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Tag: consumer brand

  • “Ice creams has some catching up to do before it can replace traditional sweets”: Baskin Robbins’ Mohit Khattar

    “Ice creams has some catching up to do before it can replace traditional sweets”: Baskin Robbins’ Mohit Khattar

    Mumbai: As the festive season approaches in India, the consumer dessert market experiences a significant surge in demand, with households eagerly seeking delightful treats to celebrate. This period presents a unique opportunity for dessert brands to cater to the tastes and preferences of Indian consumers. The consumer market for ice cream is primed for significant growth. With an estimated value of nearly ₹18,000-₹20,000 crore, the ice cream industry has been experiencing a consistent annual growth rate of 15-17 per cent.

    In this context, several key trends and approaches are shaping the landscape. These include a nuanced understanding of the Indian palate, expansion plans to cater to seasonal demands, and the integration of technology to streamline supply chains and meet customer expectations.

    Indiantelevision.com in conversation with Graviss Foods Pvt Ltd (Baskin Robbins) CEO Mohit Khattar spoke on how brands like Baskin Robbins gearing up this festive season, key strategies on establishing a presence in Tier 2 and Tier 3 markets, understanding the needs of the Indian audience, and much more.

    Mohit Khattar, with nearly three decades of experience, has been with Graviss since 2017 as CEO. During his tenure, he has accelerated business growth, strengthened management, improved brand image across various channels, and fostered a strong social media presence. Since 2017, he has focused on creating a cohesive team and positioning Baskin Robbins as an industry leader through strategic partnerships, opportunity identification, and innovative product, packaging, and marketing initiatives.

    Edited Excerpts:

    On Baskin Robbins’ journey in India for three decades, adapting to meet the evolving tastes of Indian consumers, particularly during festive celebrations

    Baskin Robbins has been around in the world since 1945 and in India for the last three decades. In these last 30 years in India, a lot of things have changed. Just as the country has grown in every aspect, so has the brand Baskin Robbins. The flavours have evolved; the range of products has grown from mere ice creams to a wide range of ice cream-based desserts; the style of communication as well as the platforms on which we reach out to consumers, has undergone relevant changes. The parlours too look quite different from the parlours even a decade ago. The brand logo itself has undergone two radical changes in these 30 years.

    On Baskin Robbins preparations for the upcoming festive season in India

    The festive season is a time for merriment, bonding and indulgence. Though from an ice cream industry perspective, this coincides with the onset of winter in India. Yet Baskin Robbins has been actively bringing newness to its offering irrespective of season every year. For the upcoming season, Baskin Robbins will be introducing very exciting new flavours targeted not just kids but also we have something for adults. Additionally, there will be seasonal specials. We will talk about everything closer to the actual launch of these products. We will be creating awareness about all our new launches through social and digital platforms and of course through in parlour and in-market activations.

    On the company’s efforts to understand the Indian palate and introduce flavours that resonate with local tastes while maintaining global quality standards

    Just to give you an example, on one hand, very recently we introduced a blueberry with white chocolate flavour and on the other we introduced a caramel milk cake. On the one hand, we introduced cheesecake sundaes and on the other, we brought in Gulab Jamun sundaes. We have done this consistently over the last couple of years and balanced out our offering. The core guidance that we create and serve products with only the finest ingredients from qualified sources as well as quality and quantum of dairy fat stays constant. So, we are able to maintain the same creaminess and mouth feel that consumers can get pretty much anywhere in the world and expect from Baskin Robbins – while giving them a fairly wide range of exotic flavours to choose from. Also, I must add that we operate a very modern and well-equipped manufacturing facility that enables us to offer and maintain global quality standards. From this facility, we also supply to other parts of the world too.

    On Baskin Robbins’ response to the rising health consciousness among consumers, particularly in the context of festive offerings

    We do believe that while customers are beginning to veer towards healthier options when it comes to the festive season, customers are clear that they would rather enjoy without compromise of any kind. And if they do have to compromise, they would rather exercise portion control rather than consume a healthier version of their favourite. Keeping the above in mind, Baskin Robbins will be introducing two fabulous new bite-sized innovations for its customers. There are also other attractions lined up. We shall speak about it closer to the actual launch timelines which is around mid-October.

    On the key strategies to enter and establish a presence in Tier 2 and Tier 3 markets during the festive season

    And given the pace we maintain for our new stores, we open 8-12 every month. This is not specific to any season but is our broad strategy going forward to take the brand to where there is potential and demand. There are of course, still areas of opportunity in many pockets and a few states and we aim to plug these gaps as we go along. We intend to add another 60-80 cities over the next two years to our network.

    On Baskin Robbins’ approach to pricing its products in comparison to its nearest competitors in the ice cream industry

    Honestly, we have rarely followed any specific brand in the competitive set for the pricing of our products. Our approach has been to follow our customers instead. We price our products at affordable premium kind of pricing levels. This allows us to offer superior product quality while maintaining our aspirational brand appeal.

