ITV

Category: Brands

  • Housing, PropTiger, Makaan blogs to be available on Alexa

    Housing, PropTiger, Makaan blogs to be available on Alexa

    MUMBAI: Elara Technologies, a Singapore-based digital real estate company and owner of Housing.com, PropTiger.com, and Makaan.com, has announced the launch of an initiative offering latest news of the Indian real estate sector on Alexa- compatible smart home devices. Alexa users will now be able to consume respective news and blog sections of housing news, PropGuide, and MakaanIQ on Amazon Alexa.

    To listen to daily updates, users need to add Housing News, MakaanIQ or PropGuide to the Alexa skill set, and it will read the latest news in real estate along with other news from sources that one may have added. The cloud-based voice service from Amazon Alexa will present a compact brief of the news that can be consumed efficiently by a user. 

    Housing.com, PropTiger.com and Makaan.com group CPTO Ravi Bhushan said, “With almost 28 per cent of queries, voice-enabled searches are the new frontier and they are expected to contribute 50 per cent of all global searches. We are always at the forefront of adopting technology and transforming customer experience by providing instant solutions. Getting our news content in the voice format is another step towards offering our customers the utmost convenience. We see immense potential in serving informational queries such as latest news, property rates, how to guides and more such content in the voice format.”

    “With emerging technologies shaping our lifestyle and dependencies, the recent development demonstrates our single-minded focus and commitment towards consumers, helping them experience property in a way never envisaged before. Most forward-thinking companies have pioneered change, in our field, we are delighted to have done it again,” added Bhushan.

  • Tablez to launch US-based Build-A-Bear in India

    Tablez to launch US-based Build-A-Bear in India

    MUMBAI: Tablez India rings in the New Year with the announcement of a partnership with the US-based Build-A-Bear, a global experiential retailer offering innovation and technology for guests to make their own customised stuffed animals. Build-a-Bear aims to reach as many as 9 million households in the top 15 cities in India by 2025.

    Tablez shared in a press release that besides standalone stores, shop-in-shop formats of Build-A-Bear would be launched within Toys“R”Us as part of Tablez, the retail arm of LuLu Group International. 

    Tablez MD Adeeb Ahamed said, “The Build-A-Bear concept is a one-of-a-kind retail experience, and we are thrilled to bring it to India. We believe that children who come to our stores will be able to enjoy a different shopping experience that includes participation in creating stuffed animals of their own choice.”

    He also added, "At Tablez, we are continuously striving to meet the increasing demand for high-quality specialty toys, and we look forward to opening more Build-A-Bear and Toys"R"Us stores across India, as our company continues to grow."

    Build-A-Bear Workshop chief strategy officer Dorrie Krueger said, “We look forward to embarking on this new partnership with Tablez India and helping establish and grow the Build-A-Bear brand in this important global market. As our international franchise portfolio continues to expand, we are further assured that the hug of a teddy bear is understood in any language."

  • Kyoorius Launches ‘The Shortlist’

    Kyoorius Launches ‘The Shortlist’

    MUMBAI: Make informed investment decisions that maximise your award efforts. Let your work be audited in The Shortlist by a world-class jury before entering international award shows.

    It’s no secret that the advertising, media and digital agency businesses are challenged with pressure on margins, forced by increased competition. In this environment, agency management is searching for areas in which costs can be cut without compromising on the quality of their output.

    It’s this simple understanding of what the agency is going through that has provoked Kyoorius to launch ‘The Shortlist’, an initiative that helps agencies manage costs in the area of awards entries.

    Rajesh Kejriwal, co-founder & CEO, Kyoorius, comments, “Our continuous dialogue with the marketing communications fraternity is the reason behind The Shortlist. Awards are expensive investments – the reasons for entering an award show are many. As the economic climate in which agencies operate gets tougher, wiser decisions have to be made to ensure better ROI. The Shortlist provides valuable feedback and validates what eventually can or should be entered into awards shows.”

