Category: Brands

Amazon India launches Weavesmart on its marketplace

MUMBAI: Amazon India today announced the launch of Weavesmart, the largest e-commerce store for handlooms in India and an e-marketing partner for the Ministry of Textiles for promoting India Handloom Brand and Handloom Mark products, on its marketplace. Through this alliance, handloom & handcrafted products by weavers from various parts of the country associated with Weavesmart will now be available to millions of Amazon customers across India. Amazon India intends to help these associated weavers reach millions of customers across India and in turn help in empowering them.

Weavesmart brings quality and vibrant weaves such as handloom & handcrafted sarees, dress materials, dupattas, accessories and home & living products from handloom clusters belonging to the smallest of villages in India. Helping the weavers to display their creativity on a large scale, Weavesmart today has more than 3000 weavers in its network and more than 20,000 products.

Talking about this launch, Weavesmart, CEO, Ms. Nishita Manne said “Indian weavers produce some of the finest handloom and handcrafted products which have always found resonance with shoppers across the country. Weavesmart was launched with the objective to bring together the weaving community and buyers and provide a platform to showcase authentic and beautifully handcrafted products created with a lot of passion and hard work by the weavers and artisans. We are delighted to partner with Amazon India as this launch helps to achieve this objective. It will provide the weavers with the opportunity to reach out to millions of Amazon.in customers and expand their sales.”

“In line with our vision to transform the way India buys and sells, Amazon India has been continuously working towards enabling more and more sellers, weavers and artisans to embrace online selling and scale greater heights. Our partnership with Weavesmart is another key step towards our constant endeavor which is aligned with the Government’s ‘Make in India’ and ‘Digital India’ initiatives. With our experience and deep understanding of customers across the country, this launch will help provide a wider reach for these products which in-turn will have a positive impact in the lives of the weavers associated with Weavesmart. We are happy to support Weavesmart and offer them the most comprehensive suite of seller services and requisite tools in this digital journey,” said Gopal Pillai, Director & GM, Seller Services, Amazon India.

There are several pockets in the country with SMEs that offer a rich variety of offerings from apparels to handicrafts to organic products. With the aim to enable more and more of these SMEs as well as micro entrepreneurs like weavers, artisans and craftsmen to benefit from ecommerce and grow their businesses, Amazon.in launched the ‘Kala Haat’ program in 2016 and through its efforts, Amazon India wants to give these craftspersons’ the opportunity to showcase their products. Amazon India has been relentlessly working in collaboration with its on-ground partner Prione to penetrate into deeper regions in the country and put forward the real ‘Make in India’ offering to its customers. There are various initiatives that the company has taken in this direction through government partnerships and conducting workshops across the country.

All products listed by artisans and weavers are available through the ‘Handloom & Handicraft’ store on Amazon.in. Launched in 2016, the store aims at bringing the rich Indian heritage of handicrafts and handlooms to Indian consumers’ doorsteps. The store has enabled craftsmen from across India to come on Amazon.in from across categories such as sarees, jewelry, handbags, shoes and more. Amazon.in has partnered with various government bodies such as DC Handlooms and Gujrat Tribal Development Dept. to onboard 1100+ weavers/cooperatives/artisans in 11 states through 35+ workshops impacting upwards of 1.5 lac weaver & artisan households.

Amazon.in has signed a MoU with the Telangana government to promote their handloom and handicrafts online. In Telangana, APCO (handloom) and Lepakshi (handicraft) have been launched, while in West Bengal & Orissa Amazon.in is working with Tantuja (handloom), Jute Corporation of India and Boyanika (handloom). In Karnataka & Tamil Nadu, Amazon.in has enabled Cauvery Handlooms and Loomworld (handloom) to sell their products online. Amazon.in has also worked with central government agencies like TRIFED & Craft Cottage Industries Corporation to enable ‘Tribes India’ & ‘CCIE’ on the Amazon.in marketplace and has collaborated with UP Khadi & Handlooms to enable the Khadi societies in the state of Uttar Pradesh.

May 4, 2018
Parineeti Chopra becomes face of Speedo India

MUMBAI: Swimwear brand, Speedo, has announced Bollywood actress and fitness enthusiast Parineeti Chopra as its new fitness ambassador.

