Mumbai: American watch and lifestyle company Fossil has announced its partnership with Bollywood actor Kriti Sanon as the brand’s newest celebrity ambassador in India. Sanon’s optimism and organic take on fashion closely align with Fossil’s dedication to authenticity and creative spirit, the brand said.
Her collaboration with Fossil will extend to promoting the watch & accessory categories ranging from traditional & smartwatches to leather products and jewelry for women. Sanon will be seen in an upcoming brand campaign with fellow brand ambassador Varun Dhawan.
“As one of the leading accessories brands in the country, Fossil has always endeavored to design watches, jewelry and leather goods that preserve a unique modern-vintage spirit and exemplify creativity and optimism. Our commitment to authenticity extends to our products as well as our people,” said Fossil Group India managing director Johnson Verghese. “Kriti’s chic, vibrant fashion sense perfectly expresses her authenticity, aligning with Fossil’s brand ethos and commitment towards being true to oneself.”
“Crafting timeless styles through beautiful watches along with delicate jewelry and chic bags, the brand’s modern designs are the epitome of timeless style. Embracing the spirit of innovation and individuality, Fossil advocates authenticity that strongly resonates with my personal outlook towards style,” Kriti Sanon said.
Mumbai: Caffeinated personal care brand mCaffeine has collaborated with actors Radhika Apte, Shruti Hassan, and Vikrant Massey for its upcoming campaign to help establish an ‘addiction’ to all the good caffeine can do. The brand film is targeted towards the Gen Z audience while communicating the D2C brand’s ‘Addicted To Good’ proposition.
“Given the rising awareness about personal care, with our ‘Addicted To Good’ campaign, we aim to emphasise the benefits of our hero ingredient and solidify mCaffeine’s position as India’s most favourite caffeinated personal care brand,” said mCaffeine CEO & co-founder Tarun Sharma. “The proposition comes from the human insight that we are essentially creatures of habit that favour repetition. A single good habit can often lead to another, starting a chain of goodness. Representing the young and energetic go-getters who the brand’s products are made for, the three ambassadors will share the goodness of caffeine with everyone – along with the good that the brand does at large.”
Aside from opposing animal testing, the colour, the gender-neutral brand promotes clean, sustainable living. With the ‘Addicted To Good’ message, mCaffeine aims to inspire the audience to unearth their full potential and be the best version of themselves – because feeling good is everyone’s right, said the brand.
“For me, personal care is not just limited to outer appearance but a feeling of goodness from within. I have personally been a mCaffeine user, and I stand by the ideology of the brand. mCaffeine – 100% natural, vegan, cruelty-free, and with zero plastic footprint – has consistently made a meaningful impact in today’s world by supporting addiction to the goodness of caffeinated personal care products,” said Shruti Hassan.
“Looking at the growing consciousness of today’s millennials, I believe that we all must pledge to products that make us addicted to not just a good regime but also a good environment,” said Radhika Apte.
Vikrant Massey added, “The pandemic has brought me closer to myself and my personal care routine, and I think that’s the scenario with everyone. Consumers are looking for an impactful factor in every choice they make, and a brand like mCaffeine, in today’s time, is making it easily possible for them with their consistent efforts.”
Mumbai: Fintech platform Rupeek has launched its first integrated brand campaign featuring “The Family Man” fame actors Manoj Bajpayee and Priyamani. Conceived by The Womb, the ad spot shows how the platform aims to solve the usual credit pain points with its hassle-free doorstep gold loan offering.
The film depicts the actors walking into an establishment to apply for a gold loan where they run into several hurdles. Then they are introduced to Rupeek where they can schedule an appointment using the app, get their gold measured and avail credit- all at the convenience of their home.
“With the majority of India’s population having no access to formal credit, there is a huge potential for asset-backed lending such as online gold loans,” said Rupeek SVP- marketing and digital Shalabh Atray. “I am happy and excited to have both Manoj and Priyamani on board for our campaign and convey Rupeek’s vision to the Indian households. We believe that it is the right time for the narrative of gold loans in India to evolve and align with aspirations of the evolving Indian.”
“It is wonderful to see how young entrepreneurs and companies are addressing the issues that are deeply penetrated in our society,” said Manoj Bajpayee speaking on the brand association. “Through this film, we have tried to break the stigma associated with gold loans and convey a deeper message on the potential of gold loans to make people feel empowered during challenging times.”
“Gold is the most celebrated asset in our country, yet people continue to undermine its potential, especially in tiding through financial exigencies. COVID-19 has been an eye-opener in many ways for the common man and with a trusted brand like Rupeek, I am certain people will start acknowledging the benefits of hassle-free and safe doorstep gold loans,” added Priyamani.
