ITV

Tag: advertising

  • WhiteHat Jr brings in Hrithik Roshan for new campaign

    WhiteHat Jr brings in Hrithik Roshan for new campaign

    NEW DELHI: WhiteHat Jr has roped in Bollywood actor Hrithik Roshan for its latest campaign, which urges students to book their free online coding class and sample the platform.

    The brand has already put in place its media plan across markets and the campaign is visible on the television. However, it is not yet clear if Roshan has come onboard as a brand endorser or appearing only for the present campaign.

    This is the second television campaign that WhiteHat Jr has initiated. The film showcases multiple investors and recruiters fighting to hire a young kid who has developed an app. The positioning of the brand is very clear – that it helps children learn more about technology from a very young age. 

    The move clearly states WhiteHat Jr’s intention to scale up in the market and cut across the audiences. For the record, WhiteHat Jr was bought out by Byju's in August this year for $300 million in an all-cash deal. Byju's acquired the platform with the objective to drive its ever-widening reach in the ed-tech space in the country.

    Roshan is one of the leading Bollywood endorsers and has been associated with multiple brands in past. He commands a large and loyal fan following which will give an edge to the Byju’s owned brand. He has nearly 33 million followers on Instagram, 29.9 million on Twitter and 17 million on Facebook. Roshan is a fitness freak and a progressive actor who has good films in his kitty. He is a big influencer.

    Interestingly, the move might also help the audiences to think about Byju’s in a brighter light as the ed-tech brand has been in the midst of controversies during the past months. It was embroiled in two lawsuits – one against angel investor Aniruddha Malpani, and another against software engineer Pradeep Poonia.

    WhiteHat Jr filed a $1.9 million case against Malpani alleging that he was defaming the company to promote his own start-up. The court has also sought Malpani’s written response in the matter by 14 January 2021. In a series of social media posts, Malpani had accused the ed-tech platform of hiring people with no coding skills. WhiteHat Jr got a major relief last month as HC passed an interim order restricting Malpani from posting, publishing or sharing any content derogatory or deprecatory of WhiteHat Jr or its content or management. It also asked the accused to take down selected social media posts.

    Malpani was earlier banned by LinkedIn for criticising WhiteHat Jr’s parent company Byju’s.

    A week prior to that, the Delhi high court had also asked software engineer Pradeep Poonia to restrict his criticism of the quality of teachers at WhiteHat Jr on social media platforms and pull down specific content. In this $2.6 million lawsuit, WhiteHat Jr had alleged that Poonia was in violation of the Trade Marks Act of 199, The Copyright Act of 1957 and Code of Civil Procedure of 1908.

    Poonia was also pulled up for sharing the name and numbers of lawyers who have filed the suit in the public domain, and hacking or accessing the internal communication platform Slack without authorisation and displaying communication between WhiteHat Jr’s employees on his YouTube channel. Poonia was also restrained from downloading any curriculum from WhiteHat Jr and circulating it to third parties. 

    Founded in 2018 by Karan Bajaj, WhiteHat Jr’s acquisition by Byju’s led to the fastest exit story in the Indian start-up ecosystem. At the time of signing the deal, WhiteHat Jr claimed it had achieved an annual revenue run rate of $150 million. It had over 5,000 teachers and was dedicating one instructor to each student. Byju's then decided to make significant investments into the start-up and help it expand beyond Indian shores. 

    The tides of fortunes turned in WhiteHat Jr’s favour with the Covid2019 pandemic, as students were unable to attend school and many parents enrolled their children in the platform's coding program to help them learn more about technology.

    Post-acquisition, WhiteHat Jr has aggressively worked towards gaining new users. It launched an ATL campaign that ran through IPL 13, creating a buzz for the brand.

    The campaign was supported with a strong digital and social media strategy. However, the brand had to face the ire of consumers on the digital front as it was continuously bombarding them with ads. On another occasion, it used the images of global leaders such as Sundar Pichai, Steve Jobs, Elon Musk and others to attract users, by urging them to be the next bigwig in Silicon Valley. Some of its ads were also in question and in October this year, the Advertising Standards Council of India (Asci) asked WhiteHat Jr to pull down several ads for making misleading claims.

    The ed-tech platform that teaches coding to children has definitely created a strong dent in the Indian start-up ecosystem and made inroads in the country – but not without more than its fair share of legal and PR hassles on the way.

