Category: Marketing

Blinkit launches 10 minute ambulance service in Gurugram

MUMBAI: Blinkit is taking this quick commerce thing a bit too far. It has promised to get an ambulance anywhere in Gurugram in 10 minutes. 10 Minutes? An ambulance anywhere in Gurugram in 10 minutes? Are you kidding, when to travel a km in Gurugram can take thrice that much time.

But Blinkit founder Albinder Dindsa has taken the risk to make the commitment to provide succour and reach an ambulance to anyone injured or seriously unwell in Gurugram in 10 minutes. Five ambulances fitted with gizmos were commissioned in Gurugram on 2 January 2025 to be able to offer this service.

Dhindsa says that the ambulances are equipped with essential life-saving equipment, including oxygen cylinders, AED (automated external defibrillator), stretcher, monitor, suction machine, and essential emergency medicines and injections. Additionally, a para medic, an assistant and a trained driver will be on hand to push on the pedal and get there on time.

In the next phase, as the ambulances and the services are extended into newer areas, customers will be in a position to book an ambulance through the basic life support option in the Blinkit app.

“Profit is not a goal here. We will operate this service at an affordable cost for customers and invest in really solving this critical problem for the long term,” he reveals. “We are carefully scaling this service up, as it is both important and new to us. Our aim is to expand to all major cities over the next two years. Let’s do our bit and make way for an ambulance always. You never know when you may save a life.”

Hopefully, the road rage drivers and kids of the nouveau riche who drive around like crazy in Gurugram are listening to his plea.

January 3, 2025
Amit Ganorkar gets back to Tata AIG General Insurance as MD & CEO

MUMBAI: He’s ensured his career by being in the insurance business for most of it. Amit Ganorkar left Tata AIG General Insurance in Mumbai after a three year and a half year stint between December 2019 and April 2023 as president & chief operating officer to join Royal Sundaram General Insurance in Chennai as its managing director.

A year and eight months later Amit is back in Mumbai to his previous organization – Tata AIG as its managing director & CEO. With 20 plus years in the general insurance industry being exposed to sales, distribution, product, marketing operations, and technology, it’s good he has got to the top.

He even took a shot at turning entrepreneur by raising capital and applying for general insurance licence, something which kept him pre-occupied for two and a half years between August 2017 and December 2019.

The bachelor of engineering graduate from VJTI Mumbai, and an MBA in marketing, was the chief marketing & distribution retail business officer at Reliance General Insurance for nearly four years between October 2013 and August 2017 , the second longest time he had worked with any firm. The longest duration for him was when he was with ICICI Lombard General Insurance for 10 years and one month, from which he exited as a national sales manager direct sales in 2013.

January 3, 2025
Honasa Consumer chief business officer Zarius Master puts in his papers

MUMBAI: It’s time for Zarius Master. to say goodbye. The chief business officer of D2C FMCG innovator Honasa Consumer Ltd resigned from the company on 2 January. His resignation becomes effective 28 February 2025.

Zairus, according to his linkedin profile, was responsible for lower funnel management to capture demand and translate to revenue; for leading the evolution of an omni channel, multi brand organisation to drive profitable growth by gaining shares across categories in beauty and personal care and for creation of a business plan through investment allocation choices across categories, brands, and channels to optimise for growth and profitability.

Honasa co-founder & CEO Varun Alagh, like Zarius, cut his teeth in FMCG with Hindustan Unilever and this is what encouraged the latter to join him.

Zarius joined the company in August 2021 from recruitment portal Shine.com where he worked for nearly eight years and rose to become its CEO. Prior to that he had stints in sales, marketing, and category leadership with some of the crème de la crème of corporations: Hindustan Unilever, Nokia, and Airtel.

An economic arts graduate, Zarius completed his diploma in marketing and topped that with an MBA in marketing from IIM, Lucknow.

Honasa which counts MamaEarth, The Derma Co, BBlunt, Dr Sheth’s, Aqualogica, Staze9to9 and the Bblunt Salons in its brand portfolio was founded in 2016 by Ghazal and Varun Alagh. It reported revenues of Rs 462 crores in Q2 FY 2025 while the half year 2025 revenues were at Rs 1016 crore. It reported a loss of Rs 19 crore in the quarter and a profit of Rs 22 crore for the half year.

