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Tag: FMCG

  • Taproot India hooks strategy & biz head Sameer Aasht

    Taproot India hooks strategy & biz head Sameer Aasht

    MUMBAI: Creative hotshop Taproot India has tapped into another talent by roping in Sameer Aasht to come in as its head of strategy & business. Aasht joined the agency, according to his linkedin profile, in March 2013.

    Over the past year of so, Sameer has been been playing entrepreneur, founding loveknits.org (which focuses on empowering designers, artisans and NGOs to leverage professional marketing expertise and a brand-led, digital migration approach to go global with their hand made / eco friendly creations) and Alma Mater PLC (which seeks to offer brand consultancy to start-ups and turnarounds).

    Before turning entrepreneur, Sameer put in workexp across a range of design, communication, brand consulting agencies, and even worked in marketing on the client side at Jet Airways, where he worked with cross functional teams to launch the brand in North America, Europe, west Asia as well south east Asia apart from launching consumer segment focused brand experiences.

    Among the agencies he has worked with include Percept/H (where he headed strategic planning) and Landor Associates’ India office (heading strategy). But his largest stints have been with communication agencies like TBWA, Ambience Publicis, Contract, Ogilvy and Rediffusion Y&R. Among the brands he has been deeply involved with figure: HSBC, Cadbury’s, Asian Paints, Mahindra, Volvo-Eicher, Suzlon, World Gold Council, Visa Monetize (Movida), Unilever’s Elle18, Pantaloons, Kansai Nerolac, Samsonite, Black & Decker, DeWalt, Tata Water (Himalayan), Times of India and FICCI. An MBA from ITM, Sameer is also an IIM-A alumnus.

    Taproot’s chief creative officer & co-founder Agnello Dias says that “Sameer‘s wealth of experience and strategic acumen will add even more muscle to everything that Taproot India brings to the table and look forward to client’s continued cooperation in creating powerful value for their brands.”

    His partner at Taproot Santoh Padhi (who carries the same title as him) adds that Sameer’s experience “working on all four sides of the table – advertising, marketing, design and digital” across a diverse set of categories ranging across tourism and hospitality, FMCG, automotive, financial services, fashion, retail and luxury is a big plus for their agency.”

    Says Sameer: “Taproot is a dream agency for most professionals in the industry today. I absolutely look forward to co-creating the best solutions for the brands we handle.”

    “One of the first things, Aggie and Padhi should put him to work on is getting their website http://www.taprootindia.co.in/ working, apart from working on brands,” says an advertising industry observer. “The site is under construction. And that’s not looking good for a crack creative agency such as Taproot which pushes the envelope on almost everything.”

  • Dabur increases ad spend by 5.49% in Q4 FY13

    Dabur increases ad spend by 5.49% in Q4 FY13

    MUMBAI: Fast moving consumer goods major Dabur increased its spending on advertising and promotions for the the quarter ended 31 March as competitive intensity in the category continued to be high.

    The FMCG giant ramped up its spending into the fourth quarter of FY13 with ad spends increased by a robust 5.49 per cent in Q4 FY13 when compared to Q4 FY12.

    Dabur‘s advertising and marketing expenditure in the fourth quarter of FY12 stood at Rs 1.82 billion which grew to Rs 1.92 billion in the fourth quarter of FY13 ended 31 March 2013. The percentage of total income dedicated to advertising saw a fall from 13.26 per cent in Q4 FY12 to 12.44 in Q4 FY13.

    The company‘s income for the period grew by 12.54 per cent on a year on year basis from Rs 13.72 billion in Q4 FY12 to Rs 15.44 billion in Q4 FY13. Its net profit grew by 18.13 per cent as the net profit in Q4 FY12 was Rs 1.71 billion compared to Rs 2.02 billion in Q4 FY13.

    The Health Supplements business for Dabur – led by strong growth in Dabur Glucose & Dabur Honey – ended the fourth quarter with a 22.6% growth, while the OTC Health Care business reported a 16.7% growth. Dabur‘s Perfumed Hair Oil business, led by Dabur Amla Hair Oil, ended the period with a 13% gain, while the Shampoo business ended the quarter with a 29.4% growth. The Home Care business reported a 33.3% growth while the Toothpaste category closed the quarter with a 15.8% growth. The Foods category – riding on continued demand for its packaged juices — reported a 22.6% growth.