As the new face for Speedo India, Parineeti will be joining an esteemed roster of Olympians, athletes and trainers from around the globe.

Speedo, as a brand, is synonymous with performance swimwear, and via its global campaign #GetSpeedoFit, it has been working to elevate the status of swimming for fitness and reinforce that water workouts are the next big trend to get fit and achieve a total body workout.

Chopra says, “I’m excited to come on board as the fitness ambassador for Speedo India. I’ve grown up wearing Speedo swim suits and for me swimming is synonymous with Speedo. A favourite around the world, I love that Speedo now celebrates fitness and overall health. Swimming has always been a great workout which I’ve often resorted to, to cut the monotony of working out in the gym. Now, with the growing trend of water workouts there is so much more one can do in the pool to get in shape than lane swimming and I’m happy to help Speedo reinforce their commitment to fitness by encouraging more and more consumers to change their fitness routine and make the pool their new gym.”

Speedo India chief strategy officer Shamir Genomal says, “We’re really excited to welcome Parineeti Chopra as our new fitness ambassador. We remain committed in encouraging more and more people to switch their fitness regime and take up swimming or water workouts. With a fitness enthusiast like Parineeti on board, we hope to reach a lot more consumers. In addition to being the innovators of swimming, Speedo has an overarching mission to be the swimwear of choice for all, from the recreational swimmer to the Olympic champion.”

The actress will be seen sporting Speedo’s new fitness range meant for workouts in and out of the pool called Speedo H2O Active. Made with the modern fitness enthusiast in mind, H2O Active is designed for those who want more from their workouts. With so much choice on offer, H2O Active lends itself to a multitude of land and water based activities. With water workouts no longer just meaning lane swimming; with the help of training aids and HIIT exercises, fitness enthusiasts can achieve more in the water than ever before with this new range.

May 3, 2018
Publicis India, MMT part ways

MUMBAI: In a recent announcement, Publicis India and MakeMyTrip (MMT) have agreed to mutually part ways. This will also include the end of the agency’s journey with Goibibo, which was acquired by MMT. Details of the transition are still being worked out and the agency will be releasing the last few works for the brand very soon.

MakeMyTrip group chief marketing officer Saujanya Shrivastava says, “Publicis has been a commendable creative partner to us. As we reviewed the way forward, we mutually agreed to part ways as it is now time for us to discover a new approach to branding. I thank Publicis for their contribution, and wish them the very best for their future endeavours.”

Publicis India managing director Srija Chatterjee adds, “This brand-agency partnership was iconic in more ways than one. We harnessed and built the brand for more than three years, and jointly established MakeMyTrip and Goibibo as one of the leading brands in India with a differentiated and strong equity with consumers. The final outcome notwithstanding, for factors beyond our control, it was necessary that the partnership be reviewed from a different lens. We are happy with the way the relationship has turned out for us and we wish the team all the success for the future.”

In India, Publicis currently works with an impressive array of clients that include Nestle, Citibank, Zee, Garnier, Heineken, Nerolac, Skoda, Malaysia Tourism, HDFC Mutual Funds, among others.

April 30, 2018
Hudson Oil appoints Grapes Digital to handle digital mandate

MUMBAI: In a recent announcement, Hudson Canola Oil has appointed Grapes Digital as its digital agency. The agency will handle the complete digital mandate. The account was won after a multi-agency pitch.

The agency will be involved in the digital media planning and buying, strategy, content creation and design across all social media platforms.

Food is an art on Instagram, cooking is a passion on blogs and information about health is just a click away. In this landscape, how can an oil brand join the conversation? This objective is now in the capable hands of Grapes, which is tasked with highlighting Hudson’s relevance in today’s Indian kitchen, using the most innovative ways possible to help increase brand awareness and drive business growth.

Grapes Digital founder Himanshu Arya says, “We are excited to partner with Hudson Canola Oil, the brand that introduced canola oil to India and the one that has led development of the canola oil category in a market where it was unknown. We are delighted to work with a brand that understands the ‘digital first’ approach. We look forward to use our digital expertise to help the brand touch new heights,”

Dalmia Continental senior vice president Akash Premsen adds, “The company’s core competency is blowing open categories that Indians did not know of or consider and creating leading brands. With Leonardo Olive Oil previously, India realised an entire new way of life. With Hudson, we have a product inherently linked to consumer behaviour and health in the Indian kitchen. We are confident of fast adoption because homes are ready for this revolution.”

