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Tag: Ananth Narayanan

  • Pebble X Pepe Jeans Smartwatch: The iconic denim re-imagined for your wrist

    Pebble X Pepe Jeans Smartwatch: The iconic denim re-imagined for your wrist

    Mumbai: In a quintessential unison of the finest in fashion and the best in technology, India’s fastest growing smartwatch brand Pebble has partnered with Pepe Jeans London to introduce a limited special edition Bluetooth Calling smartwatch. The Pebble X Pepe smartwatch re-imagines the timeless allure of denim for your wrist. An epitome of design and style, the smartwatch dons denim-leather straps and silicon sporty straps with an eye-catching infinite 1.39” HD display and 600 Nits brightness. Priced at Rs 1999, Pebble X Pepe Jeans smartwatch is available on pebblecart.com, pepejeans.in as well as Flipkart & Myntra. It is also available at exclusive Pepe Jeans stores across the country.

    “The association with Pepe Jeans is a landmark one from Pebble’s as well as our consumers’ perspective. It is time we don our fashion & style statement everyday on our wrist while leveraging cutting-edge wearable technology to enhance our lives. It is our innovation designed to suit your style and redefine seamless connectivity,” said Pebble co-founder Komal Agarwal on the launch.

    Speaking about the brand’s latest move, Mensa Brands founder & CEO Ananth Narayanan said, “This new partnership yet again manifests Pebble’s unfazed commitment to meeting the needs as well as aspirations of young Indians. Innovation is the key driving our relentless endeavour to bring the best of wearable technology on everyone’s wrists. We are proud of the association with an iconic denim brand like Pepe Jeans.”

    Adding to the sentiments, Pepe Jeans London MD & CEO Manish Kapoor said, “Pepe Jeans has always been synonymous with denim & lifestyle fashion. With smartwatches swiftly becoming an indispensable part of our fashion & lifestyle statements, we joined forces with Pebble to offer the best to our evolving Indian consumer base. This is an iconic partnership of fashion and technology.”

  • Personal care brand Botanic Hearth launches In India

    Personal care brand Botanic Hearth launches In India

    Mumbai: Get ready to upgrade your personal care regime with America’s most loved beauty products! Botanic Hearth, one of America’s largest and most loved personal care brands has finally launched in India, bringing its versatile range of face care, body care and hair care products. The brand promises to bring together the most powerful active and botanicals, to cater to the multiple needs of your skin, body and hair.

    Launched in 2018 in America, Botanic Hearth has successfully made a mark for itself as a personal care brand with products that are free of nasties and full of botanical goodness. Now a part of the Mensa House of Brands, it is ready to foray into the Indian market via online e-commerce marketplaces and its own website. With a selection of face washes, body washes, shampoos and conditioners, Botanic Hearth combines exotic botanicals with powerful actives for the ultimate personal care experience. The range of cruelty-free, sulphate-free and paraben-free products have been formulated keeping in mind the Indian skin.

    Commenting on the launch, Mensa Brands founder & CEO Ananth Narayanan said, “We are ecstatic to bring Botanic Hearth to India. In 5 years, Botanic Hearth has grown to be a bestseller on leading online channels in America, and has made a mark for itself as a brand offering safe and affordable products with superior formulations. We are now looking forward to taking the India market by storm and are sure that our consumers will enjoy our exciting range of products.”

    To find out more about the brand and check out the products, visit www.botanichearth.in. Botanic Hearth is also available on Amazon, Myntra and other leading e-commerce platforms.

  • Medlife goes multilingual, to be offered in eight languages

    Medlife goes multilingual, to be offered in eight languages

    MUMBAI: e-Health platform Medlife becomes the first in the sector to integrate multiple languages on its mobile and desktop applications, enabling people from all parts of the country to interact and engage with the platform more easily. To begin with, the platform has enabled the option of Hindi and will soon integrate Tamil, Telugu, Bengali, Malayalam, Kannada, Marathi and Gujarati.  