    “The Bangladesh business reported a strong 57 per cent growth, while sales in Levant grew by 30 per cent and GCC markets by 20 per cent; shampoos, hair creams and toothpastes were the key growth drivers in the international markets,” Dabur India director P D Narang said.

    The annual figures reflect a growth from FY12, as the FMCG company increased its advertising spends by a hearty 26.81 per cent in FY13. Dabur‘s advertising and marketing outflows increased from Rs 6.60 billion (FY12) to Rs 8.37 billion (FY13).

    The total income from advertising also grew from 12.44 per cent in FY12 to a healthy 13.71 per cent in FY13. The FMCG‘s income for the period also grew by 15.01 per cent on a annual basis from Rs 53.05 billion in FY12 to Rs 61.06 billion in FY13. And the new profit grew by a stellar 18.94 per cent, seeing it rise from Rs 6.44 billion in FY12 to Rs 7.66 billion in FY13.

  • IBD India appoints Jatin Bhatt as COO & strategy planning director

    IBD India appoints Jatin Bhatt as COO & strategy planning director

    MUMBAI: Jatin Bhatt has been appointed chief operating officer and strategy planning director of IBD India, a Percept Hakuhodo Company.

    In his new role, Bhatt will be responsible for profitability and revenue growth organically and inorganically. He will also strengthen the strategic planning and integration function across 360 degree.

    IBD India CEO Rahul Gupta said, “Jatin has rich and diverse exposure in the advertising domain, and is just the right person to take IBD India into its next glorious phase. We are delighted to have him on board as we are sure that he is going to take IBD India to the next level.”

    Bhatt said, “I wish to leverage my FMCG experience of brand building to other categories here like consumer electronics, luxury, home care, appliances, estate, e-commerce dotcom and retail. My agenda would be to build the agency respectability and partnership with new and existing clients and motivate internally to build brands more enjoyable.”

    Bhatt has worked across geographies of India and across the world like London, Singapore, Thailand, Indonesia, Middle East. His specialisation includes consumer insights, demand generation – sales and marketing, new product development, innovation, mergers and acquisitions. He has been a part of creation of brands like Colgate, Saffola, Parachute, Tata Tea, and Fevicol.

  • HUL ups ad spend by 21.27% in Q4 FY13

    MUMBAI: Fast moving consumer goods major Hindustan Unilever Ltd (HUL) increased its spending on advertising and promotions for the fifth consecutive quarter ended 31 March as competitive intensity in the category continued to be high.

    The FMCG giant ramped up its spending into the fourth quarter of FY13 with ad spends increased by a robust 21.27 per cent in Q4 FY13 when compared to Q4 FY12.

    HUL‘s advertising and marketing expenditure in the fourth quarter of FY12 stood at Rs 6.77 billion which grew to Rs 8.21 billion in the fourth quarter of FY13 ended 31 March 2013. The percentage of total income dedicated to advertising also grew from 11.74 per cent in Q4 FY12 to 12.70 in Q4 FY13.

    The company‘s income for the period grew by 12.14 per cent on a year on year basis from Rs 57.66 billion in Q4 FY12 to Rs 64.66 billion in Q4 FY13. Its net profit grew by 14.56 per cent as the net profit in Q4 FY12 was Rs 6.87 billion compared to Rs 7.87 billion in Q4 FY13.

    HUL said, “The operating context remained challenging during the fourth quarter with input costs holding firm and high competitive intensity. Advertising and promotion was stepped up and maintained at competitive levels.”

    HUL chairman Harish Manwani said, “In an environment that continued to be challenging, we have delivered another quarter of broad-based growth and margin expansion.”

    This quarter saw quite a few ad campaigns do well for the FMCG major, these included Dove‘s rescue from split ends; Sunsilks‘ perfect straight hair and Lux‘s deo spray magic spell. HUL gained by these campaigns as it reflects in the annual results declared by the FMCG major.

    The annual figures reflect a growth from FY12, as the FMCG company increased its advertising spends by a hearty 21.99 per cent in FY13. HUL‘s advertising and marketing outflows increased from Rs 26.97 billion (FY12) to Rs 32.90 billion (FY13).