    On Baskin Robbins’ approach to innovation in creating unique and appealing flavours for the festive season

    This approach continues through the year. We have defined two launch windows wherein we introduce new products. One is to coincide the onset of summers in India and the other coincides with the festive period.

    On the possibility of ice creams serving as a compelling alternative to traditional sweets during the festive season and Baskin Robbins’ exploration of this in its festive offerings

    Ice creams has some catching up to do before it can replace traditional sweets. But with the kind of work happening across the industry, in terms of product innovation as well as distribution, etc., I do strongly believe that it will happen in the foreseeable future. We have over the last one year introduced a few products with traditional roots. One of them is the Gulab Jamun sundae – a modern take on an iconic Indian sweet and more recently we brought in the caramel milk cake flavour – again a new version of a very popular Indian sweet. While this just highlights a few cases, we are primed to do a lot more and to create excitement in myriad new ways going forward. Watch this space for our festive specials that are bound to warm your heart.

    On Baskin Robbins India’s approach to leveraging technology for efficient logistics and timely delivery during the festive rush and the strategies are being employed to optimize its presence across online and offline channels to reach consumers during this season

    We also operate a digital loyalty cum rewards program that identifies and segments customers to enable us to manage and drive sales performance. Additionally, we have more recently moved to e-bills and an option is given to customers to choose between paper or e-bills. On e-bills customers are served information on new products as well as we track their satisfaction levels with their last transaction and experience. Our website for e-commerce is already live and customers can chose to buy not just from aggregator platforms like Swiggy or Zomato or E-com and quick-com platforms like Blinkit or Instamart but also directly from the company’s own website. The approach is to make products available across channels.

    On Baskin Robbins’ outlook for sales growth and customer engagement during the upcoming festive season, and the KPI being monitored

    The season with Rakshabandhan has begun well. While it may be too early to say this, I expect it to be another strong season for us with a growth of around 20 per cent over the same period last year. We track growth in volumes, average revenues, growth in number of outlets as well as in share of offline and online revenues as performance indicators.

    On Baskin Robbins’ agenda for the festive season, anticipated promotions, collaborations, or unique offerings to engage with customers

    The short answer is yes. We have a very interesting cross-category collaboration in store based on which we have developed several products for our portfolio. There will also be Indian as well as international favourites coming up. We will have something of a very Insta-friendly product version too!

  • Honasa Consumer appoints Anuja Mishra as CMO

    Honasa Consumer appoints Anuja Mishra as CMO

    MUMBAI: Honasa Consumer Pvt. Ltd. (HCPL), parent company of Mamaearth, and The Derma Co., a fast-growing House of Brands for personal care, appointed Anuja Mishra as chief marketing officer. In her new capacity, Mishra will oversee the marketing strategy for Honasa Consumer group brands – Mamaearth, The Derma Co., and Bblunt.

    Mishra will be taking the baton from Sambit Dash, who has been elevated to head Brand Factory Team where he will be responsible for crafting, launching, and building new brands business for Honasa. She will be based out of the Honasa Consumer head office in Gurgaon.

    Mishra brings over 17 years of experience across marketing and sales, having led brand management, innovation strategy and sales across three blue-chip FMCG organisations and some of the popular brands. As the CMO of Honasa Consumer, she will be responsible for accelerating the brand’s awareness and growth across the D2C ecosystem.
    Speaking on her role, Anuja Mishra said, “I am absolutely thrilled and honored to join Honasa Consumer in its exciting journey of becoming a powerful house of brands. Honasa has proven to be a trailblazer across the D2C landscape, and I have tremendous respect for the organization’s ability to innovate disruptively and meaningfully. I look forward to joining this talented team and contributing to the growth mission.”

    Commenting on the onboarding, Honasa Consumer co-founder and CEO Varun Alagh said, “Honasa has emerged as the fastest growing D2C brand and being a digital first brand, it is critical to constantly innovate and stay ahead of others in this excessively dynamic digital ecosystem. Anuja comes with extensive experience in managing millennial brands and she joins us at a time when the group has attained a great milestone with her expertise, she will elevate and support the strategy to the next one. We are excited to have a seasoned professional like her on board and look forward to growing the organisation with her.”

  • Borosil collaborates with celebrity chef Harpal Singh Sokhi

    Borosil collaborates with celebrity chef Harpal Singh Sokhi

    Mumbai: Consumer brand Borosil Ltd has announced its collaboration with celebrity chef Harpal Singh Sokhi. With this collaboration, Borosil aims to give its consumers a more holistic, well-rounded experience and enhance their engagement with the brand.

    A known name in the food industry, chef Sokhi has hosted several cooking shows on television.