    Strong internet penetration and the affordability of smartphones have led to the growth of online commerce in small towns and villages across the country, which accounts for over 50 per cent of business for most e-commerce companies. One of the factors that continues to stall full-fledged development or growth of digital platforms across Bharat, is the language barrier. Though India is the second largest English-speaking nation in the world, only 12 per cent of the people speak English, whereas Hindi is spoken by more than 40 per cent of the population and over 20 other languages are native to the rest. This clearly highlights the need to integrate more languages on to a commerce or trade platform in a multicultural society as ours.

    With this integration, Medlife is set to engage with over twice the number of its present user base, or 10 million new customers, offering them the benefits of high-quality, end-to-end healthcare services, in a more personalized format.  

    “We believe adding vernacular capabilities to Medlife’s platform will play a crucial role in not only ensuring language is not a hindrance for any user seeking to avail our services but also in accelerating the consumer transition to online technologies in Tier II, Tier III and rural cities. This also makes Medlife the first and only e-Health platform to expand its platform to regional languages and highlights our dedication to make e-Health simple, personal, accessible and affordable using technology in India,” said Medlife co-founder and CEO Ananth Narayanan.

    The integration of additional languages and the technological aspects associated with it are being undertaken in-house by Medlife.

  • Medlife provides workforce with medical insurance cover for Covid-19

    Medlife provides workforce with medical insurance cover for Covid-19

    MUMBAI: Medlife an e-Health platform announced extension of medical insurance cover for its employees to include Covid-19. This is applicable to all employees, which includes about 1,700 on-roll and 1,200 off-roll employees.

    Being in the business of delivering medicines to the doorsteps of millions of people across India, Medlife considers it imperative, especially for on-ground workforce, to be sufficiently protected against the risks associated with the ongoing coronavirus pandemic.

    Apart from the standard coverage, the new package has earmarked rupees one lakh for treatment associated with Coronavirus for contract employees, for a period of 3 months from now. On-roll employees are covered in the range of one to five lakh rupees, for up to 9 months from now.   

    Medlife CEO and co-founder Ananth Narayanan said:  “We are now looking forward to quicker order fulfilments, with the government and police ensuring necessary steps for hassle-free movement of our consignments and delivery personnel. With more staff members returning to deliver medicines to the doorsteps of our customers, we are providing them with insurance that covers Covid-19, which is a necessary and important step for their safety, considering the important role they are playing at this time.”

  • Ananth Narayanan joins Medlife as co-founder & CEO

    Ananth Narayanan joins Medlife as co-founder & CEO

    MUMBAI: The Board of Directors at Medlife, www.medlife.com, have announced that Mr. Ananth Narayanan (former CEO of Myntra and Jabong and ex McKinsey Senior Partner) would be joining the company as Co-Founder and CEO. In this capacity, Ananth will be responsible for driving the next S curve of growth, continue to strengthen the team, lead M&A’s, and help formulate strategy around new areas of growth. He will also be joining the Medlife Board of Directors.

    Medlife is the largest e-health company in India today with three business lines including pharmacy, diagnostics and e-consultation. Since its inception in November 2014 by Prashant Singh and Tushar Kumar, Medlife has scaled rapidly to become the first e-pharmacy to clock 1000-crore revenue run rate. It currently operates across 29 states, 4,000 cities and 25,000 pin codes in India fulfilling over 25,000 deliveries daily.

    Medlife operates its medicine delivery service through 40 fulfillment centers and 3 large regional hubs in 22 cities. It has one national and five regional laboratories and over 350 phlebotomists helping bring diagnostics to patients’ homes. It has also launched its e-consultation service after acquiring Eclinic247 last year.

    Speaking about this, Mr. Tushar Kumar and Mr. Prashant Singh, Founders, Medlife, said, “We are very excited to have Ananth partner with us in this journey. We look forward to working together to scale Medlife rapidly going forward. We are at a stage where we have to build this from a $200 million business to a $2 billion plus business over the next 5 years and Ananth in his previous stint has done just that.”

    Adding his comments, Mr. Ananth Narayanan, Co-Founder and CEO, Medlife said “Technology can play a disruptive role in making healthcare simple, personal, and accessible to all Indians. Medlife has built a terrific business and a great team. I look forward to working with them and with Prashant and Tushar to continue to scale the business.”