Through its trusted relationship with lending partners, Rupeek claims to offer online gold loans to its customers with minimal documentation and low-interest rates.
Mumbai: The year 2020 has nudged the world to prioritise the values of community and enhanced empathy towards each other. It is this mass movement of coming together in the hour of need, leaving self-interest aside is one that deserves recognition and celebration, said Titan as it releases its new collection.
The watch brand’s latest collection is a symbolic special edition set of watches where the dial has a circular design represented by people coming together – showing solidarity. The communication is aligned with the current consumer sentiments and helps to bring out the larger cause of celebrating human compassion and solidarity, said the company.
“The Solidarity collection is a tribute to the people who stood by each other in their hour of need. It celebrates the human spirit of solidarity, that triumphed against all odds to bring hope in bleak times. So, it was only fitting that we do our bit too,” said Titan marketing head Sirish Chandrasekhar. “The watches are made with recycled metal and vegan straps, making it a timeless piece for the social and ecologically conscious. To further this initiative, we have ensured that all proceeds go to the Taj Public Welfare Trust.”
The brand has also released an ad film created by Ogilvy Bangalore to celebrate the launch.
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Ogilvy India (South) CCO Mahesh Gharat said, “When Titan told us about their initiative to create a special watch as a tribute to everyone who helped fight the second wave, we knew it deserved different communication. The film showcases the interconnectedness of humanity. It is meant to serve as a reminder to us all that when people come together, they become invincible.”
Mumbai: Skincare brand Nivea has introduced its latest skincare innovation – ‘Nivea Naturally Good’. The brand has unveiled its latest campaign featuring Bollywood actor Taapsee Pannu. The all-new product range has more than 95 per cent natural origin ingredients and eco-friendly packaging, said the company.
The film, conceptualised by Publicis One Touch, showcases the actor talking about all the things that Nivea’s new product lacks with the statement “Naturally Good mein kaafi cheezon ki kami hai”. She then goes on to reveal what it lacks: From no harmful chemicals to 50 per cent less plastic. The new Nivea Naturally Good body lotion is then unveiled, with 98 per cent natural origin ingredients & eco-friendly packaging making it a dual favourite that is “Good for Nature & Great for Skin”.
“Nivea always aims to establish the promise of care in every product and campaign. Our new range of Nivea Naturally Good products embodies our corporate purpose of ‘Care Beyond Skin’,” said Nivea India marketing director, Ajay Simha. “Through the new campaign, we want to reach out to our young consumers who believe in the strength of natural ingredients & are conscious of nature while selecting their products.”
The New Nivea Naturally Good range consists of body lotions, deodorants, roll-ons and shower gels. The 360-degree campaign is launched on television and digital platforms and will further be amplified through various other media.
“We have all seen the surge of skincare products that use natural ingredients. But what sets Nivea Naturally Good apart is that while it takes 95 per cent+ of its ingredients from nature, it also gives back with eco-friendly packaging,” said Publicis One Touch, executive creative director, Chandani Samdaria. “We wanted the campaign to be as honest as the range and that’s how the campaign idea ‘Good for nature, Great for skin’ was born. And thereafter Taapsee’s genuinely effervescent personality just makes it come alive.”
Nivea had also taken a step further in Caring Beyond Skin, starting with the World Environment Day, to partner with SankalpTaru in planting more than 10,000 trees in the rural areas of Karnataka and Assam, encouraging consumers to virtually adopt a tree of their own on the purchase of every Nivea Naturally Good combo. The brand’s latest range of products is now available in general stores, chemists, retail chains, and online stores across India.
Mumbai: Britannia Bourbon has launched its new campaign by partnering with Indian cricketers – Hardik Pandya, Shreyas Iyer, and Deepak Chahar. The new TVC, which has Bourbon at the center of all the fun, brings out the desire for the iconic chocolaty snack. The TVC, conceptualised by McCann India- South, features the trio who are known to be friends on and off the cricket field.
The ad film depicts Hardik pulling a minor heist on Shreyas and Deepak and brings out the brand’s proposition of “Original Friendship”. The simple yet relatable creative is one that every friends’ gang can relate to, based on the premise that Bourbon is so delicious that you wouldn’t want to share it even with your best buddies. The TVC celebrates the mischievous, unpretentious bonds between real friends and Britannia Bourbon’s role of igniting fun between such friends.
“For over 65 years, Britannia Bourbon has been enjoyed across generations in almost every Indian household. We are really excited to introduce Hardik Pandya, Shreyas Iyer and Deepak Chahar as the new gang of friends. They have brought alive the brand idea in a fun and wicked way,” said Britannia Industries, VP- marketing, Vinay Subramanyam.