    “Borosil’s aim has always been to make everyday tasks or kitchen work simple and easy; to be an ally to homemakers by launching everyday use smart products that enables her to perform beautifully. Chef Harpal Singh Sokhi’s culinary mastery with, the manner in which he simplifies recipes cooked in the right cookware will no doubt enhance the brand experience of our own consumers as well,” a Borosil spokesperson said on the collaboration.

    Founded in 1962, Borosil expanded its consumer offerings to include cookware, kitchen appliances, storage products, glass lunch boxes and stainless-steel vacuum insulated flasks and bottles.
    Commenting on the partnership, chef Harpal Singh Sokhi said, “I am so happy to announce the partnership between Borosil and Chef Harpal to celebrate cooking at every step in your kitchens at home.”

  • boAt appoints Damandeep Singh Soni as VP – growth

    boAt appoints Damandeep Singh Soni as VP – growth

    New Delhi: Lifestyle consumer electronics brand boAt has appointed Damandeep Singh Soni as new VP – growth. He will be responsible to drive the company’s function to make it the largest D2C company in India. He announced the development on his LinkedIn.

    Prior to this, Soni was working as a senior advisor – marketing and growth at multiple startups like Whitehat Jr, Limeroad, Editorji, Snapchat and others to help their business grow, develop marketing strategies, and drive monetization strategies and revenue growth.

    With over 20 years of experience, Soni has had an illustrious career. He was the India head for Line, a chat app, between 2014 and 2016. Later, he joined Mobikwik as a CMO and growth head for a period of two years. Soni also had a brief stint with Milkbasket as VP – marketing. He also started a few ventures of his own. Some of the other brands that he worked at includes Infosys, Wecash, and Nokia.

    boAt is one of the first digitally native brands to record a revenue of Rs 500 crore in FY19-20. It was started in 2016 with a target audience of youth interested in fashionable consumer electronics. The product range has expanded to include an extensive catalog of headphones, earphones, wearable, speakers, travel chargers, and premium cables.

  • Vivek Sharma steps down as MD, Panasonic Life Solutions India

    Vivek Sharma steps down as MD, Panasonic Life Solutions India

    MUMBAI: Panasonic Life Solutions India announced that Vivek Sharma, the company’s managing director, will step down from the operational leadership on 30 September 2020.

    Sharma with his commitment to excellence and inimitable leadership style, has led Panasonic Life Solutions India (PLSIND) to great success. Under his leadership the Company has had a tremendous growth journey over the last 3 years. PLSIND’s revenue grew from Rs 22.9 billion in 2016-17 to approximately Rs 33.9 bn in 2019-20. Similarly, the operating profit more than doubled from Rs 2.65 billion in 2016-17 to Rs 5.8 billion in 2019-20. The Company’s sales grew at a CAGR of 15 per cent and operating profits at a CAGR of 22 per cent, during this period. This helped PLSIND emerge as the fastest growing Indian Fast Moving Electrical Goods (FMEG) company, both in terms of sales and profitability. A reflection of this stellar performance was when, earlier this year, Forbes magazine rated Anchor as the No. 1 FMEG brand in the country.

    It was during Sharma’s tenure that the company took a certain far-reaching and path breaking initiatives, like moving from a dealer driven channel to a multi-channel, distributor led GTM strategy that also included a strong participation in alternate channels like E-com, MFR, Exclusive Brand Outlets, etc. This was preceded not only by the setting up of separate sales teams for B2C and B2B/B2G segments, but also introducing exclusive business verticals for the Power, Lighting and Indoor Air Quality businesses.

    During this period significant expansions of the company also took shape on the industrial and SCM side, including setting up of manufacturing units through an expansion of the vendor base across India, in addition to the mega project coming up at a 35-acre land parcel in Sri City, Andhra Pradesh. The brand’s presence in markets across the country was also strengthened with a robust retail strategy, straddling over 500, Tiers 1-5 markets in India.

    Having realized the critical importance of brand equity in the twenty-first-century business, Sharma decided to invest in brand building. Partnering with cutting-edge advertising, media and digital Agencies, during his tenure, the marketing team led the development of a new communication platform for Brand Anchor ‘Naye India Ke Badhte Load Ke Liye’. To connect with the contemporary and aspirational Indian consumers the campaigns that have been undertaken for the last two years have led to the brand be re-evaluated by the trade and the consumer. These initiatives will help the brand sustain the momentum in the years to come.

    With an outstanding career spanning over 35 years, Mr. Sharma is considered an industry expert. He has honed his iconic skills at speedily ramping up operations and nurturing them into sustainable, profitable and strong businesses. Mr. Sharma is an effective coach, trainer and public speaker having made his presence felt, through lectures and presentations, at various prominent educational institutions and industry platforms.  