    The total income from advertising also grew from 11.51 per cent in FY12 to a healthy 12.18 per cent in FY13. The FMCG‘s income for the period also grew by 15.22 per cent on a annual basis from Rs 234.36 billion in FY12 to Rs 270.03 billion in FY13. And the new profit grew by a stellar 37.12 per cent, seeing it rise from Rs 27.91 billion in FY12 to Rs 38.29 billion in FY13.

  • Vishal Anam to Head BAV Insights

    MUMBAI: Rediffusion Y&R has brought on board Vishal Anam as head of its Brand Asset Valuator division (BAV). This is in keeping with the agency‘s intention of investing in strategic planning and strengthening the team for the same.

    Anam comes with over 10 years of consulting and quantitative research experience and joins a team of in-house experts.

    Prior to joining Rediffusion, he was at Nielsen where he helped various global FMCG clients design and evaluate strategies that deliver marketing success.

    Rediffusion chief strategy officer Gautam Talwar said, “We believe in making the insights gleaned from the BAV integral to our approach to brand strategy for all our clients. We are considerably expanding the scope of the study in India for 2013 and hence investing even more in the BAV this year. Keeping this in mind, we welcome on board Vishal Anam to help us take BAV to the next level in India.”

    Anam said, “The BAV is an amazing brand diagnostic tool. It takes the discussion forward from tracking the health of the brand to a level of knowing the space the brand should operate in. The tool is the first-of-its-kind in the Indian market, which can partner brands across categories and give shape to all future brand strategies. I am delighted by this opportunity to lead the BAV Insights division.”

    Rediffusion has plans to unveil BAV® 2013 this year, which will incorporate new data points, more brands, more categories, and a much larger sample size. A Young and Rubicam property globally, BAV is a research-based toolkit that examines how a brand is perceived by consumers across 48 different attributes like whether a brand is thought of as innovative, trustworthy, daring, unique, friendly or high quality.

  • Curry Nation picks up Indica dye creative biz

    MUMBAI: Mumbai-based advertising outfit Curry Nation has walked away with the creative duties for CavinKare‘s hair dye brand Indica. The win is the outcome of a multi agency pitch called by the brand earlier this year in January.

    This is the fourth brand from the Chennai headquartered FMCG stable that the indie agency has won the creative mandate for. Curry Nation already handles the creative duties for Fairever, Hi5 and Spinz (talcs and deos).

    The immediate mandate for the agency is to create a brand personality that appeals to a national audience.

    “The brand Indica has prominent presence in the south and our goal is to take the brand national. We have done some research and will work towards fortifying the brand identity and make it consistent to suit a national coverage,” informs Curry nation founder and director Priti Nair.

    There will be a 360 degree campaign in order to achieve this goal, including focus on digital and retail. The campaign will break sometime in early June. The media agency on record for the entire brand portfolio of CavinKare is MEC.

    Some of the other creative agencies that work on CavinKare diverse range of products/brands include Leo Burnett, Orchard and Contract Advertising.

  • Havas Media bags media duties of Amway India’s beauty vertical

    MUMBAI: Amway India, a wholly owned subsidiary of $11.3 billion Amway Corporation, has awarded the media duties of its beauty vertical to Havas Media. The agency will handle media planning and buying duties of Amway‘s beauty range of products.

    The direct selling FMCG company, which offers 131 products in five categories of Personal Care, Home Care, Nutrition & Wellness, Cosmetics and great value products, had earmarked Rs. 530 million towards advertising in 2012.

    Amway India CMO Naveen Anand said, “Amway today is a well known brand in India and our range is getting even more extensive to cater to a higher range of customer needs. So far we were focussed on building our Mother brand “Amway” and health & nutrition brand “Nutrilite”.

    “Now we have decided to launch our beauty vertical in mass media. We were looking for an agency that would do justice to our beauty vertical – we found Havas Media to be the right partners with a sound strategy and a team which showed a lot of passion for our Business.”

    Havas Media Group, India and South Asia CEO Anita Nayyar said, “We are delighted to have Amway as a part of our portfolio. It is a great brand to be associated with but more importantly they are a great client to work with. This is yet another very important milestone in Havas Media India‘s ambitious growth plans.”