The company is targeting Rs 300 crores from Hudson in five years and intends to expand the portfolio to focus on demographics that almost all oil companies ignore because they are in the commodity business, not in the consumer benefit business.

Currently, the oil category is stodgy, old and stuck in the 1990s, with almost zero appeal to the millennial generation. Hudson wants to speak directly to the young, savvy, health-aware and global-minded consumer.

April 28, 2018
Veet launches new variant targeting wedding season

MUMBAI: Veet, the company catering to depilatory products, has launched Veet Nikhaar – a new variant that claims to help bring the goodness of nature to your skin.

The company has created a TVC with its brand ambassador Shraddha Kapoor.

On the expansion of Veet portfolio, RB South Asia Health chief marketing officer Pankaj Duhan mentions, “We are delighted to introduce our new variant, Veet Nikhaar. It is a rigorously researched product, which has been made to give women smoother and visibly brighter skin. It has been launched keeping the needs and preferences of our consumers in mind. Our new variant has been launched with ingredients like turmeric and saffron that Indians know and have been using for centuries to get brighter skin. It is perfect for women looking for something more than just hair removal. We are hopeful to have a fantastic market reception with this variant launch.”

Veet Nikhaar is available in two sizes of 50 gm and 25 gm packs, priced at Rs 110 and Rs 58 respectively across departmental stores and leading pharmacists in India. It will be available online as well across leading e-commerce websites.

Kapoor says, “Veet Nikhaar is a splendid solution for women looking for convenient hair removal options that not only removes short hair, but also leaves the skin feeling smooth. Girls have for a long time now, shied away from using the most convenient option of hair removal creams. This is where the new variant – Veet Nikhaar becomes a great solution.”

April 28, 2018
HIT wants you to kill mosquitoes on World Malaria Day

MUMBAI: HIT is a well-known household insecticide brand in India.

This World Malaria Day, Kala HIT has come up with a quirky stand-up comedy video, featuring India’s well-known comedy artist Suresh Menon, on various ways through which people kill time on social media. The video is titled ‘Social Media Pe Machchar Marne Waale’.

In today’s world, social media is no longer an escape but an integrated part of life. And people are aimlessly killing a lot of time here. In the video, Suresh Menon narrates the various ways in which people kill time on social media. The video opens with an anecdote from Menon’s vacations to his village where he used to find his uncles sitting on chairs and only passing time. He then narrates how people kill time today – with the consumption of social media. Through this stand-up comedy act, Menon sets a friendly reminder for people to find time from their busy social media lives to kill real mosquitoes with Kala HIT and fight malaria.

The quirky and creative video marks ‘World Malaria Day’ and is in sync with the current years’ theme of ‘Ready to Beat Malaria’. ‘Social Media pe machhar maaron lekin ghar ke andar asli machhar ko bhi maaro’ – This is a one-line message to the social media lovers of India.

Godrej Consumer Products business head India and SAARC Sunil Kataria says, “Godrej Consumer Products has always strived to make the lives of consumers brighter and better. Carrying this philosophy forward, on the occasion of World Malaria Day, we aim to create awareness on prevention against Malaria. Today consumers use various solutions to drive away mosquitoes, these make consumers feel that their problem is completely solved but in reality mosquitoes hide in remote and difficult corners of our home posing a serious threat to health and wellbeing.”

Ogilvy Mumbai group creative director George Kovoor mentions, “We all know someone who is obsessed with social media- the compulsive selfie taker, the ranter, the social rebel, the show-off. They are people who live their lives on social media. We leveraged these characters and their peculiar traits to deliver an important message- ‘Social Media mein machhar mat maaro, ghar mein chipe asli machhar maaro.’ A piece of content that informs and entertains in equal measure, delivered in the inimitable style of comedian Suresh Menon.”

The film’s bottom-line message is how the nuisance caused by hidden mosquitoes brings everyday life to a grinding halt. Current measures to eliminate hidden mosquitoes, are arduous, and often fail. No wonder, consumers fall prey to diseases such as Malaria. Kala HIT is an exceptionally convenient way of killing even the hidden mosquitoes.