    Panasonic Life Solutions India MD Vivek Sharma said, “These last 3 years have been a journey of immense satisfaction. It is a befitting way to end a career spanning over three and a half decades. I have had the privilege of working in the FMEG/FMCD industry for more than 35 years and leading Panasonic Life Solutions India has been the highlight of my career. It has been a pleasure partnering all the stakeholders both internal and external to re-invent the Company and set it on a higher growth trajectory by focusing on the employees and the consumers while enhancing skills and competencies across the stakeholder spectrum. We have had very significant achievements, with regard to our factory operations in India. Our manufacturing has traditionally been manpower intensive, however during the last three years, we have put in a lot of efforts and investments and have technologically upgraded it, with state-of-the-art robotics and automation solutions. These technological upgradations have given us a competitive edge, with the highest cost efficiencies, in the entire ECM industry”.

    “A strong and vibrant culture is the best legacy of a successful leader. I am particularly proud that during my tenure at PLSIND we transformed from being a conventional electrical switches Company to becoming a part of an iconic transnational organisation. Most importantly, during this exciting journey, our existing internal talent culturally transformed itself to adapt to contemporary best practices which are the hallmark of a performance-based culture that we have established. This transformation of the team changed the way we do business, from the historical individual-oriented method of the past to a process-oriented technology-driven way of doing business, with complete autonomy and empowerment. I can proudly say that as I depart from PLSIND, it is poised to achieve far greater success and scale newer highs in the years to come”.

  • Usha Intl’s seven year hitch with IPL’s Mumbai Indians

    Usha Intl’s seven year hitch with IPL’s Mumbai Indians

    NEW DELHI: The pandemic and downturn in economic fortunes of companies can serve as a good excuse for them to lock away their coffers and pull the plug on advertising spending. Many an advertiser has resorted to that, in recent months. But consumer electronics goods firm Usha International does not belong to that tribe. Instead, it has decided to get into bed with the Mumbai Indians as an official partner once again for the seventh year in succession.

    The Usha logo will be seen on the leading side caps and helmets of Mumbai Indians players and on the mat during the toss as part of the agreement. The stadiums will also have massive LED screens running across the perimeter, which will showcase brand Usha during a couple of overs of the game. 

    The company’s marketing team is also going the whole hog on digital.  A series of activations straddling various digital platforms have been planned, including online contests on days when the Mumbai Indians team is out on the green, battling a rival. Through these contests, fans will get a chance to interact (read: meet and greet) with some of their favorite Mumbai Indian cricketers virtually. The brand will also launch a unique digital campaign, featuring select players.

    Usha International head- sports initiatives &associations Komal Mehra believes that associating with IPL defines the strength of a brand during these tough times. “The current crisis gives us an opportunity to strengthen Usha’s brand salience,” she says. “The association is not just limited to creating awareness about our product portfolio but expounding Brand Usha and its ethos ‘Play.’“

    Read our coverage on IPL

    Almost every product category that Usha is present in will be highlighted as part of the association – right from fabric care to climate control to heating solutions to sewing machines to water coolers to fans to cooking appliances.

    “It is a great opportunity to strengthen our consumer and partner connect across categories through  on-air and digital platforms,” reveals Mehra. “Contests, virtual meet and greet with select players, online polls are among some of the ways in which we intend to maximize reach across geographies.”

    Mehra hopes that Mumbai Indians will go through at least 14 matches like the team  has done over the years. “It is the days when the Mumbai Indians are on ground that will see the majority of the activities –  like contests and polls. We are in the midst of fleshing out all the details with the MI team,” she adds. .

    Even as the effort will be to create fresh content for all digital platforms to engage fans and consumers through the IPL, last year’s TVC will be given air play across all channels. It featured skipper Rohit Sharma, Jasprit Bumrah and Kieron Pollard having a great time with children at a 'learn and create' workshop with Usha  sewing machines.

    Mehra is quite confident that combined with the IPL, the coming festival period is going to rev up demand for its products in the home and kitchen appliances and lighting categories.

    She explains: “Since work-from-home has now become the ‘new normal’ for people, it has made ‘multitaskers’ of each of us, leading to a need for products that make tasks easy while saving time as we work for home and from home. Exclusive consumer offers and finance schemes around the festive season will see a pent-up demand growing further. The festive period typically contributes almost 30-40 per cent to the annual sales for this business. Already, indicators are showing a very promising time ahead. We are confident of healthy sales in the coming quarter.”

    Media observers approve. “Usha has almost become synonymous with the Mumbai Indians which has proved to be one of the top two teams in the IPL over the years,” says a senior media planner. “The company has also been further amplifying its association by running its TVCs featuring Mumbai Indians cricketers on various channels. Then this year’s initiative of focusing on  digital initiatives and even a digital video campaign should get it an even  greater return on its investment.”