  • Aakash Education pushes ANTHE with a new spot

    Aakash Education pushes ANTHE with a new spot

    MUMBAI: Aakash Educational Services has launched a new TV commercial on its flagship national scholarship exam, Aakash National Talent Hunt Exam (ANTHE 2020), on all major channels across languages in the country.

    With the launch of this campaign, Aakash aims at inviting students to enroll themselves in ANTHE, which gives deserving students an opportunity to earn up to 100 per cent scholarship and helps them take the first step in their endeavour to become doctors and engineers. Students studying in class 7 to 12 can enroll for the exam.

    <iframe width=”100%” height=”315″ src=”https://www.youtube.com/embed/t1IuiE47pnM” frameborder=”0″ allow=”accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture” allowfullscreen></iframe>

    The objective of the TVC is to build brand awareness, besides supporting retail marketing to drive consumer traffic. The TVC will be supported with a pan-India print campaign as well.

    Made in 40 and 20 second edits, the ad highlights that ANTHE this year will be conducted online as well, addressing the challenges and issues posed due to the ongoing pandemic. By taking the examination online, it will help stellar students from smaller towns and cities be a part of it.

    The TVC shows a young boy encouraging others to understand the significance of appearing for the nationwide scholarship exam. The campaign focuses on how, despite the ongoing uncertainties, one should not deter from striving for success and Aakash is taking every possible step to make the examination smooth and hassle-free for the aspirants.

    AESL MD Aakash Chaudhry said, “The campaign will be aired on TV as well on digital m channels, which will not only give it a mass outreach but will also help in engaging with students on the online platform.”

    The brand has been regularly advertising with its call to action ads as well as brand campaigns across the mediums. It has also worked with celebrities such as Yuvraj Singh to cut across the audiences and send the message. The brand operates in a very competitive market which has several players like it who are offering similar services.

  • Syed Amjad Ali moves on from Mullen Lintas

    Syed Amjad Ali moves on from Mullen Lintas

    New Delhi: Syed Amjad Ali has moved on Mullen Lintas. He was serving as the president of the agency’s Delhi office since 2017. Ali was one of the founding members of the Mullen Lintas in 2015. During this time he worked on several brands such as Vistara, Honda Cars, Gionee Mobiles, Llyod, Zee TV, Modern Foods, Honor Mobiles, Havells and Dabur.

    Prior to joining Mullen Lintas, Ali served for over two decades at Lowe Lintas. He joined the agency in 1995 as an executive and grew to become an executive director where he led several big accounts such as LG Electronics, Maruti Suzuki, Havells, Olx, Micromax, Greenply, and others.

    He was one of the key pillars at both the agencies.
     

  • Infloouhnser floats influencer marketing agency The Sway

    Infloouhnser floats influencer marketing agency The Sway

    KOLKATA: Infloouhnser Pvt Ltd has launched a trust-building and transparent multi-layered  influencer advertising and marketing agency, The Sway.

    The Sway combines data and technology with creative strategy and organic distribution to give brands a compelling offering while prioritizing integrity, accountability, and transparency. The core focus of the agency will be influencer marketing, meme marketing, and technology experiences.

    The company, floated by Shailendra Shetty, Rajneil R Kamath, and Karan Sahni, has tied up with the Israel-based LDRS group, one of the global pioneers in the influencer marketing business, to use their AI and ML tech platform, enabling advertisers to discover influencers and define the audience to make it more meaningful for a brand to collaborate. The software also allows the client to identify and weed out fake followers and bots, help real-time engagement metrics tracking, ensure standardised metrics and pricing, selection, and matching of the influencer to deliver value over volumes.

    The company has also got into an exclusive partnership with Meme Chat, pioneers of meme culture in India, reaching over 300 million social media users, thereby helping brands to unlock the value of memes with organic distribution on social media. This includes augmented reality (AR) effects and filters, brand bots, microsites, and games. Having built an in-house data science team to slice and dice data, The Sway has the advantage of creating the most optimal mix of creators and social media destinations for brands.

    The company has roped in Jyoti Bansal (ex-CEO PHD India) and Namrata Tata  (managing partner, House of Cheer) to help mentor and advise the company in its journey.