    Every entry to The Shortlist will be evaluated by a world-class jury comprising international and Indian judges, as has been the case with every Kyoorius award, such as the Kyoorius Creative Awards, the Kyoorius Design Awards, the Times of India Power of Print Awards, the STAR Re-Imagine Awards, etc.

    “The Shortlist is the truth told by some of the best creative minds in the world,” says Josy Paul, chairman and chief creative officer, BBDO India. “It’s not just about awards but a honest and objective assessment of where our ideas stand in the larger global scheme. Think of it as the qualification round for the creative world cup. Winning is the byproduct.”

    “Kyoorius seems to have hit on a super pragmatic idea for today’s cash-strapped times for agencies,” comments Amer Jaleel, group chief creative officer and chairman, MullenLowe Lintas Group. “All of us rue the fact that there are too many awards these days but to take that insight and come up with a pre-awards idea, takes a special talent. To me this idea sounds as big as The Gunn Report which aggregated points for agencies post awards. This one is pre and it can be used as a predictive tool so agencies can focus on where to invest their increasingly hard-earned revenue.”

    “I believe The Shortlist is a great idea that I wish existed a decade ago,” says Sidharth Rao, co-founder and CEO, Dentsu Webchutney. “All agencies will agree that there is huge wastage of time, resources and money when it comes to selection of entries to awards that we all aspire to win. A high quality jury will help the industry optimise its budgets, resources and expectations.”

    “It is much needed insightful initiative by Kyoorius,” says Manish Bhatt, founder director, Scarecrow M&C Saatchi. “In the 1990s, legends like Neil French and David Droga used to help award aspirants personally in Ogilvy and Publicis (respectively) to shortlist and curate award-worthy ideas from our international wish-list. New age agencies and young aspirants of today's era need such world-standard mentorship to shortlist their dhobi-list of potential entries especially in this financially challenged phase of our industry. What better than a dynamic platform like The Shortlist to take a step in this direction and help the industry meaningfully.”

    “This is an idea that CCOs and CFOs will love,” says Bobby Pawar, chairman and chief creative officer of Havas Group India. “It’s so on the nose, so obviously brilliant that I wonder that no one (including me) thought of it before. In far too many cases the approach to entering awards was ‘spray and pray’.  The Shortlist can effectively put a bullet to the head of the long-shot and ‘no shot’ entries. There is the added advantage of being able to tell teams who won’t quit whining, ‘If your work can’t make The Shortlist, it has a snowball’s chance in hell of making it anywhere.”

    “The Shortlist will ensure nothing but quality and pure creativity,” says Santosh Padhi, co-founder and chief creative officer, Taproot Dentsu. “The Shortlist to me is like the Ranji Trophy format which ultimately helps the Indian team, it’s a good platform to focus country first, which we have always played on the backfoot. Another advantage is most of the time when we enter the work it’s finished and released so the bullet is already fired, in this case one can send semi-finished ideas too and if the feedback is well defined, well directed and if implemented accordingly this can make a great difference to the final product”.

    The Shortlist has been set up in partnership with Zee Entertainment Enterprises Ltd, and with the support of The One Club For Creativity, organisers of the prestigious One Show and the ADC Awards.

    "The Shortlist is a highly useful new resource that will greatly assist creative directors as they determine their awards show entries,” says Kevin Swanepoel, CEO, The One Club for Creativity.  “The decision to enter a piece of work to an award show must be well thought-through, and The One Club has worked closely with Kyoorius to develop this platform to help agencies make that determination.  The Shortlist utilises a robust evaluation process, designed specifically to provide an actionable audit.  At the end of the process, creative directors will have greater confidence in then submitting their 'shortlisted' work to The One Show global awards."

    Details on the call for entries, categories, submission guide and jury to be revealed soon at theshortlist.kyoorius.com

    The evaluation of entries to The Shortlist will be announced in February 2019.