January 2, 2025
Fast & Up hires Anish Rao as brand manager

MUMBAI: He’s been at one of Indiantelevision.com’s sister firms AnimationXpress at the start of his career for almost two years as a clients services executive. A couple of months ago, Anish Rao was appointed as brand manager at D2C company Fast & Up, which provides nutrition supplements to athletes and those who live an active life.

From AnimationXpress, Anish moved on Contract Advertising as a senior account executive and then account manager in a matter of four years. He then shifted to FCB Ulka as senior brand services manager from where he was recruited by Fast & Up.

Anish holds a bachelor’s degree in computer engineering.

January 2, 2025
Siddhartha Juneja to steer Nivea India’s brands on ecommerce platforms

MUMBAI: There’s no better place to understand the dynamics of e-commerce and D2C brands than Flipkart – which is now part of Walmart. Siddhartha Juneja spent two years – of which a part of it was during the pandemic – between July 2020 to July 2022 at the e-commerce giant.

That experience will prove invaluable following his appointment as director of e-commerce at Nivea India recently. Prior to his recent appointment, he spent a couple of years and seven months as head- omnichannel at Mondelez International between July 2022 and January 2025.

He spent four years and some months each at Kellogg India (March 2016-July 2020; marketing manager, category head and channel head – e-commerce & D2C) and General Mills (October 2011-Februrary 2016; area sales manager Mumbai and brand manager).

Two years of experience with Wipro Consumer Care (May 2009 and October 2011) saw him his sharpening his understanding of the dynamics of FMCG sales and distribution .

Juneja holds a BTech degree and a post-graduation in marketing and operations. He lists business management, brand management and marketing as his top three skills.

He will have to put all three to use at Nivea India as he puts in his all to build online commerce for the company.

January 2, 2025
Hyundai Motor registers highest ever domestic sales in 2024

MUMBAI: It’s driving in top gear, purring like a beauty, moving smoothly, even when going round terrifying economic bends.

Hyundai Motor India Limited (HMIL) announced on 1 January that it sold 6,05,433 vehicles domestically and 7,64,119 vehicles in total, when exports are included. These are the highest domestic sales it as recorded since inception. The figures for just December 2024 alone are at 55,078 vehicles (42,208 units domestic and 12,870 exports).

Sports utility vehicle (SUV) sales contributed 67.66 per cent with the Hyundai Creta proving a popular buy by selling 1,86,9199 units. Vehicles adapted for CNG accounted for 13.1 per cent of sales as against 10.4 per cent in calendar year 2023.

“HMIL has managed to sustain sales momentum in 2024, despite strong headwinds faced by the industry at large. Achieving highest ever domestic sales three years in a row, reflects customers’ preference for brand Hyundai as their trusted smart mobility solutions provider,” said HMIL whole time director & COO Tarun Garg. “Introduction of the innovative Hy-CNG Duo technology in 2024 resonated well with buyers. Hyundai Creta continued to strengthen HMIL’s position as an SUV leader. We are confident that the upcoming Creta Electric, will further expand the appeal of this undisputed, ultimate SUV.”

January 1, 2025
EaseMyTrip chairman & CEO Nishant Pitti departs; replaced by co-founder Rikant Pittie

MUMBAI: The transition has been rather smooth and easy, though we don’t know much about about the parting. Traveltech platform EaseMyTrip on New Year’s day announced that its its chairman & chief executive officer Nishant Pitti had said ta-ta to the company on 31 December, citing personal reasons. Media reports said that Nishant offloaded 1.4 per cent of his stake in Easy Trip Planners – the listed parent – in the open market for Rs 78 crore before departing.

The board met this morning and decided on the appointment of co-founder Rikant Pittie as his replacement for the chairman & co-founder’s position. In his new role, Rikant will lead the company’s strategic initiatives, drive innovation, and enhance customer experiences to further strengthen EaseMyTrip’s position in the industry.