April 26, 2018
Kalyan Jewellers signs Katrina Kaif as brand ambassador

MUMBAI: Kalyan Jewellers has announced the appointment of Bollywood actor Katrina Kaif as its global brand ambassador. The actor will be the face of Kalyan’s existing and soon-to-launch product portfolios.

Kalyan Jeweller executive director of marketing and operations Ramesh Kalyanaraman says, “Katrina personifies brand Kalyan’s attributes of style and elegance. She epitomises the quintessential woman of today who is confident, progressive and with the courage of her conviction. This new association will enable us to explore new avenues to engage with our customers as we script our future growth strategy in India and globally.’’

“We would like to thank Sonam Kapoor for augmenting the product propositions of brand Kalyan over the past two years and helping strengthening its status as one of India’s most trusted jewellery brand,’’ adds Kalyanaraman.

Katrina will endorse Kalyan’s jewellery collections and will also be part of Kalyan Jewellers’ customer engagement programmes across its showrooms in India and West Asia. In India she will predominantly feature in the company’s communication campaigns, especially in the northern and western markets. Katrina joins an eclectic group of Kalyan brand ambassadors including Amitabh Bachchan, Jaya Bachchan, Nagarjuna, Prabhu, Shivaraj Kumar and Manju Warrier.

Kalyan Jewellers has emerged as one of India’s largest jewellery brands by revenues. It has also established a strong presence in west Asia in the UAE, Kuwait, Qatar and Oman. As on today, the company has a distribution network of 121 large format showrooms as also a network of 650 My Kalyan customer service outlets and mini diamond stores.

April 24, 2018
LIVA outshines in mall space with unique innovation

Mumbai: Liva, the new age fabric brand from the Aditya Birla Group, is back with its unique campaign, a life size mannequin of the brand ambassador Kangana Ranaut dropped down across malls in Delhi, Mumbai, Bangalore, Hyderabad, Kolkata and Pune.

This season the innovative campaign stands out in 54 malls across 26 cities. LIVA being the first ever brand to have the largest drop down with a size of 20 feet tall which enhanced outreach and gathered immediate attention in the over-crowded mall space. The main idea for the innovation was to create immediate recall in the last leg of the consumer journey.

The study across malls showed positive consumer response with 71% consumers noticing the drop down and 68% recalled seeing the innovative dropdown, out of which 54% appreciated the campaign. 77% of the consumers surveyed were able to resonate that LIVA was a fluid fabric and 3 out of 5 considered LIVA as a fabric brand.

Ms. Shardah Uniyal, Head – Branding & Communication, Birla Cellulose expressed, “The response from the innovation done last season was overwhelming, which was one of the many reasons why we re-launched the campaign with more innovative display. Being an ingredient it is imperative for the brand to get noticed and stand out in clutter. This innovation was aimed towards garnering maximum visibility and increasing foot falls for our partner brands in those malls and this campaign has successfully achieved the objective.”

Mr. Vishnu Telang, CEO – Khushi Advertising, commented “We worked upon the innovative idea given by Liva and further enhanced the look and workability of the innovative dropdown. The most demanding part of the campaign involved creating and putting up suspended 20 feet 3D dropdowns which portrayed the brand ambassador, Kangana Ranaut showcasing the resplendence of the fabric”.

April 23, 2018
New Era up for hard graft in India

MUMBAI: Caps! They are functional and shield you from the heat on sunny days. But that’s not what caps are all for anymore. They seem to have become a part of the culture where they are worn more as a fashion accessory rather than for their functionality.

If you are a part of the modern cult, chances are you would have heard about headwear company, New Era. Founded in 1920, the company is headquartered in Buffalo, New York, and has over 500 different exclusive licences in its portfolio. The company is solely into manufacturing caps, but different types of it. New Era licenced products include New York Yankees, Major League Baseball, Big Bash League, NBA, NFL, Golf, USA Soccer, Los Angeles Dodgers, Manchester United among other sports and teams.

Although the company is huge in international markets, it launched in India only in 2016, with Bollywood actor Siddharth Malhotra, via an exclusive tie-up with e-commerce platforms Jabong and Myntra to sell the caps. The company wants to establish itself as the number one headwear brand in India and make sure that headwear is a product of choice for Indians that it currently isn’t.