    Since 2006, has been at the forefront of connecting the creative community in India through programmes that inform, inspire and stimulate. An initiative of Transasia Fine Papers, Kyoorius is a not-for-profit organisation that celebrates all aspects of creative communication and marketing. Through events, regular publications and other initiatives, Kyoorius is committed to galvanising creativity in India and inspiring future innovators.

  • 2019 will see brands focus on tier II, III customers: Onida’s Pratyush Chinmoy

    2019 will see brands focus on tier II, III customers: Onida’s Pratyush Chinmoy

    MUMBAI: One of the most popular electronic companies, Mirc Electronics Ltd (Onida), which, in fact, used to lead the roost in the 1980s and is still very much in demand, is equally popular for its marketing campaigns. The iconic devil, which the brand has recently revived, was one of the fondest characters that Indian audience got from the ads of a decade or two ago. Pratyush Chinmoy, the head of marketing at the company, tells Indiantelevision.com how his brand and the related industry fared in 2018 and what are his expectations from 2019, in an exclusive conversation.

    Excerpts:

    How was the year 2018 for your brand and what do you expect in 2019?

    Overall, year 2018 was a mixed bag for the industry. It was a year of shift in the periods of consumer purchases (for e.g. shift in the Diwali festive season by ~19 days led to late footfalls at retail outlets), shift in end-buying preferences, slight smoothening in the crest and troughs of the seasonality factor, and also a year of innovation. Onida in this year also brought back it’s iconic DEVIL and had released major campaigns in mass media channels such as televisions, print, digital etc., while also concentrating on the in-store last-mile marketing efforts to capture consumer attention. The year also saw Onida re-affirming its unique space of sound in the television space through its successful launch of KY Super Thunder TV, which was innovation at its best.

    2019 is expected to be positive with our marketing campaigns and budget carrying on the increasing spends and efforts to drive our brand into the consumer awareness and consideration set leading to purchases. Focus on e-commerce channel would also be strong by expanding our SKUs and products categories, thereby leading to higher sales and profitability.

    How was the year 2018 for brands in your category and what is 2019 going to be like?

    2018 was a year of changing tax structure in the major consumer durable space which caused disarray for few companies and retail channel alike. It was also a year expanding unorganised players playing aggressively on prices, giving the bigger brands a run for their money. Also, far more mature consumers with both online and off-line sales at their disposal have been at the forefront to being catalyst of the trend towards pull marketing than push marketing.

    2019 for most brands would continue to be year of top innovators with best price points taking the driving seat. Consumers in tier-II & III are expected to be the major focus for every brand to expand to newer horizons. We might have just scratched the surface of the buying prowess of the hinterland consumer!

    What were the key marketing trends for brands across categories in 2018?

    One clearly visible trend was companies increasing their digital pie in the overall marketing spends, in recognition of shifting consumer touchpoints. Also, marketing analytics and research studies to get the pulse of the consumer was a driving factor behind many campaigns being more personalised and granular to an increasing heterogeneous consumer sect. Many industry leaders also saw an impressive growth in video marketing, OTT media, with consumer from all walks of life consuming data at a much faster pace than ever before helped by telecom price decreases. A few new brands also took on larger brands with aggressive pricing and guerrilla advertising.

    What are the key marketing trends that the brands should be banking upon in the coming year?

    2019 will usher in many firsts in the way consumers would interact with brands which won’t be limited to social media or other traditional touch-points. Brands would need to be more nimble and agile to capture the Voice of the Customer across every available outlet, and should reciprocate fast to any averse or suggestive feedback leading to great word-of-mouth. Traditional media will see a decrease in pie leading to higher spends in video marketing, and also organic marketing channels. Products would still continue to be the hero among all the marketing communication elements with a tight need-benefit match only impressing consumers rather than hyperboles or claims in the advertisements.

    What were the most impressive marketing campaigns for 2018 according to you? 

    The best and funniest ad personally would be the Amazon Echo ad which was initially run in Superbowl, the campaign on ‘Alexa lost her voice’ which drove home the point of the voice technology-led product’s importance in consumers' everyday life.