  • IKF bags digital business of Greenways Foods and Beverages

    MUMBAI: At a time when online presence for any brand is becoming essential for brand positioning, Pune-based Greenways Foods and Beverages has awarded its digital duties to I Knowledge Factory (IKF).

    The partnership goes beyond a traditional customer-service provider relationship and ensures strong social media effectiveness, an engaging digital presence, and strong digital branding for Greenways.

    It will be serviced by the agency‘s Pune office.

    The announcement comes close on heels of the appointment of Triton Communications as the brand‘s creative agency.

    I Knowledge Factory CEO Ashish Dalia said, “With FMCG as a fast growing and a much in demand market, it‘s both a challenge and a pleasure to be partnering with Greenways Food and Beverages. This association further strengthens our position in the digital realm.”

    “The last two decades has witnessed irresistible rise in importance and dependence on digital media. Greenways Foods & Beverages would stay abreast with the digital innovations and we are confident that the partnership with I Knowledge Factory would facilitate the continuous connection and engagement with the new age customer,” Greenways Foods & Beverages GM – Sales and Marketing Vinod Gaikwad added.

  • Indian companies not exploiting full potential of social media: BMI report

    Indian companies not exploiting full potential of social media: BMI report

    BENGALURU: A study by blueocean market intelligence (BMI) has found that Indian companies have a long way to go with respect to maximizing the benefits of social media.

    blueocean market intelligence recently unveiled the results of its ‘2013 Social Effectiveness Index (SEI) 20’, a nationwide study accessing the Social Media Effectiveness of 20 of India’s Most Admired Companies (Fortune India-The Hay group survey). The study incorporated sectors that included IT, ITES, BPO, Oil & Gas, Automotive, Apparel, FMCG, Metals & Mining, Infrastructure, and Auto Components.

    BMI contends that the key challenge for Indian companies is to understand exactly how social media interacts with consumers, enables product and brand recognition, and drives customer acquisition, retention and loyalty. With social media in its nascent stages, there is an undeniable opportunity for companies to create a well-established, customer-centric image.

    BMI says that the SEI 20 ranking methodology is designed to measure business impact by integrating analytics, measurement, and monitoring. It captures conversations across the breadth of social networks and online communities, and correlates their impact with key business metrics such as revenue and brand value. It also directly measures business to consumer interactions in social media, including how Facebook and Twitter drive site visitors and purchase behaviour.

    BMI claims that it employed a comprehensive ranking methodology covering five key parameters that correlate to business metrics such as revenue and brand value. The brand’s share of volume of online conversations, customer engagement rate, depth of customer engagement, number of influencers and advocates on social channels, and net sentiment were measured by capturing conversations across the breadth of all social networks and online communities.

    The 2013 SEI 20 rankings revealed the following as top five performers –
    1. Tata Steel
    2. Tata Motors
    3. Dell India
    4. Tata Consultancy Services
    5. Bosch

  • Asci pulls up three HUL ads in December

    MUMBAI: The Advertising Standards Council of India (Asci) has pulled up three ads from fast moving consumer goods (FMCG) manufacturer and marketer Hindustan Unilever. In its new update, the advertising watchdog has named the ads of New Rin, New Clear anti-dandruff shampoo and Comfort Fabric Conditioner as erring.

    For the month of December, Asci‘s Consumer Complaints Council (CCC) upheld complaints against 43 out of 50 ads.

    Of the 43 complaints upheld, 17 belong to the healthcare category while seven are from the home and personal care category. Five ads from education and four from consumer durables category have been pulled up. Other categories where ads have been found misleading include one each from telecom, real estate, food and beverage and surrogate ads.

    The New Rin TVC had claimed that it is the “only detergent powder in India which gives freedom from yellowness and gives shining whiteness”. This claim is qualified by a super stating “Perception of yellowness removed through patented technology”. The use of “patented technology” does not mean that the same benefit of “giving freedom from yellowness” cannot be claimed by using any other technology. The super does not provide the details of the independent agency which conducted the tests.

