Emoji Day: Emojis For Brand Marketing

    It is rightly said that ‘Pictures speak louder than words’. Emojis are the small icons that depict emotions or objects like food, snacks, clothes, weather, animals, accessories and many more! These are highly impactful if used correctly at the right place, right time and to the right people. It is a fun mode of interaction. Emojis provide advertisers and brand marketers a huge opportunity to effectively convey their messages to their audience. 

    The reason behind emojis being highly impactful is that they are used in daily conversations. Previously, brands picked-up phrases that were used in daily conversations. For instance, big marketing campaigns like Maruti’s ‘Kitna deti hai’ and Surf Excel’s ‘Daag Ache Hain’. Such campaigns spoke about the regular questions of the consumers and highlighted the benefits of the products. Maruti’s campaign was a huge success as it spoke about the most common questions that the consumers ask. 

    Emojis are regularly used in chats, emails and other means of communications. The brands which are focusing on effectively reaching out to their audience should be well-versed with the language and tonality that they use regularly. Millennials constantly use emojis regularly, if they are the targeted mass, then they will have to start using emojis as it will help them communicate their message better. 

    Many brands are coming up with custom emojis like Mumbai Indians which received a great response from the people. The moment a brand uses common lingo, they can connect with their audience better. There are 2 ways that brands can leverage emojis i.e. creating their own set of emojis or picking up the current popular ones. Custom emojis are unique and act as a brand identity. It can make wonders happen but on the other hand, if there’s a failure, people might hesitate to accept it. It gives the perception of the brand trying hard to look cool. 

    On the other hand, picking up current popular emojis and weaving them into your brand message proves to be successful, if it is smartly done. The fact that people are celebrating World Emoji Day is a testimonial that they have been using it in regular conversations for years. Emojis is a new language now. 

    Presently, using emojis actively for branding is still an open jury. As it is yet to be understood whether it is as effective as the regular language or phrases, it is crucial to select emojis that are relevant to your brand. Choosing the right emojis can make wonders happen, but a wrong choice may lead to confusion. The emojis must be relatable to the brand hence, it is advisable to carefully monitor and select them. It is not a one-time process, it is vital to use the brand emojis consistently to ensure that these are registered in the minds of the consumers. 

    The emojis should never be force-fit. It is better to understand what your brand messaging is and then try initiating a conversation with one consumer. If the conversation along with the emojis makes sense, then try exploring it and weave your advertising using emojis. Using emojis is a bad idea if a brand followed a serious messaging and caters to a serious audience. However, emojis are an add-on to the language and should be used as an add-on to your communications. It cannot become a primary tool for branding. 

    (The author is business head, IdeateLabs. The views expressed are his own and Indiantelevision.com may not subscribe to it.)

  • Fujifilm to rely on B2B, B2C marketing for GFX 100 and Premista

    Fujifilm to rely on B2B, B2C marketing for GFX 100 and Premista

    MUMBAI: After a global launch in May, Fujifilm introduced its latest innovation breakthrough in India, the FUJIFILM GFX100 mirrorless digital camera (“GFX100”) and its ‘Premista’ series of lenses. The camera incorporates an image sensor with the world's highest 102 million pixels resolution and unique colour reproduction technology to achieve the world-leading image quality.

    Fujifilm India head of image capturing SM Ramprasad told indiantelevision.com that the prime target consumers for this camera are professional photographers working in commercial industries like fashion and advertising. “This is for all the people who want more details on their images; the images which are meant not to just stay on the monitor but go beyond that. This camera is going to deliver for them.”

    He also talked about the newly launched ‘Premista’ series of the lenses which is being targeted at DOPs working in Bollywood as well as the Indian television industry.

    Ramprasad said, “We want to establish these lenses as one of the key players in the industry with high-end professional cameras. They have seen how these lenses work on cameras from our X series as a reference mark and over a period of time, these users are going to mature and use the GFX series. So, we are hoping that these lenses will help us in selling both the high-end as well the mid-and lower-end cameras.”

    Fujifilm India Pvt Ltd managing director Haruto Iwata added that the cameras are not necessarily meant for the high-end professional users but also for photography enthusiasts even if they are at the amateur level. He noted that Fujifilm is using e-commerce channels like Amazon and Flipkart to make these products accessible to all sorts of consumers who want to give a professional touch to their work.

    Speaking about the marketing plan for the products, Ramprasad shared that the primary plan is B2B marketing but it is going to be a mix of B2B and B2C. “For B2C we are planning to use conventional modes like print as well as social media. For B2B, we are focusing on events and workshops,” he said.

    Ramprasad further added, “We did a lot of workshops last year as well and this year we are planning to expand further. We have already engaged 15 X-series photographers, who are our influencers. Apart from them, we have enrolled 25 X-mentors who will not only share their knowledge but will also help our customers in understanding how our products can be used to enhance their professional work experience.”

    He shared that in the coming few weeks, the company is planning to roll out a number of promotional activities for not just e-shoppers but also patrons of their retail stores as well.

    The products were launched on 16 July in Mumbai.  Fujifilm general manager for the imaging product division Toshi Iida told Indiantelevision.com that he was surprised to see the number of pre-orders the product was getting despite its high price point and it was exciting for him to launch the camera in India.

    Haruto Iwata said in a press statement, “This is indeed a gratifying moment for us and we are excited to announce the launch of the world's highest 102 million pixels mirrorless camera – GFX100 in India. At Fujifilm India, our endeavour has always been to bind innovation together with service that enhances customer delight. With the launch of GFX100, we have achieved a great milestone in our digital camera business. I am optimistic that the launch will further enhance our presence in India and we will continue introducing cameras that deliver an unparalleled standard of optical brilliance that is sure to delight a photographer’s fantasy.”

    Influencers' fashion photographer Dabboo Ratnani and cinematographer Palash Das were also present at the launch.

    Dabboo Ratnani said, “It is a matter of great pride for me to be associated with a cult brand like Fujifilm. The new GFX100 camera embodies a new standard of optical excellence with technological brilliance in new mount and optics; retaining Fujifilm’s renowned legacy. Packed with powerful features, the camera displays Fujifilm’s legendary artistry that will empower users to expand the realm of photographic capabilities. With this association, we look forward to an advanced mirrorless camera experience and witness a shift in the existing imaging industry to newer heights.”

    Palash Das said, “I was recently honoured to shoot on the Premista 28-100mm large format zoom lens. The lens is indeed a breakthrough with crisper images and proper focal length coverage throughout the zoom range. It has a beautiful flare to it and the bokeh effect is also quite wonderful. My overall experience with the lens is nothing but fantastic and I will encourage more DOPs to use this zoom lens in Bollywood and across the world.”