  • Ebco’s city display centre launched in Bhopal

    Ebco’s city display centre launched in Bhopal

    MUMBAI: Ebco Pvt Ltd, one of India’s leading manufacturers of general hardware, kitchen, bedroom, and office fittings, has opened its second display centre in Madhya Pradesh in Bhopal the first having already been set up in Indore. This is Ebco’s 19th display centre in India.

    The company shared in a press statement, “This centrally located Display Centre in association with Shree Jee’s Hardware at R-22, Sairam Complex, MP Nagar, Zone II, is staffed with a well-trained team and showcases a sample of Ebco’s wide range of over 5,500 products in real-life settings. This enables customers, architects, designers, and others to get a first-hand experience of how these products can be used to simplify and enhance lives!”

    Ebco was founded in 1963 as a small tool room operation. Today, from small beginnings, it has become an industry leader in household fittings and hardware, from simple, yet high-quality screws, furniture locks and hinges to the more premium and elegantly styled fittings that make home, office and retail furniture, not just beautiful, but adds improved functionality from a customer point of view. 

    With its manufacturing facilities across four plants in Maharashtra, a wide distributorship and dealership, display centres in many large towns of India, Ebco provides quick and easy availability of the latest in furniture fittings and hardware.

  • Future Consumer focuses on innovating, inclusiveness using data and distribution

    Future Consumer focuses on innovating, inclusiveness using data and distribution

    MUMBAI: Future Consumer Ltd, the flag-bearer of FMCG 2.0 in India, recently launched a special Braille-friendly packaging  for its body wash brand—ThinkSkin. The step is an initial one to make its products more inclusive and accessible to all. With this, the company not only wants to reach the differently-abled customers but also aspires to help the Indian consumers upgrade to a better and healthier way of bathing.

    On the sidelines of the launch, Indiantelevision.com interacted with Raunaq Sharma, the chief marketing officer for the FMCG Brands of Future Consumer to get some insight into what goes behind creating more inclusive and accessible products, and what other innovations are in the pipeline in the near future.

    Sharma said that the company is definitely looking towards taking its FMCG 2.0 legacy forward in the coming years and has a lot of products in the pipeline including its very own detergent and some interesting offerings in the snacks segment. The company is looking towards innovating more and creating products that come out as disruptive brands, are unique and also affordable.

    Speaking about what helps the company in creating these offerings, Sharma, with much passion, briefs about the extensive research that the company does. He says, “One of the beauties of being a part of the group that also runs retail chain Big Bazaar is that you get access to a lot of data – what the consumer is buying or not buying, who is buying what, and what products are being picked at what price point. We have a team that constantly churns this data and then derives insights that further help us in finding out white spaces, in which no other established FMCG company is offering any products and we can experiment.”

    Another advantage that he talks about is having the distribution under control. “We don’t have as much of a problem that other established companies would have in initially placing their products. For example, they might have to take the product to 1 lakh outlets and thus have to produce that much. We, on the other hand, can do small production and introduce the product in a few stores.”

    He further adds, “We, therefore, get the chance to improve the product prior to launching it in the big bag way. That’s a big advantage that we have. Consumer insight, access to analytics and the ability to experiment without really having any fear of failing is helping us in making more of these products.”

    This experimentation is definitely helping the group in getting big numbers. He proudly mentions that the category share of Future Consumer jumped from 5 per cent to reach 60 per cent in the past six months. “This is because we realised that if we have the right product at the right price, there is a huge market available,” he quips.

    Sharma also spoke about how these products are being placed in the market. On being asked about the marketing budget for the year, he refrained from quoting any numbers and says, “We are looking at the year positively. We are going to spend a lot more than what we had spent in the last year; a significant jump is going to be there.” As per him, the biggest goal for the company to achieve is to get more consumers to pick its products.

    Talking about advertising Sharma shares, “We are focussing on digital the big way. Even ThinkSkin will be promoted hugely on digital platforms to tap the consumers. Also, we have recently announced integration with Big Bazaar for a cooking show on YouTube.”