Speaking about the TVC, McCann Worldgroup head of creative – South, Sambit Mohanty said, “When you pull a fast one over a friend and it’s all in good fun, you know the friendship’s got to be original. Pretty much the sentiment captured in our new film for Britannia Bourbon – the original bourbon. For it depicts a friendship built on a solid foundation of wickedness, inappropriateness, and shenanigans.”
Mumbai: In what can be termed as a ‘battle of the boxers’, men’s innerwear brand Amul Macho has alleged that another Indian brand of men’s innerwear, Lux Cozi has “blatantly copied” its Amul Macho ‘Toing’ ad from 2007. J G Hosiery Pvt Ltd, the makers of Macho Innerwear, has complained to the Advertising Standards Council of India (ASCI) regarding what it calls “blatant plagiarism”.
According to Amul Macho, the recently released Lux Cozi ad, featuring actor Varun Dhawan, that is currently being aired on various news channels and on Sony TV, appears to take more than just inspiration from the popular Amul Macho ad with the tagline “Ye To Bada Toing Hai”.
“We find it shocking that a worthy and esteemed competitor appears to want to ride on the creative success of a brand that’s a market leader in its category, by blatantly copying its popular ad concept and executional elements. We hope good reason will prevail and the copied ad will be withdrawn forthwith,” said JG Hosiery Pvt Ltd, CEO, Navin Seksaria.
The company finds the premise of the ad by Lux Cozi to be identical to the Amul Macho Toing ad and the storyline of the Lux Cozi ad to be strikingly similar to their own creative asset.
“It’s a matter of deep concern to J G Hosiery that the woman in the Lux Cozi ad holds up the Lux Cozi underwear to show that her man wears Lux Cozi, implying that Varun Dhawan should stay away, in a similar manner to how it was held up by Sana Khan in the Amul Macho Toing ad,” stated Madison Communications on behalf of Amul Macho in a note to the press. “Amul Innerwear team takes the matter of their creative asset being copied very seriously, believing that the visual similarity of the two ads cannot be a mere coincidence. Both women in the two respective ads hold up the underwear to make a statement about the fact that, ‘My man wears this’.”
Amul Macho further noted that the similarity between the two ads does not end there but has so many common executional elements that JG Hosiery has felt compelled to “call out the copy-cat work and point out what appears to be an opportunistic brand building attempt by Lux Cozi.”
The various executional elements of the Lux Cozi ad film that Amul Macho has taken objection to, include the colour and shape of the underwear used in the former’s ad, the way the woman holds up the object of contention and even the specific expressions of the supporting cast when they see the product in question, apart from the music theme and the setting of the film.
It further alleged that the Lux Cozi ad unfairly tries to take advantage of the brand equity, reputation and goodwill generated by the Amul Macho toing ad, by copying both the concept and executional elements of the brand’s popular ad film and must therefore be restrained from being aired.
Under the fourth chapter related to fairness in competition, the ACSI code states that: “Advertisements shall not be similar to any other advertiser’s earlier run advertisements in general layout, copy, slogans, visual presentations, music or sound effects, so as to suggest plagiarism.”
“While the ASCI code allows competitive advertising including naming a competitor so long as the comparison is fair, plagiarism is making use of someone else’s goodwill or effort for your own benefit, which is a violation of the ASCI code,” ASCI general secretary Manisha Kapoor told IndianTelevision.com, adding that, “A complaint that comes to us will need to be examined more specifically with regards to its elements, and taken through the due process to determine if plagiarism is suggested.”
With regards to this latest complaint of plagiarism, Kapoor stated that any complaint processed by ASCI allows for both the complainant and advertiser views to be tabled, and only after taking into account all the evidence presented, the consumer complaints council will make a recommendation.
Meanwhile, Lux has refuted the allegations made by its competitor. “Our TVC is based on an original idea and conceptualised by our creative agency and is not inspired or motivated by any borrowed ideas,” a Lux Industries spokesperson told ET Brand Equity, further adding, “We feel that the competition is feeling threatened by the success of our TVC and is levelling baseless allegations.”
Yellow Beetle, the agency behind the ad’s concept represented by Daven Munjal, stated, “We wanted to give a new dimension to the Lux Cozi communication, we conceptualised the commercial with the clear aim to target the youth, the commercial has freshness and has the flavour of naughtiness and tongue in cheek communication.”
Mumbai: Snacks and packaged foods brand Bikano has launched a new campaign ‘Hum Se Behtar Bhujia Ko Jaane Kaun’ to strengthen its position in the market as ‘bhujia specialist’. The brand had recently launched a new product variant – ‘Aloo Bhujia Lemon Chaska’ – to expand the portfolio and to differentiate its products in the bhujia category.
