ITV

Category: Brands

  • SC revives government case against Nestle Maggi in NCDRC

    SC revives government case against Nestle Maggi in NCDRC

    MUMBAI: Boiling fresh trouble for Nestle, the Supreme Court has revived the four-year-old Consumer Affairs Ministry’s case against its instant noodles Maggi on charges of unfair trade practices, false labeling, and misleading advertisements.

    A Bench headed by Justice DY Chandrachud said the report from CFTRI (Central Food Technological Research Institute, Mysuru), where the testing of the Maggi noodle samples was conducted, will form the basis for the proceedings.

    The government had filed a complaint in National Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission (NCDRC) in 2015, using a provision for the first time in the nearly three-decade-old Consumer Protection Act, stating that Nestle was causing harm to Indian consumers by allegedly indulging in unfair trade practices and false labeling of its noodles product—Maggi. The ministry had charged that Maggi noodle’s claim of being ‘Tasty Bhi Healthy Bhi’ was misleading as the product contained high amounts of lead and MSG (monosodium glutamate), which are unhealthy for human consumption. It had sought damages of Rs 640 crore from the company. The top court had earlier stayed the proceedings before the NCDRC after Nestle had challenged it.

  • Uber India sees massive revenue growth in 2017-18

    Uber India sees massive revenue growth in 2017-18

    MUMBAI: US-based cab-hailing platform, which competes with brands like Ola, Uber has shown an impressive revenue growth from its India business in the fiscal-ended March 2018. As per its filings with the ministry of corporate affairs, Uber has recorded revenue of Rs 21.5 crore in the fiscal a massive rise from Rs 1.04 crore in 2016-17.

    According to filings accessed via business intelligence platform Tofler, Uber India Technology also witnessed a manifold rise in its net profit, recorded at Rs 19.6 lakh in 2017-18 as compared to Rs 3.22 lakh in 2016-17.

    Though the company accumulated losses of $1.07 billion in September 2018 quarter, it is still willing to invest in Uber Eats and electric bikes & scooters businesses as well as in high-potential markets such as India and the Middle East.

  • Sleepwell’s new year “Run for Health” marathon

    Sleepwell’s new year “Run for Health” marathon

    MUMBAI: One of India’s leading mattress brands, Sleepwell organised a “Run for Health” 3 km marathon for its employees on 1 January 2019. The Marathon was organised at Sleepwell corporate office in Noida, and also at all other work locations/factories, across the country.

    As revealed by the company in a press statement, the objective of this Marathon was to inspire one and all to adopt a healthy lifestyle and to actively involve every stakeholder in regular health and fitness activities.

    Sleepwell managing director Rahul Gautam said, “Health is not only wealth but wealth of all wealths”. It is a state of complete physical, emotional & social well-being. Let us begin by changing our mindset from sick-care to healthcare by establishing good health as a priority.”

    “Sleepwell firmly believes that when people are in good health, they develop and nurture a healthy environment around. This healthy environment with healthy employees makes an organisation and an individual's success come true,” read the statement.

  • Ford India records highest-ever domestic wholesales in FY18

    Ford India records highest-ever domestic wholesales in FY18

    MUMBAI: As per a company statement, Ford India has recorded the highest ever domestic wholesales in its history at 265,714 units, in the year 2018. The number was 262,784 units in 2017. Domestic vehicle despatches in the past year stood at 97,804 units, up 12 per cent from 87,588 units in 2017.

    Ford India president and managing director Anurag Mehrotra said, “2018 was a turnaround year for Ford in India as we consistently delivered on our strategy of strong brand, right product, competitive cost and effective scale to strengthen our commitment to India. Despite headwinds due to regulatory and economic changes in India and export markets, we are confident of keeping the momentum in 2019. In India, we are confident of growing better than the industry and bringing many more customers to the Ford fold to experience the promise of transparency and differentiated experience.”