    As per recent trends, the company is also undertaking product integration into digital videos. “A year before the last, we did a web series on Kosh—our oats brand and that did well. Right now, we are seriously looking into all the possibilities that we may have in content marketing. Content marketing is a place where consumers can’t skip. When you have smartly integrated content, the consumer also remembers it for a longer time. The great part is that till the time the content is there and watched, the brand remains alive.”

  • ITC Savlon launces Braille enabled pack of antiseptic liquid

    ITC Savlon launces Braille enabled pack of antiseptic liquid

    MUMBAI: ITC Savlon celebrated World Braille Day with the launch of a Braille enabled pack of Savlon Antiseptic liquid in India. As per the brand, the Braille packs have been designed not just to enable access but also, in its simple way, help the visually impaired to identify and access the product easily. This proactive initiative exemplifies the brand’s commitment to an empowering consumer experience.

    Savlon said in a press statement, “With the support of India's largest association for the Blind and visually impaired, National Association for the Blind (NAB), ITC Savlon began engaging with this thought on World Sight Day and today has made Savlon Braille packs available across the country. The initiative is not only to raise awareness on Braille but also enable a design language that enables inclusivity. The Braille packs have been distributed to NAB centres in India and the initiative marks a beginning to a series of educative and interactive workshops in select blind schools in India in the first phase. In addition, Braille magazines, newspapers and radio form the core communication outreach for the initiative.”

    NAB executive director Pallavi Kadam said, “It is an incredible step forward and I would like to thank ITC Savlon for this initiative. Many of us have the gift of vision and not often do we realise the everyday struggles of the visually impaired especially when everything around is designed for people with vision. A braille pack is not only enabling but also makes it easily accessible for all. Definitely, an inclusive beginning!”

    ITC Limited chief executive—personal care products business Sameer Satpathy said, “In line with ITC’s commitment to serve a larger societal purpose and to create enduring value for all stakeholders, Savlon celebrates World Braille Day by making this unique first of its kind braille enabled packaging in the FMCG space accessible across touchpoints. The initiative is a determined step forward to create a more equal and inclusive society by enabling access.

    As part of the communication outreach, visually impaired individuals shared screen time as protagonists of two television commercials to encourage inclusiveness and bring alive how a simple change empowers their everyday life.

    Ogilvy chief creative officer worldwide and executive chairman India Piyush Pandey said, “It is not commonplace to find clients like ITC Savlon who are not only rooted in the realities of their consumer but also have a heart that believes in inclusive and positive change. The concept of making the antiseptic bottle easily accessible through Braille, to the visually impaired, is extremely empowering. I hope this marks a beginning in a category like FMCG which has a portfolio of everyday products!”

  • Future Consumer introduces braille friendly products on World Braille Day

    Future Consumer introduces braille friendly products on World Braille Day

    MUMBAI: Future Consumer Ltd (FCL) launched braille friendly packaging for its body wash brand, ThinkSkin with Ajay Kumar Reddy, Captain of Indian Men’s Blind Cricket Team on World Braille Day.

    Priced at the rate of a soap, ThinkSkin is a contemporary body wash brand that aims to upgrade customers from using soap to body wash. The launch of braille packaging is in line with the company’s vision of representing FMCG 2.0 industry and empowering the consumer experience.

    Future Consumer managing director Ashni Biyani said, “As a FMCG 2.0 company, we offer innovative products that make life easier for our consumers. Braille packaging is a small step towards assisting the visual impaired in their daily routine. As a brand ThinkSkin empowers consumers to upgrade to body wash at the price of the soap. We will soon introduce never seen before innovation in product and packaging that will take consumer experience to the next level.”

    Future Consumer head – home and personal care Keshav Biyani said, “Advancements in technology gives us an opportunity to experiment not only with the core product but also with the packaging. Braille friendly products is just the tip of the iceberg. In the months to come consumers will experience products that will have a unique differentiation from what is currently available in the market.”

