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Tag: FoxyMoron

  • Praveen Sathaye to lead operations at FoxyMoron Gurgaon

    Praveen Sathaye to lead operations at FoxyMoron Gurgaon

    MUMBAI: FoxyMoron has roped in Praveen Sathaye to spearhead its Gurgaon office to strengthen the existing client roster and driving the agency’s growth plans for the market.

     

    In his previous role, Sathaye was leading the in-house creative agency at Ericsson.

     

    FoxyMoron co-founder Pratik Gupta said, “We are thrilled to have Praveen on board. For us this signals, the beginning of a new growth story at FoxyMoron Gurgaon. While we have a lot of new businesses in the pipeline, we needed someone like Praveen, with a proven track record and wealth of diverse experience with leading brands and agencies, who brings a marketing perspective to a digital setup. This will not only help our growth agenda, but will also contribute immensely to FoxyMoron’s expansion in the North.”

     

    On his new role, Sathaye added, “I’m excited to work with some real creative geniuses who want to take the digital and creative space to greater heights. In my role at FoxyMoron, I see myself working towards synergising energies of digital and brands to build solutions for the future. The intent is also to ramp up the capacity here and address newer industries as well as clients.”

  • Asian Paints Ezycolour urges people to live in harmony with its new campaign

    Asian Paints Ezycolour urges people to live in harmony with its new campaign

    MUMBAI: Asian Paints Ezycolour Home Solutions unveiled a new campaign to create awareness about its newly launched Green Painting Service (GPS), an eco-friendly water based paints range for all surfaces.

     

     

    The campaign conceived by digital advertising agency FoxyMoron, spreads the message of living in harmony with nature and encourages people to ‘Think Different’.

     

     

    To bring the message to life, the campaign was planned and executed in two phases. In the first phase, three locations in Mumbai with high visibility were shortlisted to create one-of-a-kind murals that had nature as part of the street art.

     

     

    The second leg of the campaign took the offline initiative online with a film that captures the stories of the three artists and why they chose art as a way of life.

     

     

    Speaking more about the campaign, Asian Paints, group brand manager- services Aupam Kumar said, “Asian Paints has been a pioneer in the paint industry in developing better and safer products for consumers. Eco-friendly and water- based paints have long been considered the future of paint technology. The day has come where this future has definitely arrived with the launch of Green Painting Service by Asian Paints Ezycolour Home Solutions.”

     

     

    “For the first time, customers will get the opportunity to have water-based paints applied on all surfaces in their homes. This makes home painting a great experience and helps our customers live in harmony with nature, as well. With an aim to give back to nature, we have taken up an initiative to paint the Mumbai streets green with our products and communicate the message of migrating towards a “Green world” to everyone. This is just the beginning and we would like to do more on this front in the future.”

     

     

    FoxyMoron co-founder Suveer Bajaj said, “Ezycolour Home Solutions treats each home as a piece of art, so we thought why not use that to spread the message of living in harmony with nature! Our idea was to take the message to the streets through murals that evolved and revolved around nature and then further leverage this online through a heartfelt film. The film adds another dimension to the campaign with its captivating storytelling and aesthetics. We hope that the concept of nature and art resonates with the consumers and helps Asian Paints amplify the message that all beauty comes from our planet and what we do to spread this beauty can now be given back to nature.”

  • FoxyMoron expands footprint; launches Bangalore office

    FoxyMoron expands footprint; launches Bangalore office

    MUMBAI: Digital marketing agency FoxyMoron has expanded its footprint in India by opening a new office in Bangalore.

     

    The agency’s Bangalore ops will offer a robust suite of digital marketing services to meet the needs of the evolving market.

     

    Founded in 2008, FoxyMoron set up its first office in Mumbai and extended its footprints to Gurgaon in 2013. With a talent pool of over 250 people across both the offices, the agency has created many award winning digital campaigns.

     

    FoxyMoron Media Operations co-founder & director Suveer Bajaj said, “With a thriving industry scenario as well as advancing media and technology in Bangalore, it was a logical step for us to open an office here. We have been serving a couple of Bangalore based clients out of our Mumbai office and felt that the city can open up many more doors for us. With a gamut of exciting opportunities that Bangalore offers, we’re looking forward to expanding our client base here and at the same time building our own capabilities. We’ve also started putting together a robust team in place and have set the ball rolling.”

