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Tag: Ashish Rana

  • Zeel company SugarBox makes senior level appointments

    Zeel company SugarBox makes senior level appointments

    MUMBAI: Content distribution network (CDN) services provider SugarBox –  in which Zee Entertainment Enterprises infused Rs 522 crore recently – has announced  a series of appointments at senior leadership levels to take the company to the next level.

    SugarBox has installed 200 CDN edge servers at key places of interest (PoI)  – including public transport, public place, rural area, hotels and co-living spaces and malls – in nine cities which allow users to connect to a local wifi network. Users have to look for “sugarbox” in their wifi settings and connect, open their Zee5 or Freeplay app, register using their mobile number  and stream and download movies and shows  without buffering or data charges. The service provider counts Railtel, Hyderabad railway station, CMRL, CSC WiFi, Central Railway and NMMT among its partners.

    Amongst these:

    ·       Ashish Kulshresth  who has come on board as business head. Ashish has over 20 years of strategic experience in strategic alliances, sales and marketing across edtech, e-commerce, telecom and media. Most recently, he was the VP – partnerships & online growth at WhiteHat Jr. At SugarBox, he will take up P&L responsibility and oversee the network expansion, as well as  revenue functions.

    * Ishan Choudhury is the growth head. With 14 years of experience across diverse strategy roles, including co-founding a hyperlocal services venture, he brings a balance of start-up exposure and key insights from running micro-ventures in large enterprises like Jio. He joins SugarBox from Weddingz, where he worked as the director of customer strategy. He will be responsible for driving strategic initiatives and customer traction for the company.

    * Rupsa Sinha as the brand head. With 12 years of experience across consumer brands like ICICI and Thomas Cook, Sinha has undertaken the unique challenge of creating a category defining brand – aLL from scratch, prior to SugarBox. She will be primarily responsible for building the SugarBox brand and creating awareness for the unique value proposition and disruption that the company creates.

    * Ashish Rana as the head of app partnerships. He has more than 15 years of experience, primarily across media & consumer businesses. He will be responsible for evangelism of SugarBox across digital industries with a key focus on OTT, e-commerce, fintech, edtech, mobility and foodtech.

    * Vishwanath Kulkarni  as the head of network rollout. He brings with him over 15 years of experience in the IT & Telecom domain, having been instrumental for the rollout of 2G, 3G and 4G networks for a telco in UAE and Reliance Communications. At SugarBox, he will own the network rollout and network maintenance function enabling the company to scale operations rapidly.

    Says SugarBox co-founder & CEO Rohit Paranjpe said, “We welcome AK, Ishan, Rupsa, Ashish and VK to the team and I’m grateful for the rich and diverse experience they bring to the company. We are at a very interesting juncture in our journey and their arrival brings fresh energy, expertise and perspective that will be pivotal in our rapid scale-up aspirations. We have an exciting couple of years ahead of us as we kick-start our association with the Indian railways and these key appointments will play a vital role in shaping our future.”

  • World Emoji Day: Emojis For Brand Marketing

    World Emoji Day: Emojis For Brand Marketing

    It is rightly said that ‘Pictures speak louder than words’. Emojis are the small icons that depict emotions or objects like food, snacks, clothes, weather, animals, accessories and many more! These are highly impactful if used correctly at the right place, right time and to the right people. It is a fun mode of interaction. Emojis provide advertisers and brand marketers a huge opportunity to effectively convey their messages to their audience. 

    The reason behind emojis being highly impactful is that they are used in daily conversations. Previously, brands picked-up phrases that were used in daily conversations. For instance, big marketing campaigns like Maruti’s ‘Kitna deti hai’ and Surf Excel’s ‘Daag Ache Hain’. Such campaigns spoke about the regular questions of the consumers and highlighted the benefits of the products. Maruti’s campaign was a huge success as it spoke about the most common questions that the consumers ask. 

    Emojis are regularly used in chats, emails and other means of communications. The brands which are focusing on effectively reaching out to their audience should be well-versed with the language and tonality that they use regularly. Millennials constantly use emojis regularly, if they are the targeted mass, then they will have to start using emojis as it will help them communicate their message better. 

    Many brands are coming up with custom emojis like Mumbai Indians which received a great response from the people. The moment a brand uses common lingo, they can connect with their audience better. There are 2 ways that brands can leverage emojis i.e. creating their own set of emojis or picking up the current popular ones. Custom emojis are unique and act as a brand identity. It can make wonders happen but on the other hand, if there’s a failure, people might hesitate to accept it. It gives the perception of the brand trying hard to look cool. 

    On the other hand, picking up current popular emojis and weaving them into your brand message proves to be successful, if it is smartly done. The fact that people are celebrating World Emoji Day is a testimonial that they have been using it in regular conversations for years. Emojis is a new language now. 

    Presently, using emojis actively for branding is still an open jury. As it is yet to be understood whether it is as effective as the regular language or phrases, it is crucial to select emojis that are relevant to your brand. Choosing the right emojis can make wonders happen, but a wrong choice may lead to confusion. The emojis must be relatable to the brand hence, it is advisable to carefully monitor and select them. It is not a one-time process, it is vital to use the brand emojis consistently to ensure that these are registered in the minds of the consumers. 