What led to Nishant’s departure is not known, but a company press release emphasised on more than one occasion about Rikant’s ability to lead easemytrip going forward.

Rikant Pittie co-founded EaseMyTrip in 2008 with his brothers Nishant and Prashant Pitti. With over 16 years of experience in the travel and tourism industry, he has a deep understanding of market trends and customer needs. Under his leadership, EaseMyTrip has achieved significant growth, reflecting its commitment to a customer-first approach.

“The travel industry is at a transformative juncture where technology and personalisation are redefining how people explore the world. At EaseMyTrip, our mission goes beyond simply offering an enhanced travel experience,” said Rikant, in the release. “It is about setting new benchmarks. We are dedicated to pioneering innovative solutions that empower travellers globally. I am both honoured and thrilled to take on this role and look forward to continuing the company’s journey.”

Rikant has also been recognised for his exceptional contributions to the business landscape, having won the prestigious Fortune India 40 Under 40 and Entrepreneur India’s entrepreneurship of the year in service business – travel category. Notably, Rikant is also the vice-chairman of the CII Delhi State Council for 2024-2025. Among his recent achievements, Rikant has been named among IDFC First Private & Hurun India’s Top 200 Self-Made Entrepreneurs of the Millennium 2024, a testament to his relentless drive and entrepreneurial excellence. He was also honored with the ET Inspiring Leaders Award North 2024 for his exemplary leadership and innovation.

January 1, 2025
Apple ropes in Mili Kapoor as IPad product marketing lead

MUMBAI: In her 17 years of employment, Mili Kapoor has worked in various trades, verticals and product categories – as a jeans designer, a retail consultant, as a brand manager on oats, at a spirits company, at a global factual television channel, at a foods giant, at a global social media giant, and at a consumer electronics megacorp.

.Not only did Mili make her career choices such that she could give herself as wide an exposure as she could, she took the same path for her education as well.

She completed her high school in commerce from La Martiniere Girls High School, Kolkata. Then she went to do her fashion design course from NIFT, Delhi. Mili followed that up with an MBA in marketing and strategy from the Indian School of Business. Clearly, she wanted to educate herself to the fullest she could by getting herself certifications in Google, Meta, social marketing, content marketing, and programmatic 101.

That kind of a varied career, colourful background and her go-getting attitude are what excited the out-of-the box-thinking company called Apple to hire her as product marketing lead for the iPad in India.

That Mili is a fast learner is quite obvious. However, she has been a fast riser up the corporate ladder as well. Amongst the companies she then chose to work with include:

VF Corp (designer, Wrangler Jeans, 2007-08); Technopak Advisors (associate consultant, Sep 2008-Apr 2010). PepsiCo (sr brand manager Quaker Dairy, July 2011-Aug 2018), Pernod Ricard (sr mkg mgr, premium portfolio-north zone, Aug 2018-jul 2019); National Geographic Channel (AVP-mktg & brand strategy, July 2019-Nov 2020), Nestle (mktg lead-Purina petcare, Nov 2020-March 2022), Meta (Biz mktg mgr, March2022-Dec 2022), Nestle (mktg head, Nestle Profeesional, Dec 2022-Jul 2023), and Philips (consumer mktg leader, Jul 2023-Oct 2024).

December 31, 2024
Cars24 promotes Himashu Ratnoo to CEO C2B & retail business

MUMBAI: He’s gotten into the driver’s seat at Used Cars India, autotech platform Cars24’s C2B and retail businesses. Himanshu Ratnoo’s elevation as Used Cars India’s CEO was announced in an internal email to the company by Cars24 founder & CEO Vikram Chopra.

In his new role, Ratnoo will oversee the company’s C2B and retail operations, focusing on scaling growth and driving innovation.

Renowned for his “founder mindset,” Ratnoo has played a pivotal role in Cars24’s success, Chopra said in the email. His transformative initiatives include the development of franchise models, lead monetisation strategies, and a revamped approach to luxury car transactions. Additionally, he has successfully expanded value-added services that enhance customer experiences, aligning with Cars24’s vision to simplify car ownership.