  • Maybelline New York India adds Bollywood drama with digital campaign #SwipeToSpice

    Maybelline New York India adds Bollywood drama with digital campaign #SwipeToSpice

    MUMBAI: To drive engagements around the recently launched Baby Lips Spiced Up range, Maybelline New York India has launched the #SwipeToSpice campaign. The campaign is conceptualised and executed by digital marketing agency- FoxyMoron.

     

    With the #SwipeToSpice campaign, Maybelline New York India is asking girls to Swipe with Baby Lips Spiced Up and then spice it up with their favourite Bollywood dialogues. The campaign launched with an exciting video, invites girls to share their ‘Spiced up’ videos via different social media platforms. 

     

    Maybelline New York India is also leveraging Whatsapp to invite entries. The campaign will be promoted across Facebook, Twitter, YouTube and Instagram. Key influencers and bloggers will also send in their entries and encourage their followers as well.

     

    At the end of the campaign, a crowd-sourced video will be created by compiling all the spiced up videos sent by the fans. 

     

    On the new campaign, Maybelline New York India general manager – marketing Pooja Sahgal commented, “Maybelline is a brand known for unique ways of engaging its powerful online community. With the launch of Baby Lips Spiced Up, an exclusive range created for Indian skin tones, we decided to engage fans with something all Indians love and can relate to – Bollywood. With a community like ours, we’re sure to make this as one of our most engaging campaigns for the brand.”

     

    FoxyMoron co-founder and director – media operations Suveer Bajaj said, “The new Baby Lips Spiced Up proposition is especially created to suit the Indian skin tone and appeals to the Indi pop generation. Taking this into account, we integrated a Bollywood element to the #SwipeToSpice campaign, as it goes well with the fans. The message is simple- swipe the new Baby Lips Spiced Up to add the spice of Bollywood in your life.”

  • FoxyMoron bags digital mandate for Jim Beam India

    FoxyMoron bags digital mandate for Jim Beam India

    MUMBAI: Following a multi agency pitch, FoxyMoron has won the digital mandate of Beam Suntory’s top bourbon whiskey brand Jim Beam.

     

    The mandate includes digital duties, while also building and strengthening Jim Beam’s digital presence through strategic insights and unique solutions that engage its young urban consumers. 

     

    Jim Beam India marketing controller Ankur Bhatia said, “Although the Bourbon Whiskey market is still nascent, Jim Beam is witnessing exciting growth in India, given early adoption by new younger consumers. India being one of the biggest markets globally in terms of social media usage and growing digital/mobile penetration, we are excited to partner with Foxymoron who bring in brilliant expertise and consumer insights in this space.” 

     

    FoxyMoron co-founder and director, new business & Innovation Pratik Gupta added, “Whiskey is breaking the ‘old man’s drink’ cliché in India and Jim Beam is trying to use that insight and target the urban youth of the country. We presented a fresh perspective that revolves around creating awareness about Bourbon whiskey and promoting the versatility and mixability of the brand. It’s a great brand to work with and will continuously challenge us to innovate and execute unique digital strategies.”

  • FoxyMoron bags the digital duties of &TV

    FoxyMoron bags the digital duties of &TV

    MUMBAI: FoxyMoron has bagged the digital marketing duties of the yet-to-be-launched Hindi general entertainment channel (GEC) – &TV.

     

    To be launched from the Zee Entertainment Enterprises Ltd (Zeel) stable, the mandate comprises managing the channel’s presence on social media platforms including Facebook, Twitter, Google+, Instagram and YouTube. The account was won following a multi-agency pitch.

     

    FoxyMoron co-founder Suveer Bajaj said that this win established its foothold in the television entertainment industry and also brings along the creative opportunity to build an entirely new brand. “As a digital partner, it will be our aim to make the channel scale from the very beginning. With soaring engagement for brands in the entertainment industry, we have great aspirations for this new channel,” he said.