    The emojis should never be force-fit. It is better to understand what your brand messaging is and then try initiating a conversation with one consumer. If the conversation along with the emojis makes sense, then try exploring it and weave your advertising using emojis. Using emojis is a bad idea if a brand followed a serious messaging and caters to a serious audience. However, emojis are an add-on to the language and should be used as an add-on to your communications. It cannot become a primary tool for branding. 

    (The author is business head, IdeateLabs. The views expressed are his own and Indiantelevision.com may not subscribe to it.)

  • Brand Factory’s Raksha Bandhan ad all set to redefine sibling bond

    Brand Factory’s Raksha Bandhan ad all set to redefine sibling bond

    MUMBAI: Brand Factory, a fashion discount chain by Future Group, wants to make this Raksha Bandhan a unique experience for siblings. While the world focuses on highlighting just the sibling bond, Brand Factory took a different route to showcase not just the bond but how a brother plays a larger role in a sister’s life. The brand believes that there are unimaginable ways a brother supports a sister no matter how challenging and sometimes unachievable her dreams may seem.

    Hence, this Raksha Bandhan, Brand Factory has introduced the #BrotherLikeNoOther campaign. This campaign is its attempt to celebrate those brothers who help their sisters chase and achieve their dreams. Dreams that are often shunned by society, but how a brother will only encourage and coax his sister to chase her dreams.

    The campaign began during this week across the brand’s social media handles, Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. The concept of #BrotherLikeNoOther has been brought to life through a series of posts, contests and more that urge participants to share their experiences of how their brother has been a solid support system. The content connected well with audience which was proved by heart-touching sibling stories received on each post. The campaign was further amplified through FB posts which promoted Brand Factory gift cards. Through website integration purchasing gift cards became easy. At the very beginning of the launch, the campaign has received an exhilarating response of more than 6.5 million reach across its various social media platforms. 

    Simultaneously, mega influencers like Smriti Mandhana, Rajvee Gandhi to name a few and community pages like Awesome Things in India, Scrawled Stories will be joining the #BrotherLikeNoOther campaign soon.

    To break the monotony of the generic brother-sister rakhi commercials, here’s a fun and quirky one-minute video conceptualised by Publicis Ambience. The video explains, no matter how crazy, how many demands; a brother can fulfill his sister’s wishes because Brand Factory has a deal for every demand. The video is live on its social media platform and has crossed over 1.5 million views already. 

    Brand Factory chief marketing officer Roch D’Souza says, “During festivals and occasions Brand Factory would like to be more relevant through its offerings and fabulous discounts, to its customers. We had a holistic 360-degree communication approach for the campaign and have been getting immense responses via personal stories and visuals, through our campaign thought of #BrotherLikeNoOther. This campaign was extended to all our stores through the gifting options for a sister be it shoes, handbags, womenswear and has helped drive women walk-ins to our stores.”

    IdeateLabs business head Ashish Rana adds, “Our idea was to pay tribute to this great festival of Raksha Bandhan by highlighting the bigger role of brothers. And digital exploded the #BrotherLikeNoOther campaign by weaving a story around brothers who pushed their sisters to achieve their dreams. The content did work wonders as our social media handles were flooded with sibling stories. Now, we will take this campaign to the next level with digital influencers and community pages.”

    Commenting on the campaign, Publicis MD and chief creative officer for South Asia Bobby Pawar mentions, “Brand Factory is a brand that disrupts the category, so we came to the obvious conclusion, how can its advertising be otherwise? When convention dictates that you show good-looking people who ooze an ‘effortless’ ‘aspirational’ ‘youthy’ attitude, we went in the opposite direction.”

    Brand Factory is a chain of fashion discount stores with 72 outlets across 30 cities in India. It offers 200+ Indian and international fashion brands at 20-70 per cent discount, 365 days a year. It also offers a diverse range of merchandise at absolutely great prices in a refreshingly enjoyable ambience. Brand Factory stores include men’s formals, casuals, youth wear, women’s wear, sportswear, kids wear, footwear, accessories and more.

  • YourStory’s Ashish Rana joins IdeateLabs as business head

    MUMBAI: Ashish Rana has joined IdeateLabs, a full service digital marketing company, as the business head at its Mumbai office. His key responsibilities include prospecting new clients, planning and co-ordinating the implementation of business plans, establishing connections with the external stake holders, forging new deals and growing new business opportunities.

    His expertise lies in the fields of marketing, branding, communications, strategy & operations, consumer research and project management. He has worked with renowned companies like Star India, FoodFood, Network18 & OMS (Mudra Max, Part of DDB Group). Rana was the Strategy and Operations Head at YourStory Media and was responsible for planning and implementing organizational strategy, sales and events, in his last assignment.

    On this latest development, IdeateLabs director Vrutika Dawda said, “Team Ideate is extremely delighted to have Ashish on board. He will play a crucial role in enhancing and growing our business and the brands associated with us. With his extensive business network and interpersonal skills, we look forward to a successful association and a great future. I look forward to Ashish working closely with me and other senior management members in Ideate and contributing to our vision of dynamic and integrated brand solutions for our clients.”

    Commenting on the potential of the rapidly evolving digital marketing industry, Rana said, ‘’Having worked with some of the best organisations, I look forward to contributing my skills and expertise to my team and IdeateLabs. Having worked for more than a decade with electronic media, I am very excited to work on a blend of electronic and digital marketing solutions for various brands across the country. I’m looking forward to taking IdeateLabs to the next level and creating yet another success story.’’