    The Sway founder Shailendra Shetty said: "The recent case of fake followers' scam that got busted makes services of our kind much needed. The authenticity of influencers and audience is crucial to any brand. We help our brand partners sift through influencers' universe and connect them with content creators who share the same value and beliefs as the brand.  Combined with meme marketing, we are able to give advertisers a great way to reach out to Gen Z and millennial users. "

    LDRS group CEO Eran Nizri said: "We are excited to partner with Rajniel, Shailendra, Karan and the team at SWAY. Their decades of experience in media, technology, and marketing to blend content marketing with technology to create experiences that augment influencer and meme marketing makes them the perfect partner for us as we make an entry into the Indian marketplace.”

    Influencer marketing is proving to be the fastest-growing method for brands to acquire high-quality customers. By industry estimates, brands are set to spend up to 10-15 per cent of the overall Rs 14,000 crore of digital advertising revenue on influencer marketing. Many sectors, including ed-tech, FMCGs, and fintech, have seen a 20 to 30 per cent rise in influencer marketing spends during the last six months and are expected to grow even more.

  • Eye on inclusivity, Havas India bats for ‘Women Who Inspire’

    Eye on inclusivity, Havas India bats for ‘Women Who Inspire’

    MUMBAI: It is a truth universally acknowledged that women face more challenges in the workplace than members of the opposite sex. Even as more and more women join the workforce, there are still many obstacles for them to overcome, be it in terms of equal pay, career opportunities, harassment or work-life balance. With this thought looming large, Havas has started ‘Women Who Inspire’ – an initiative to foster gender diversity and women leadership.

    Ultimately, the goal is to bring about a cultural transformation and mindset shift that will help build a diverse and strong workforce that is futuristic and encourages many more women leaders in the group. A core group has been formed which consists of members in senior roles, across all our six agencies, who are in a position to influence, inspire, and mentor the next rung of leadership. This core team meets every alternate month to discuss key issues, opportunities, and changes relevant for the group as a whole and works towards recognising and celebrating the great work that women leaders do across the group.

    The initiative has been devised with four key objectives in mind: mentoring high-potential women leaders; promoting the exchange of ideas and networking opportunities; enhancing the growth of women staffers as leaders and decision-makers; and creating the right environment that allows development and growth opportunities.

    Havas Group India CEO Rana Barua said, “Being diverse is all about enabling a culture that is conducive to freely express, share thoughts and perspectives. As we embark on this journey, we are excited about the potential cultural and mindset change that it can bring to the lives of women employees within Havas Group India. We see this as a step to bring about a huge transformation and one that will help us move in the direction of building a versatile workforce that is futuristic and aligned to the changing global world order and economy.”

    Havas Group CHRO Vandana Tilwani who is leading this initiative added, “As we gear up for our next phase of (post-Covid) growth at Havas, we have to adapt to a different way of working which involves merging of work and life, remote working and adapting to agile and flexible team structures. Becoming a gender-diverse organization, breaking of many fixed rules and taboos and thus encouraging more women leaders is not only important in creating a futuristic workplace, it is now a necessity in order to have a competitive advantage.”

    Members of the core committee:

        Havas Group India CEO Rana Barua
        Havas Group India CHRO Vandana Tilwani
        Havas Media Group India CEO Mohit Joshi
        Havas Life Sorento managing partner Susan Josi
        Think Design co-founder and design director Deepali Saini
        Havas Group India director marketing and communications Priyanka Mehra
        Havas Group India general manager HR Toral Shah
        Havas Media head – west Sanchita Roy
        Havas Creative SVP – client servicing Geetika Thakur
        Havas Life Sorento Sr Manager Scientific Communications Rasika Bhat
        Shobiz creative director Sreyashi Datta
        Langoor Havas head HR Pavithra Eshwar
     

  • Neel Pandya to lead ISA media forum

    Neel Pandya to lead ISA media forum

    New Delhi: Indian Society of Advertisers (ISA) has roped in Neel Pandya to lead its media forum. Pandya is also serving as the L’Oreal India national media and digital head.

    The development was announced in a meeting of the media forum held on 4 November 2020.

    ISA chairman, CEO, secretary-general and other members of the forum welcomed Neel to this role.

    “We are confident that Neel from his varied experience across sectors and functions would add considerable value through the media forum to the ISA,” it said in a statement.

    The ISA media forum meets periodically to take stock of and deliberate on industry developments that affect advertisers.