    This announcement comes on the heel of Medlife announcing the acquisition of Myra Medicines, India’s only express pharmacy delivery service. Post this acquisition Medlife now controls largest share of the e-pharmacy market, a space that is on way to become the next big disruptor after the food delivery service.

    Ananth Narayanan is the former Chief Executive Officer of Myntra. He led Myntra's aspiration to transform how people shop for fashion online and also focused on building category-leading fashion brands. Featured as one of ‘India's Hottest 40 under 40 Business Leaders’ in 2014, Ananth has deep expertise in driving performance improvement and has a particular passion for product development.

    Prior to joining Myntra, Ananth was a Director at Mckinsey & Company and worked with the firm for 15 years across four offices (Chicago, Shanghai, Taipei and Chennai). His role entailed leading the Product Development practice in Asia and working with companies on strategy, operations and organisation. He has successfully helped companies streamline operations and supply, improve product development, develop strategies, business plans and organisational models.

    Ananth has a Bachelor degree in Engineering from University of Madras and a Masters from the University of Michigan, in Industrial Engineering and Operations Research. He is on the Industry Advisory Board of University of Michigan’s Tauber Institute.

  • Myntra CEO Ananth Narayanan quits

    Myntra CEO Ananth Narayanan quits

    MUMBAI: Myntra’s chief executive officer (CEO) Ananth Narayanan has resigned and Flipkart executive Amar Nagaram will head Myntra, according to a report by Livemint.

    Before joining Myntra, Narayanan has worked with Marico Ltd as a board member for 17 months and prior to that he was with McKinsey & Co for almost 15 years across four offices (Chicago, Shanghai, Taipei and Chennai). As a director in the organisation he was responsible for leading the product development practice in Asia and worked with several companies on strategy, operations and organisational models.

    Ananth has a vast experience and knowledge from years in consultancy and managing operations to mentor start-ups. He also has deep expertise in driving performance improvement and product development.

    Key Myntra leaders such as chief revenue officer Mithun Sundar, who took charge in April, and human resources head Manpreet Ratia, who also oversaw operations, supply chain and customer experience at Myntra, have also resigned, according to reports.

    While Myntra has been growing fast, Jabong has struggled. Myntra bought Jabong in July 2016 from Rocket Internet for $70 million mainly to avoid a rival buying it. It is still unclear whether Flipkart will choose to keep the Jabong brand and platform alive. While Jabong will continue to operate for now, Flipkart may shutter the platform after a few months.

    Key leaders such as former strategy head Ananya Tripathi and former Jabong head Gunjan Soni have resigned from Myntra. The list is expected to grow over the coming weeks.

  • Binny Bansal steps down as Flipkart group CEO

    Binny Bansal steps down as Flipkart group CEO

    MUMBAI: Flipkart group CEO Binny Bansal has stepped down following an investigation into alleged "serious personal misconduct”, although he has denied the allegation.

    Walmart Inc, in a press statement, said, “His decision follows an independent investigation done on behalf of Flipkart and Walmart into an allegation of serious personal misconduct, He strongly denies the allegation. Nevertheless, we had a responsibility to ensure the investigation was deliberate and thorough."

    About the investigation, Walmart said that it did not find evidence to corroborate the complainant’s assertions against Bansal but it did reveal other lapses in judgement, particularly a lack of transparency, related to how he responded to the situation. "Because of this, we have accepted his decision to resign," the statement read.

    Kalyan Krishnamurthy will continue as the CEO of Flipkart, including Myntra and Jabong, confirmed Walmart. Ananth Narayanan will continue as the CEO of Myntra and Jabong and will report to Krishnamurthy.

  • Zoom partners Myntra, expects 40% top line growth in 2018

    Zoom partners Myntra, expects 40% top line growth in 2018

    MUMBAI: Zoom, the entertainment channel from the Times stable, is bridging the gap between the television and online mediums. In order to maximise its reach using three staple diets of Indians- fashion, Bollywood and entertainment-it has partnered online fashion and lifestyle company, Myntra, to form a new revamped identity. Zoom will no longer be called just ‘Zoom’ but rather ‘Zoom styled by Myntra’.