     

    FoxyMoron will work towards creating and executing content revolving around the central belief of the channel – Jashn Jeene Ka (celebrating the spirit of living). It will also create programme-specific content for their flagship shows in order to utilize the ever growing populace of the digital space.

  • Last word for Orkut before it retires!

    Last word for Orkut before it retires!

    MUMBAI: It was in 2004 when internet got one of its first social media network – Orkut. Google, the online media giant that had launched Orkut, picked up its business from then. With competitiveness creeping in the online space, the popularity of Orkut gradually fell. Thanks to Facebook and Twitter that has grabbed the attention of netizens during the course of time.

    After a decade, Google has decided to shut down the social networking site which got its user base from countries like India and Brazil. The company took the decision so that it could focus on its other social businesses such as Google+ and YouTube. Internet users will not be able to log on to their Orkut account post 30 September 2014.

    Indiantelevision.com goes down the memory lane with digital professionals and notes few things that will be missed about Orkut.

    Scraps, communities and profile views will always be remembered!

    Messages in the Orkut era were called scraps. Like-minded people could create communities. One could even see who all viewed his/her profile. The number of testimonials defined the popularity quotient.  

    Mindshift Interactive founder & CEO Zafar Rais recalls scrapping as a fun tool to interact with friends and the profile visits as a great way to know who’s keeping a check on your profile; a feature that is consistently famous on social networks, till date. 

    For ibs managing director Sabyasachi Mitter the site was our introduction to social media. “The funniest memory I have of Orkut is to login every day and see who has viewed my profile. And, then go across and see who they were. Some new friends were made that way. Also, to count the number of scraps and compare this with friends was something I remembering doing. The numerous discussions in groups and the sheer volume of conversations were fond memories,” he recalls. 

    Similarly, FoxyMoron creative head – north Kumar Abhishek who also belongs to the Orkut generation that looked forward to know who viewed his profile. “It was always exciting and fun to find a girl I may have liked or had a crush on in the list of those who viewed my profile,” he mentions.  

    According to BBDO Proximity India Digital creative leader Dinesh Swamy when Orkut began, it was one of its kind experiences. “It was ‘cool’ to be there. One memory which I can recall is that we created a group only for family members, just for gossiping.  We enjoyed that phase,  but by the time brands started leveraging, people lost interest in it and moved on to other social networking sites. I don’t remember when was the last time I scrapped,” says Swamy.

    Advertising wish list!

    There were a few brands that partnered with the social networking site for display ads. However, it can be noted that Google had pulled all AdSense ads from Orkut in 2007.

    If given a chance to endorse a brand on Orkut, Rais would have endorsed brands with a larger mass and youth appeal so anything within the FMCG to retail sector would have done exceptionally well. 

    “The one brand would have loved to have seen on Orkut is Oreo,” said Mitter. “If I had the chance to endorse a brand on Orkut, it would be Foster’s as a ‘daaaamn cold’ beer is best enjoyed with friends only,” adds Abhishek.

    Having said this, Orkut will always remain special for early Internet users!

    We will miss you Orkut.

     

  • Online & mobile advertising service tax levy: Industry says ouch!

    Online & mobile advertising service tax levy: Industry says ouch!

    MUMBAI: Budget 2014 brought with it the announcement that the 12.36 per cent service tax would be levied on online and mobile advertising also. These two were earlier exempt from the levy which was applicable to advertising on television. Finance minister Arun Jaitley, however, chose to continue to keep the much larger print media sector out of the tax net. Service tax on advertising on TV had been hiked to 12 per cent (plus 3 per cent sucharge) from 10 per cent in 2012, by the then government. The new levy will come into effect from a date to be notified after the passing of the Finance Bill.

     

    Indiantelevision.com spoke to digital agency heads to check out whether they were ok with the inclusion of online and mobile advertising under the service tax umbrella.

     

    “Okay to be on par with others”

    Online marketing and ad agency Pinstorm Technologies  founder & CEO Mahesh Murthy doesn’t think that it is a big issue. “We are now a grown-up industry and though the tax that’ll be mopped up here will be just around Rs 500 crore, I’m okay with us being treated on par with taxes on broadcast,” says Murthy.