    Asci has said that in absence of independent technical data, this claim is false and misleading. The advertisement promoting the New Rin is based on the concept that “After repeated washing, clothes turn dull and yellow”. The said concept is not completely correct and is in fact misleading consumers. The visual showing the comparison between New Rin and other detergent powder is qualified by a super which states “creative representation of yellowness removal”. This in effect means that the shots showing the shirt washed with the other detergent and the shirt washed with New Rin cannot be replicated into reality. This is incorrect and misleads the consumers.

    The Fast Track Consumer Council (FTCC) considered the technical data provided by the advertiser and the complainant. The FTCC concluded that the use of “patented technology” does not mean that the same benefit of “giving freedom from yellowness” cannot be claimed by using any other technology.

    The advertiser provided data of products removing yellowness in various degrees of efficacy. Hence the claim of being the only product to remove yellowness was not substantiated. The claim, “New Rin is the only detergent powder in India which gives freedom from yellowness and gives shining whiteness”, is false and misleading as it is not the only detergent to do so. The advertisement contravened Chapters I.1 and I.4 of the Code. The complaint was upheld. At the request of the advertiser, the CCC reviewed the decision after HUL provided additional data and upheld the decision of the FTCC.

    In case of the New Clear anti-dandruff shampoo advertisement, the TVC claims that New Clear “Is the best anti-dandruff shampoo in the country”, with a super “Based on clinical studies, microkill & ZOI data”. This superiority claim needs to be substantiated with technical and comparative data, and with details of tests/trials reports from an independent recognised testing institution. The claim, “Preferred choice of 9 out of 10 users”, is ambiguous. Where on one hand the claim does not clarify the parameters for which the Clear shampoo is preferred, the claim on the other hand is being used by Clear in its TVC. This claim is qualified by a super stating, “Based on consumer study”. This super does not state the source of the study and nor does it state the date on which the said study was conducted. The super, “Based on consumer study”, is not of adequate size and duration, and blurred so as to mislead the consumers.

    The FTCC examined the technical substantiations of both the advertiser and the complainant with respect to clinical studies like BoSS (Bio-availability on stimulated scalp), ZOI (Zone of Inhibition) data, etc, and concluded that the claim of New Clear being the “best anti-dandruff shampoo in the country” is false and misleading. The CCC considered the additional data provided by the advertiser and concluded that the earlier decision of the FTCC stands and the complaint was upheld.

    Other advertisers to be pulled up include Dabur India, Nature Health Care, SBS Biotech, Keya Seths Aromatherapy, Clintech Medical and Aesthetic Center, Kangra Herb Pvt Ltd, Rediscover – Laser, Skin, Slimming and Ayurvedic Clinic, Ego Wellness Pvt Ltd, Dr. Jains Zero Figure Clinic, Medinn Elle Herbal Care Pvt Ltd, Asian Institute Of Infertility Management, Naturoveda Health World, Niramay Consultancy, Maruti Herbal, Cure Spects Laser Ltd, G K Health Care, Maharshi Skin Centre, Rana Yog Chikitsa Kendra, Sareen Hair Clinic, Cocoona Cosmetic Surgery, Eleganza Skin And Cosmetic Surgery Clinic, Pernod Ricard India (P) Limited, Luminous Water Technologies Pvt Ltd, Megha Associates, Secured Engineers, Padmini Impex Pvt Ltd, Natraj Atta Chakki, Ark Prem Constructions, Education Express, Focus Educare Pvt Ltd, Global Institute Of Fire And Industrial Safety, Vivekanand Classes, Prestige Institute Of Engineering and Science and Aircel.

    The advertisement of Step Up and its claim is under judgment in the High Court of Bombay. Hence there was no decision taken on this complaint by the CCC

    During the month of December, the CCC also received complaints against six ads. The complaints were received against the advertisements of Ceat Ltd’s ‘Ceat Tyres’, Skin Alive’s ‘Forever Young’, Kovai Medical Center and Hospital’s ‘Effective Treatment for Thyroid Disorders & Cancer’, Gillette India LTD’s ‘Oral-B Cross Action Pro-Health toothbrush’, Clinic Dermatech’s ‘Beauty Solutions for Skin Problems’, Procter & Gamble Home Products Ltd’s ‘Pantene Pro-V shampoo’. However, as these advertisements did not contravene Asci’s codes or guidelines, the complaints were not upheld.