Today, Indian cricketers, A-listers, Bollywood celebrities and influencers, everyone can be seen donning one of their caps. New Era plans to stay on top of Indian consumer’s minds and on top of players’ heads across the globe.

The company recently announced a licensing deal with Indian cricketer Virat Kohli. The Signature Headwear collection, designed and conceptualised by Virat Kohli, will be manufactured, marketed and distributed globally by New Era.

With this deal, Kohli has become the company’s first collaborator in Indian market. New Era sales director for EMEA John Casey says the company was looking for someone in India who resonates with the brand’s energy, vitality and someone who can inspire young consumers and their search ended on Virat Kohli as he is regarded as the most famous cricketer in a country where cricket is almost a religion.

Although the company has signed Virat to create signature collection for now, they will be looking to tie up with other cricketers as well. Casey says, “We are starting with Virat but we are working with Virat’s agency (Cornerstone Sport) and they have a portfolio of players. As we establish our base in India, we would get more cricketers and influencers on board.”

Kohli launched his collection branded with the One8 (his fitness wear company) and V (his initial) logos but New Era wants to be locally relevant in India by introducing products that work for the brand internationally such as the baseball, basketball and the NFL. All of the company’s products for India and neighbouring counties are currently manufactured in Bangladesh.

In India, wearing caps and hats as a fashion accessory is picking up as a trend once again. Though the headwear sector in India already has a lot of established players including Hrithik Roshan’s HRX caps, Adidas caps, Nike, Reebok, Puma, none of them are into creating caps exclusively. Caps is a part of their bigger businesses. Now, this may work for the brand New Era in India or against it.

New Era will promote its new collection with Kohli only on digital platforms. Casey does not see any merit in doing traditional media for any of its communication as that’s not the sort of audience they are looking at. He adds that the company does not want to target the masses but people who are interested in sports and popular culture. For this, the headwear firm will also invest in influencer marketing on social media platforms Snapchat, Twitter and Instagram by creating sponsored content.

Purchasing caps is usually more of a touch and feel category, and consumers usually like to see the product, its fit and texture in person before they decide to buy it. Since New Era is currently only available on e-commerce platforms, it tends to lose some of its potential buyers. But the company’s sales director Casey assures that they will be launching their products in brick and mortar stores before 2020. He adds, “We want to be present in sports stores, in department stores and maybe have our own store as well.”

On the one hand, caps from Nike are priced anything between Rs 600-Rs 1500, Adidas between Rs 999-Rs 2000, HRX between Rs 699-Rs 999. On the other hand, New Era caps start from Rs 1200 and go all the way up to Rs 3200. Since their caps are priced at a higher range than what other caps are available for, affordability will be a huge issue for consumers in India. But then again, the company is targeting the group that wants to adapt and be a part of international fashion and popular and sports culture, which will come at a price.

For New Era to become a success story in India, a lot of effort, communication and visibility will be needed. The brand is up for the challenge.

Also Read :

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Pepperfry bets big on digital

The influence of influencer marketing

April 23, 2018
Just six Indian brands among 20 most trusted brands

BENGALURU: The 2018 edition, or the eighth edition of TRA Research’s (TRA) The Brand Trust Report of the most trusted 1,000 Indian brands was released today in Bengaluru by TRA’s Research Director Sachin Bhosle. From over 9,000 unique brands, TRA has shortlisted 1,000 as the most trusted brands by Indians.

Among the top most trusted 20 brands across categories headed by the previous year’s leader Samsung, the first Indian brand to make it to the list is at rank 4–brand Tata. Keeping Tata company is Maruti Suzuki (rank 10), Baba Ramdev’s Patanjali (rank 13), Reliance (rank 14), Bajaj (rank 16) and Godrej (rank 17). Please refer to the figure below for TRA’s Brand Trust Index for India’s most trusted brands.

A TRA release says that The Brand Trust Report 2018, the eighth in its series, is the result of a comprehensive primary research conductedon the proprietary 61-Attribute Trust Matrix of TRA. This year’s study involved 15,000 hours of fieldwork,covering 2,488 consumer-influencers across 16 cities in India; it generated 5 million datapoints and 9,000 uniquebrands, from which the top 1000 brands have been listed in this year’s report, claims TRA.

Also Read :

Kohli brand driving on the up

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April 23, 2018