    However, exports in the month of December declined to 18,580 vehicles from 24,708 units in December 2017. Domestic wholesales in December stood at 5,840 vehicles as against 5,087 units in the same month last year.

  • Swiggy launches special food-specific WhatsApp Stickers

    Swiggy launches special food-specific WhatsApp Stickers

    MUMBAI: Online food-ordering and-delivering service, Swiggy has announced that it has teamed up with renowned illustrator Alicia Souza to create food-themed WhatsApp stickers. The sticker packs are currently live on the PlayStore and will be available for iOS shortly.

    Swiggy’s food-themed stickers include more than 30 customised graphics, including images of commonly texted lines like ‘Forgive me I was Hangry’, ‘Order for me no!’, ‘Too buzy, let’s Swiggy’ and India’s most ordered food items like Biryani, Pizza, Chai, and Momos.

    Swiggy VP marketing Srivats TS said, "Consumers spend significant amount of time planning their meals and snack breaks. These moments are instant mood lifters for all of us. With these food-themed stickers, we wanted to give everyone a fun way to express their relationship with food.”

    He added, "There are great synergies between Alicia Souza’s cute and quirky illustrative style and Swiggy's young and dynamic brand, which will resonate well with everyone, be it the time-strapped millennials, the innovative youngsters or even the fun-loving elders.”

    Illustrator Alicia Souza said, “Being a Swiggy loyalist and an avid WhatsApp sticker user, I am thrilled to have partnered with the brand on this project to come up with fun-filled stickers for foodies. It was the best possible way for me to showcase my emotions for food and I’m certain that most people would be able to relate to this."

  • Lamborghini to treble India sales in 2019

    Lamborghini to treble India sales in 2019

    MUMBAI: Italian super sports car maker Lamborghini is expecting to nearly treble its sales in India in 2019. As per media reports, a top company official has revealed the plans. The company is relying on its new super luxury SUV Urus to achieve the target, which is now set for a year earlier than its previous plans for 2020.

    The company had launched the super sports utility vehicle Urus priced at Rs 3 crore in January this year. With nine months of waiting period for Urus for 2019, Automobili Lamborghini India is also confident of becoming the leader in the super luxury car segment of vehicles, priced above Rs 2 crore, competing with the likes of Rolls Royce, Bentley apart from other sports car makers, including Ferrari.

    Last year, the company had clocked a sales figure of total 26 units in India.

  • Gaana launches PartyHub to curate personalised playlists

    Gaana launches PartyHub to curate personalised playlists

    MUMBAI: Music streaming service Gaana has announced the launch of its latest feature called PartyHub that will allow its users to curate a personalised playlist with the help of their friends for parties and get-togethers. “Incredibly intuitive and easy to use, the PartyHub allows the user to collaborate with his or her friends by sending them invites to join the party, after which, they can all add their own favorites to the playlists. This makes sure that the next time there’s a party, they can all enjoy the music together, dancing to the beats of heart-thumping party specials, chosen by none other than themselves,” states the service in a press release.

    Speaking about this exciting new feature, Gaana CEO Prashan Agarwal said, “At Gaana, we have always strived to offer our users the very best in terms of listening experience through our regularly updated playlists for Indian and international songs, curated to appeal to everyone. With PartyHub, we aim to make their lives easier and parties even more fun, giving the users complete control to create customisable playlists of songs with their friends, ensuring everyone has an amazing time on get togethers. This is an incredibly scalable use case which will allow our users to create playlists with their friends on the fly for parties, roadtrips, group study sessions, etc.”

    The vast range of genres offered includes latest hits, party anthems, electronic mix, 90's madness, shiny disco, remix tape, after party, and more. In fact, it also has options for kids party and slow jams lounge, making for the perfect ingredient to turn the next house party into an unforgettable phenomenon. The best part of the new feature is that Gaana has specifically taken into account its diverse and varied user base, so that it has something for everyone, be it a group of college-goers grabbing a drink together for the New Year’s Eve, a bunch of school-kids celebrating their friend’s birthday, or an ever-youthful gang of elderly retirees who’ve gathered together to catch up with each other’s lives, after a long time.