The namkeen and snacks market in India is valued at about Rs 35,000 crore and over the recent past, it has been witnessing healthy growth. The increased sale of traditional snacks like bhujia, sev, and mixtures has significantly contributed to the industry’s expansion. Capitalising on the same, Bikano’s objective is to penetrate the market further by foraying into newer distribution channels and strengthening their existing channels of distribution, said the brand in a statement.
“Leveraging this authenticity of original Bikaneri bhujia, we are aiming to expand the realm of our offerings by channeling energies towards entering newer sales and distribution channels,” said Bikano director, Manish Aggarwal. “We will also be maximising the potential of digital and other relevant promotional mediums to ensure seamless presence and capture market share. Bhujia is one of the products which have been part of Bikano’s culinary legacy since the beginning. The market share of the Bhujia & Sev category is 25 per cent of the traditional snacks market in India and we are expecting a considerable sales surge in this category,” he added.
Aggarwal further said that the product also sees robust demand from several international markets such as the US, Canada, Europe, Gulf countries, Australia and New Zealand.
“At Bikano, we imbibe the spirit of Bikaner that reflects the true taste of Indian culture. Crunchy, rich tangy flavours merged with spices make our Bikaneri and Aloo Bhujia a mouth-watering snack,” said Bikano, head of marketing, Dawinder Pal. “With the tagline –‘Humse Behtar Bhujia ko Jaane Kaun’, we want to establish Bikano’s authority in bhujia manufacturing and take the position as Bhujia specialists in the market.”
“The campaign will be rolled out across channels including ATL and BTL. Aloo Bhujia and Bikaneri Bhujia are among the substantial contributors in the namkeen segment for us. Also, looking at the current situation, we as a brand are solely focused on value creation that will help us thrive in the market,” he added.
Bikano said it has stocked Bikaneri bhujia and aloo bhujia across the company’s general and modern trade network. These products are available in a various range of packaging and price points.
Mumbai: Hashtag Orange has partnered with Wildcraft in its next phase of growth. As a part of this association. the digital communications agency will be responsible for carrying out the entire digital activity of the brand across creative, technology, and media.
“Wildcraft is a dynamic outdoors brand that needs a unique and differentiated approach where we encourage more conversations with our customers. We are excited that Hashtag Orange with its customer-centric approach and results-oriented solutions will partner Wildcraft in achieving our digital goals,” said Wildcraft India, chief marketing officer, Pawandip Singh on the association.
“As a full-service digital solutions agency, We are confident that we will be able to add a lot of value to Wildcraft and contribute to their growth,” commented Hashtag Orange, founder, Mukesh Vij.
“Wildcraft is a brand we have all grown to love. The prospect of working on an indigenous and homegrown brand is truly exciting. And with the leadership there with a clear vision and a desire to innovate, we look forward to creating some truly memorable work together,” said Hashtag Orange, CCO, Gaurang Menon.
“It’s always a great learning experience to work on a brand that gives you an opportunity and the freedom to experiment with new ideas rather than following the beaten path. Wildcraft is such a brand, and we are very excited to carve the unexplored path for them and create magic,” added Hashtag Orange, director of client servicing & strategy, Freya Mishra.
Mumbai: Creative and Youth Marketing agency Sociowash has retained the mandate for the OnePlus Youth Marketing Program to increase the brand’s share of voice among the youth.
The agency’s youth marketing arm – YouthBeat will manage the program in sync with the brand’s objective to tap into the student community and associate closely with them.
The mandate consists of result-oriented planning, strategising and execution of Oneplus’s campus ambassador program by the agency. In addition, the agency is responsible for adding value to the brand and students’ learning experience by designing a better growth-driven strategy for the brand.
Sociowash will manage all activities associated with the campus ambassador program including selection to the recruitment of student ambassadors from top universities based on ambition displayed, personal values, creativity, understanding of technology, passion for marketing, outgoing personality, and leadership qualities, said the statement.
The agency will formulate strategies to drive the growth of the OP SAP community through talent unboxing events, clubhouse sessions, IG takeovers, it added.
Commenting on the program, Sociowash’s co-founder, Raghav Bagai said, “OnePlus’s Campus Ambassador Program is an excellent opportunity for young talent to hone their skills. With a huge number of OnePlus technology enthusiasts in universities, we are proud to partner with the brand and enhance its share of voice among the student community. We look forward to creating strategies that benefit the brand and create space for the community members to thrive in order to generate results for the brand.”