    Pandya has over 13 years of experience and has worked across several brands and agencies including – Vodafone, GroupM, TAM, Future Group, and HDFC Bank. He joined L’Oreal India in 2017.

    He was a speaker at the 2019 edition of indiantelevision.com’s BrandVid Summit.

  • ‘Noodles in a Bowl’: Sunfeast YiPPee! forays into ready-to-eat segment

    ‘Noodles in a Bowl’: Sunfeast YiPPee! forays into ready-to-eat segment

    NATIONAL: Sunfeast YiPPee! has forayed into the ready-to-eat segment with Quik Mealz, that offers noodles in a bowl. 

    With the launch of this new product, Sunfeast YiPPee! noodles will now be available to consumers in a bowl format. Quik Mealz comes with a broad container base which makes it extremely easy to mix and consume noodles, and a lid to ensure no heat escapes the bowl in the preparation process which guarantees evenly cooked noodles – resulting in a well-mixed and tasty noodle experience in a bowl.

    Sunfeast YiPPee!’s Quik Mealz range has been specially crafted to match the evolving lifestyle requirements of young adults who are constantly seeking convenient options, without compromising on the taste. It will be available in two variants – Veggie Delight & Chicken Delight. 

    The product is available pan-India, across large format stores, modern trade and e-commerce. Both Veggie Delight & Chicken Delight will be available in a 70 grams SKU at the price point of Rs 45 and Rs 50 respectively. 

    An ITC spokesperson added, “Innovation and differentiation has been the cornerstone of Sunfeast YiPPee!’s DNA since its inception. Be it the long and slurpy noodle experience consumers enjoy through our round block noodle or the recent launch of Quik Mealz in a bowl format, every product offering is thoughtfully developed and is an extension of our endeavour to deliver superior experience to consumers.  

    The recent times have witnessed an unprecedented surge in consumption of instant noodles while consumers have experienced a significant change in their day-to-day schedule with work from home being an integral part of the new normal. Given the change in lifestyle, they are seeking trusted food options that offer variety, superior taste and convenience, sealed with the promise of safety and hygiene. With Quik Mealz, we are extremely positive about delivering yet again a distinguished instant noodle experience and are delighted to have added a new member to the YiPPee! family.”

    YiPPee! was launched in 2010 at the backdrop of a growing need for variety in the category. Today it is a nearly Rs 1,300 crore brand in terms of consumer spend. YiPPee! has consolidated its position as the second largest instant noodles brand in the country. It has also witnessed an unprecedented increase in consumer demand, owing to significant uptick in essentials in recent times, and has seen strong growth during the current year. 

  • WinZO onboards as sponsor for India-Australia series on SonyLiv

    WinZO onboards as sponsor for India-Australia series on SonyLiv

    MUMBAI: Homegrown e-sports platform WinZO has come onboard as the official co-powered sponsor of the India tour of Australia on SonyLIV. This is the first time WinZO will be sponsoring a major sports event on a digital platform.

    India’s tour of Australia, starting on 27 November 2020, is the Men in Blue’s first international tour after nine months post the global Covid2019 pandemic lockdown; Team India last played New Zealand in February 2020. The tour is two months long, comprising a three-match ODI series, followed by a three-match T20 series, and a four-match Test series. 

    WinZo Games co-founder Saumya Singh Rathore said, “India is a market with over a billion cricket fans who have been hungry for cricketing action for the last nine months. Post IPL, it is great to see the resuming of international tournaments as well and it’s a proud moment for us to associate with the first India-Australia international series of the year. WinZO is always committed to bringing the best entertainment to Bharat.”

    SonyLIV head ad sales revenue – digital business Ranjana Mangla said, “We are really delighted to have WinZO as a co-powered sponsor for the India tour of Australia on SonyLIV. This is a big overseas tournament that’s sure to drive viewership on the platform and be of value to both brands.”

    WinZO was recently in the news for its $18 million series B funding led by global interactive entertainment fund, Makers Fund, New York-based Courtside Venture, and Steve Pagliuca, the co-chairman of Bain Capital and investor in Epic Games – developers of the massively popular Fortnite. All these players have made their maiden investments in the Indian market through WinZO.  

    WinZO aims to create a highly personalised and localised social gaming platform powered by micro transactions, where users can enjoy multiple engaging gaming formats and fantasy sports in 10+ regional languages with their friends or strangers online.