  • Amul gets relief in ice-cream ad case against HUL

    Amul gets relief in ice-cream ad case against HUL

    MUMBAI: Providing some relief to Gujarat Co-operative Milk Marketing Federation (GCMMF)-run Amul the Bombay High Court has allowed it to run its two TVCs, which were objected to by Hindustan Unilever Ltd (HUL), but only after deleting portions disparaging rivals like Kwality Wall’s.

    In the said judgment that ran into 87 pages, Justice Kathawalla had noted that in 2012-13, Amul started a campaign by distributing pamphlets stating the difference between a frozen dessert and ice cream. These pamphlets state: “Usse real milk wala Amul ice cream khilayein, Vanaspati tel wala nahi”. While frozen desserts contain vegetable oil, ice creams contain dairy fat.

    A division bench headed by Justice BR Gavai and Justice RI Chagla took the decision on an earlier appeal filed by GCMMF against the past judgment of a single bench of Justice SJ Kathawalla restricting Amul from broadcasting the two TV ads showing vanaspati (vegetable oil) flowing in a cup with frozen dessert written on it. The said campaign was launched in March last year and emphasised the difference between ice-creams (made from milk fat) and frozen desserts (made from vegetable oil).  HUL objected to the ads stating Vanaspati is not used in the manufacture of frozen desserts by Kwality Wall’s, instead, edible vegetable oil is used.

    However, the court also found that there was no need to restrain Amul from broadcasting both TVCs entirely – “We are of the view that such a blanket injunction could not have been granted by the learned single judge. A perusal of the advertisement would reveal that entire TVC cannot be said to be of objectionable nature.”

  • Zomato enters experiential events segment with Zomaland

    Zomato enters experiential events segment with Zomaland

    MUMBAI: Online restaurant guide and food ordering firm Zomato has announced its entry into the experiential events segment with the launch of Zomaland—a multi-city food and entertainment carnival. The carnival will be held across Delhi, Pune, and Bengaluru.

    Zomato COO Gaurav Gupta said, “We believe that if there is an experience to be built around food, Zomato has a significant role to play in making it happen. The introduction of Zomaland is a step forward towards Zomato's goal of 'better food for more people'.”

    Zomato Live global head Chaitanya Mathur said, "Although we are starting with 3 cities, we will extend the joy to many more cities around the world as we move ahead.”

  • Brand Street India integrates “Why? Stay! Calm!” under its umbrella

    Brand Street India integrates “Why? Stay! Calm!” under its umbrella

    MUMBAI: Brand Street India, an integrated marketing agency, has integrated “Why? Stay! Calm!” entertainment under its canopy. The new venture of BSI will focus on branded content for films and digital content production. With this new venture, Brand Street aims to expand and strengthen its roots in the entertainment segment by mid-2019 through several movie integrations which are already in the pipeline.

    Why Stay Calm business head Nirav Khandhadia will be spearheading the vertical. He has been associated with the entertainment industry from the past 10 years and has led marketing and client servicing for companies like Carat Media Services, ThinkTank Incorporation, psLIVE etc.

    Speaking on the new venture, Brand Street India chief business officer Surendra Singh said, “Owing to our previous experience and projects within the movie and entertainment sectors, we were looking for the right time to expand further into this segment and offer quality, content-centric brand integrations and digital associations for our clients.”

    Commenting on the new division, Why Stay Calm; Brand Street India business head Nirav Khandhadia said, “Advertisers and brands are now looking towards more variety of brand integrations in movies, TV shows, and digital productions. There is a positive trend in the industry and this gives us an impetus to offer better services to our clients. I feel privileged to have the opportunity to facilitate and catalyse this division of the company and scale our reach in this sector.”