    The “reimaged” (as the company prefers to call it) identity went live last night-19 April 2018 at 9 pm IST. Times Network president Nikhil Gandhi affirmed, “Zoom is not a TV channel, but it is an omnipresent brand and Bollywood in India is like a meta-state. With our focus on original content, we will be targeting the sweet spot of 15-to 24-year olds.”

    Zoom aims to leverage Myntra’s style quotient for a new look and feel, new shows, new web-series, short formats and exclusive experiences. The new logo and packaging reflect style, vibrancy and happiness that are symbolic of the channel’s target audience.

    With ‘Zoom styled by Myntra’, viewers will see fresh new faces, stylised looks and latest trends from Myntra, rising stars, the best of Bollywood and popular music. Moreover, the clothing/apparel that will be worn by the celebs/actors/anchors would be shoppable via a Zoom store on Myntra. Through this partnership, Myntra aims to make #SeeItToBuyIt a reality, wherein what the consumer sees on screen can be easily accessed on Myntra.

    Myntra is using the association to strengthen its position in the fashion space. The deal between Zoom and Myntra is a monetised partnership that Gandhi is optimistic will travel beyond at least three years.

    Myntra head of research and insights Priyanka Bhargav said, “This partnership will help us reach viewers of the channel across the country who are ardent followers. Moreover, core propositions such as styles, looks and brands will get a huge push through celebrity-driven content that the TG looks up to.”

    Times Network MD and CEO MK Anand was of the opinion that Zoom had changed the rules of stereotype partnership deals in the industry with its association with Myntra and the refreshed identity reflects the kind of real, conversational and multi-lingual entertainment that viewers in India are looking for.

    Considering that companies today are in a hurry to jump from offline to online, the reverse done by Myntra may be considered as a major move. Bhargav said, “Television has always been one of the most popular mediums for consumption of content, alongside social and digital mediums that are extremely popular. Television, in this association, will act as a catalyst for greater penetration and overall visibility for both brands.”

    Myntra and Jabong CEO Ananth Narayanan said that by 2020, 75 per cent of the content consumed would be video content and made for India original content would grow substantially. “Fashion as a category lends itself well to the video format, much more than any other category. Each show will be styled by Myntra and you can easily get similar looks on Myntra,” he added.

    “Zoom has good affinity in the Myntra demographic TG, especially millennials and Gen-Z. Zoom has very good reach, not only in metros but also tier 2 and 3 cities and towns, where Bollywood inspires style and people have strong aspirations. Online fashion shoppers are highly indexed on Bollywood, movies and music and one in four Zoom viewers has a strong affinity towards online shopping for fashion,” Bhargava pointed out.

    According to Gandhi, Zoom is being distributed to 60 countries out of which Mauritius is its biggest market.

    Last year was a difficult year for broadcasters as they grappled with the challenges of both GST and demonetisation. “At the top-line level, Zoom has grown nine to 10 per cent last year, which was muted growth across the industry. But this year is going to be phenomenal and we are going to grow by 40 per cent at the top line,” Gandhi said.

    Amidst rumours that the channel may launch an over-the-top (OTT) platform, Gandhi said that there were no such plans for now but content syndication was surely on the cards. To engage viewers, the channel decided not to spend millions of dollars on creating originals but focus on the ‘feel’ of the shows. “The cost in which we had executed our web-series is unimaginable against what the OTT players are paying per episode. Our cost is very less compared to OTT players in the market,” says Gandhi.

    The ‘Zoom styled by Myntra’ marketing campaign will enjoy visibility across channels via advertisements and promotions on the Times network will amplify the announcement to the larger audiences in addition to a few print ads and hoardings to keep the communication at the forefront in the traditional format.

    Zoom Originals aims to create experiences beyond screens that will be warm, stylish and relatable, reflecting today’s coming-of-age stories, and viewers’ own lives and relationships. These shows will be shown on the channel as well as on YouTube as web series.