Chopra commended Ratnoo’s leadership, emphasising his alignment with the company’s core values and his vision to make car ownership seamless and rewarding.

“Ratnoo will focus on building a world-class, engineering-first organisation, scaling revenues and profitability, creating a happy and thriving workplace for our frontline teams, and nurturing the next generation of leaders who will define Cars24’s future,” said Chopra.

December 30, 2024
Indian citizens trust defence forces and the PM the most: Ipsos survey

MUMBAI : The news is not so good for all of us who are part of the media. Our tribe ranks even below the police in terms of the trust that the general public places in it, if one were to go by the results of the quarterly survey, the Ipsos IndiaBus Trust in Institutions, conducted by global research company’s Ipsos India..

If the fourth estate is held in such low esteem by its primary customer, the Indian citizen, do media owners need to go back to the drawing board and do a rethink about their raison d’etre ? That’s question that begs an answer! An honest answer!

The Ipsos survey revealed that the defence forces (army, air force and navy) are the most trusted with a score of 56 pr cent, followed by Indian prime minister Narendra Modi who scored 45 per cent positive responses. The RBI came third with a 44 per cent score, followed by the supreme court.

Interestingly, all these institutions have improved their scores over the last quarter (in September) and have shown that the citizens have the highest faith in these institutions, as they continue to serve the nation with exemplary dedication and ethical work practices, says a press release issued by Ipsos India. To be fair even us media folks improved our trust score from 24 per cent in September 2024. But we are a far cry from the 36 per cent we notched up in June 2024.

Politicians (20 per cent), political parties (21 per cent), community leaders (22 per cent), and religious leaders (24 per cent), have even more reasons to be worried as they continue to lead in the distrust list.

The survey displayed certain pockets where the most trusted institutions have higher equity among the citizens.

The defence forces have received higher trust scores among the tier1 citizens (71 per cent), the north zone (69 per cent), the west zone (68 per cent), the employed (67 per cent), tier2 (63 per cent), metros (62 per cent) and males (61 per cent) etc.

The PM of the country received highest scores in the north zone (62 per cent), tier1 (57 per cent) and tier 2 (57 per cent) cities, the west zone (52 per cent), the employed (51 per cent) and males (48 per cent). Whlle the RBI was trusted most by the west zone (61 per cent), tier1 (59 per cent) and tier2 (54 per cent) citizens, the north zone (53 per cent) and the employed (52 per cent). Across these three institutions, they have a common thread of supporters with high trust – though only in the case of the RBI, trust is high in the west zone, Mumbai being the commercial capital of India.

Ipsos India group service line leader, public affairs, corporate reputation, CSR & ESG Parijat Chakraborty pointed out that the topper institutions are the backbone of the nation with their word being sacrosanct. “After all, they have stood the test of time in serving the nation with transparency, equality and justice. All these institutions command respect – whether our defence forces, PM of the country, the RBI, the supreme court of India, the parliament – and their reputation has been built over years of impeccable delivery and service to the nation,” he elaborated.

According to him politicians, political parties, community leaders, and religious leaders, are institutions that need to win the trust of the masses through greater transparency and fulfilment of their promises to the electorate and patrons on one hand and managing their reputation through visibility around their achievements via communication, not leaving anything to speculation. He highlighted one positive outcome from the survey for them. ”We see recovery in scores to the previous levels, after a dip in September,” he said.

(For the doubting Thomases who doubt the survey’s authenticity, at least use it as a guide post. Ipsos IndiaBus is a monthly pan India omnibus – which also runs multiple client surveys- that uses a structured questionnaire and is conducted by Ipsos India on diverse topics among 2200+ respondents from Sec A, B and C households, covering adults of both genders from all four zones in the country. The survey is conducted in metros, tier one, tier two and tier three towns, providing a more robust and representative view of urban Indians. The respondents were polled face to face and online. We have city-level quota for each demographic segments that ensure the waves are identical and no additional sampling error. The data is weighted by demographics and city-class population to arrive at a national average. )

December 30, 2024