    Founded by Paavan Nanda and Rathore, WinZO has been successful in delivering strong positive unit economics in the Indian gaming ecosystem and has continued to support the gaming ecosystem by setting-up a game developers fund 2.0 of a $5 million corpus to fund projects in interactive entertainment space built by game developers.

  • Blue Tribe awards its integrated mandate to Chimp&z Inc

    Blue Tribe awards its integrated mandate to Chimp&z Inc

    MUMBAI: Vegan meat start-up Blue Tribe Foods has awarded its integrated marketing mandate to Chimp&z Inc after a multi-agency pitch.

    The account will be handled by the agency’s headquarters in Mumbai. It will conceptualise a 360-degree digital marketing strategy for the brand, ranging from social media, creatives, performance, ORM, SEO, public relations, and web development along with an e-commerce platform creation.

    Chimp&z Inc has successfully partnered with several brands including Unicef, Discovery Communications, TLC India and Religare Health Insurance in the recent past.

    A new entrant in the plant-based meat industry, Blue Tribe is floated by Alkem Labs promoter Sandeep Singh, and Nikki Arora Singh to replace the usage of meat in the food supply chain in India. The brand, armed with research and innovation in food science, is on a mission to revolutionise how the world eats its meat. Their ready-to-cook frozen plant-based meat products taste, look, feel, and cook like meat.

    Chimp&z Inc CEO & co-founder Angad Singh Manchanda said, “Chimp&z Inc strives for challenges and there is no better challenge than establishing a niche brand like Blue Tribe in the digital world. Considering the recent demand for sustainable alternatives to meat, Blue Tribe has to step in armed and ready. We aim to provide them with all the digital arms and ammunition needed through their journey. The end goal is to make Blue Tribe a household name from the substitute meats industry in all parts of India."

    Blue Tribe co-founder Sandeep Singh said, “About 60 per cent of India’s population consumes meat, making the country a large meat market, and hence, a potential one for plant-based meat. Blue Tribe is founded with a conscious attempt to replace animals in the food supply chain for a sustainable and healthier future for generations to come. To establish our brand as a better alternative, we will have to raise awareness about the impact of animal agriculture and we decided to do so digitally. Chimp&z Inc’s pitch stood out as a complete strategy for the smooth launch of our brand into the market and people’s minds.”

  • IPL has 86 million fans in India: Ormax Media study

    IPL has 86 million fans in India: Ormax Media study

    MUMBAI: Chennai Super Kings (CSK) is the IPL team with the biggest and most hardcore fanbase, a study by Ormax Media has revealed. With 26.8 million fans, the MS Dhoni-led CSK has emerged as the strongest franchise, as per the findings of the IPL Franchise Fans report, based on a research conducted among 3,200 urban respondents across 23 states in India. 

    The data was collected over the course of the eight weeks of IPL 2020. The study pegs the number of fans across the eight IPL franchises at 86 million (8.6 crore). The study defines a franchise fan as someone who has a clear favourite team, is emotionally connected with it, watches its matches from start to finish, and discusses the team and its players online or offline.

    Following in the wake of CSK is this season’s champion Mumbai Indians (MI) at 24.8 million devotees. Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) ranks third, with 13.3 million enthusiasts. Between them, these three franchises account for 75 per cent of the total fan base, while the remaining five contribute to the balance 25 per cent.

    64 per cent (55 million) of the total franchise fans are males, while the balance 36 per cent (31 million) are females.

    CSK and RCB have the most gender-balanced fan base, with the proportion of female fans being the highest at 40 per cent each. Nationwide popularity of their star players (MS Dhoni and Virat Kohli respectively) contributes to their stronger female fan base. Mumbai Indians leads Chennai Super Kings by a slender margin when it comes to the male fan base, but the latter takes the overall number one position because of its stronger female following.

    Ormax Media founder & CEO Shailesh Kapoor said: “Apart from viewership, a definitive measure of the success of a sports league is whether the teams playing in it manage to build a sizeable fan base over the years. A strong fan base is eventually the key for a profitable franchise, because it offers higher monetisation opportunities through sponsorships, ticket sales, merchandising, licensing and other such avenues. Over the last 13 years, IPL has done very well, and the fan base estimates of the top two franchises suggest that they are now two of the strongest sports teams across the world. It’s for the other franchises to learn from the success story of CSK and MI and develop a strategy to widen their fan base in the coming years.”