    Staying in line with its inclusive approach, FCL will soon be launching more braille friendly products in various other categories like spices, sauces, and multiple home care products. Crafted for the visually impaired, Braille Packaged body washes will be available at Big Bazaar, Big Bazaar GenNXT, Nilgiris, Heritage and Easyday stores in the country.

  • Nestlé launches Workplace by Facebook

    Nestlé launches Workplace by Facebook

    MUMBAI: Nestlé has adopted Workplace by Facebook as its global internal communication tool, to connect its workforce and better serve consumers. While a large majority of users have now joined the Workplace platform, the rollout will continue throughout 2019.

    The announcement comes as the latest and largest wave of staff join the platform, part of a process that began only nine months ago. Today, around 210,000 of its employees worldwide use the platform to connect and collaborate.

    Nestlé has pledged to move quicker to turn good ideas into great products to meet fast-changing consumer demand. With the majority of its employees active on the platform, Workplace is already making a difference. Internal engagement is higher and responses faster. People are experimenting and collaborating more, as well as sharing information and ideas.

    Workplace offers familiar Facebook features such as news feed, groups, chat, events and live streams, as well as seamless mobile integration.  Because Workplace is easy to use, it can connect everyone and reach employees where they are.

    The first wave of market adoption including Mexico, Brazil, the Middle East and South Africa saw 25 times higher engagement per post and very high rate of use on mobile devices. Amongst other advantages, managers can use Live video to connect directly with employees at different locations. Sales teams can also use Workplace for daily check-ins and to share information and best practice.

    Commenting on the move to Workplace, Nestlé executive vice president Chris Johnson said, “Nestlé is a people-first environment. We really rely on our talented teams to manage more than 2,000 Nestlé brands worldwide. We help our employees develop and we give them the right tools, so Workplace is a perfect fit.”

    Nestlé chief information officer Filippo Catalano said, “Today, using Workplace by Facebook we are able to give our employees across the globe a platform to build connections, enabling faster and more engaging sharing of information.”

    Workplace by Facebook vice president Julien Codorniou said, “As the global work landscape continues to change and the demand for better collaboration, best-of-breed IT and mobile-first work increases, we are honored to partner with a company like Nestlé to help employees work together to allow for limitless innovation.”

  • Xiaomi India holds first ever PatchWall Binge Awards

    Xiaomi India holds first ever PatchWall Binge Awards

    MUMBAI: Xiaomi, India’s number 1 smartphone and smart TV brand, today announced its first PatchWall Binge Awards 2018. Rolling out a number of exciting categories, the new award initiative explores a rich variety of content offered on Mi TVs’ PatchWall, and highlights some of the most loved movies, shows and music videos by Indian viewers in the year 2018.

    The PatchWall Binge Awards showcase 13 different categories such as the most popular Bollywood film, Popular International Film, popular TV Show in Hindi, popular Reality TV Series, Most Trending Content in 2018 and many more. These new awards also analyse and shed light upon content consumption patterns of Indian consumers on Mi TVs’ PatchWall, and what deeply connects with them.

    The PatchWall Binge Awards were conducted from 15 to 23 December 2018, which included a combination of PatchWall content consumption analysis from over a million Mi TVs, and voting polls across the brand’s social media platforms, Mi community, as well as on PatchWall wherein votes were casted by Mi Fans and viewers for their favourite series, movies and music.

    Furthermore, the brand aims to recognize the efforts of its content partners whose platforms feature the most popular content in the award categories. Following are the award winners of PatchWall Binge Awards 2018:

    Presenting some of the most popular entertainment content featured in 15+ languages, Xiaomi’s Patchwall powered Mi TVs offer 700,000+ hours of content across the largest library of Video-On-Demand providers. PatchWall is Xiaomi’s own interface specially designed for India, bringing together more than 14 different content partners, both local and global, Some of the top content partners are Hotstar, Eros Now, Hungama Play, SonyLIV, Voot, ALT Balaji, Sun NXT and many more.