    The channel’s flagship property, Planet Bollywood, will also get a makeover. The anchors will now drive the conversation to reveal the real “story behind the news”. The show will also drive discussions to engage viewers on Zoom’s digital platforms and social media handles.

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  • NBA partners Jabong to operate official online store

    NBA partners Jabong to operate official online store

    MUMBAI: The National Basketball Association (NBA) and Jabong, India’s fashion and lifestyle e-commerce platform – today announced a multiyear partnership extension that will provide fans access to authentic NBA merchandise in more than 730 cities across India. 

    The NBAStore.in is powered by Jabong which will offer authentic merchandise, including player jerseys, fanwear apparel, performance and casual footwear, backpacks, caps, and a host of other accessories.

    As part of the partnership extension, Jabong will also serve as a partner for the recently launched NBA daily fantasy game on NBA.com, Dream11.com and the Dream11 app, providing players with the opportunity to win NBAStore.in gift cards. Jabong will continue to be a key partner of select NBA events in India. 

    NBA India MD Yannick Colaco said, “Since the launch of our online store four years ago, sales have grown fivefold, so we are thrilled to extend our partnership with Jabong to continue providing our fans in India with the latest NBA gear.” 

    “We have always strived to partner with leading international sports brands, and with the launch of NBAStore.in in 2014, we addressed the growing demand for NBA merchandise in India,” said Jabong CEO Ananth Narayanan.“We have witnessed significant growth in NBA merchandise sales over the last four years, and we look forward to continuing our association with the NBA to provide a destination for fans in India to celebrate their passion for basketball.”

    The NBA now has 12 international e-commerce sites.

    Also Read:

    Mairu Gupta and the art of building the NBA in India

  • Myntra signs on Chemistry & AKS, targets 10x growth & $1 bn valuation

    MUMBAI: Myntra, a leading destination for fashion and lifestyle online, has announced the launch of its Accelerator Programme.

    Through this initiative, Myntra is looking at forging strategic partnerships with about 10-15 local fashion brands that have a strong founding team and unique design sensibility. The program is designed to accelerate growth of these brands through technical, know how, analytics and branding support from Myntra.

    Myntra has signed partnerships with two brands, Chemistry and AKS and has five more brands in the pipeline. Chemistry is a trendy fashion brand for women, who want to stand apart from generic fashion. With a reach of about half a million customers at present, its association with Myntra through the Accelerator programme is expected to take it to three million customers in the next three years. AKS is an ethnic wear brand for the modern day Indian women. The brand’s strong product value proposition has helped it scale to a $6 million annual GMV in three years. Under Accelerator, it is expected to witness a growth of 10X over the next three years.

    Myntra-Jabong CEO Ananth Narayanan said, “We believe that the next 3-5 years will see the emergence of many new national brands. As leaders, Myntra and Jabong are well positioned to work closely with some of these emerging brands to propel them to the national stage.”

    The brands will be able to leverage our core strengths – largest mass premium customer base and data driven insights on consumer, while also getting operational support. We are looking at creating about $ 1 billion incremental valuation for the Myntra Accelerator brands over the next three years.

    CEO Chemistry Sunil Jhangiani said, “Being an offline brand with a strong foundation, our association with Myntra opens up a new world of opportunities for us in terms of reach, visibility and volumes through the online channel. Myntra’s expertise in building successful online brands over the years, backed by strong technological support will aid us in shaping the future of Chemistry and establishing it as one of the foremost fashion brands in the country. We expect the online sales to become 50% of the brand sales in 3-5 years.”

    AKS founder Nidhi Yadav added, “As an online-first brand, we started small with a passion for design and identity. By associating with Myntra, we are taking the first major step towards creating a national brand. Myntra’s ability to build brands through digital marketing, capture and provide insights on customer behavior and enable reach to eight million+ women shoppers will be a game changer for our brand.”

    With successful in-house brands such as Roadster and HRX, Myntra has the know-how of creating brands that have the potential to be category leaders. An online-first approach ensures that brands scale much faster and at better economies compared to an offline model. Through this program Myntra will help partners to build their brand online through Myntra and Jabong and also leverage data from the 18 million monthly active users to get insights on customer behavior and product assortments.