     

    “The grey area here is what exactly constitutes advertising in the online world. Is a Facebook post by a brand an ad? What about a tweet by an influencer? What about native content-driven solutions being used by sites like Buzzfeed? I believe the definition of what exactly constitutes digital and mobile advertising would help a lot. Right now there isn’t any clarity,” observes Murthy.

     

    It can be noted that all agencies were charging service tax as it was in non-exempt category. Only recently it was moved to the exempt category.

     

    Online digital agency ibs MD Sabyasachi Mitter thinks the industry will be going back to how things were a little over a year back.

     

    “At the agency the billing complication is reduced as we don’t need to raise different bills for media cost and commission. Also, reconciliation becomes easier. For most clients who take input credit it will also not be a big deal. What will happen is for clients who release pay orders for all inclusive budgets, the spendable value will go down, ” mentions Mitter.

     

    Vdopia APAC VP Preetesh Chouhan says bringing online advertising in the service tax ambit will help digital players understand whether the medium has arrived or not.

     

    “As a video advertising company, our numbers show that we are witnessing an amazing organic growth of both online and mobile audiences and this is not going to change. So my opinion is that tax levied will not affect how brands are allocating spends on digital media. It could be a good opportunity to see if we have made the final transition from niche to mainstream advertising,” says Vdopia VP-APAC Preetesh Chouhan.

     

    “Time to re look at online advertising budgets”

     

    Digital L&K Saatchi & Saatchi CEO and managing partner Anil Nair expected this to happen.

     

    According to him it will mean that brand managers and media companies will have to relook at their online budgets and account for accommodating the service tax component now given that their overall budgets are already fixed.

     

    “It may augur well for social media though as monies could be diverted into content, apps etc. While online display will see a marginal cut back for a couple of quarters till it picks up again,” says Nair.

     

    “While some sections of the industry are not happy with the online and mobile advertising being included under the service tax, we believe that the philosophy of pruning the negative list in order to promote GST in the industry, is in the right direction and thus inclusion of such services in the taxation is a small price to pay in the short-term,” said PricewaterhouseCoopers leader- entertainment & media practice India Smita Jha.

     

    Foxymoron co-founder Suveer Bajaj believes the finance minister’s decision is likely to have a negative  impact as most brands and large corporations have already budgeted their online media spends for the year.

     

    “This would imply that these marketing and advertising budgets would eventually get undercut. Owing to the fact that, online and digital advertising in India is fairly nascent, this move might discourage new entrants to the industry and allocation of spends towards digital marketing. The speedy rate at which the industry was evolving now faces a setback,” adds Bajaj.

     

    Bajaj, however, says the budgetary initiative to set aside  close to Rs 500 crore for the digital India programme to ensure connectivity at the grass-root level is laudable. “Brands and organisations on digital will now also focus on the rural markets, if they haven’t already so through the online mediums. Going forward, there will be a paradigm shift in the communication and marketing strategies by digital and technology agencies to specifically target this new audience by including unique and innovative rural marketing campaigns,” he opines.

     

    HDFC Life senior executive VP marketing Sanjay Tripathy thinks this move will have an impact on the growth of this medium. He also states that this might lead to cut down on marketing spends in the coming days.

     

    According to Future Group president (customer strategy) and CEO (Bengal warriors & T24) Sandip Tarkas the announcement is a bit of a hit but not a surprise. “As we move towards a GST regime, this anomaly had to be removed. This also reflects the growing size of online ad market which is large enough to be taxed,” says Tarkas.

     

    Industry leader and Hungama Digital Media Entertainment MD & CEO Neeraj Roy speaks for the entire online industry in this comment he sent out to publications.  “The aspect of bringing back online advertising into the service tax ambit, whilst it is still a fledgling segment, is almost a conflicting action and not a welcome move.”

  • Viber India to help young footballers

    Viber India to help young footballers

    MUMBAI: With FIFA fever gripping the world, Viber India has initiated a corporate social responsibility (CSR) activity to support a home grown football team. 

    Every conversation made through Viber India contributes to the campaign titled ‘Vibe The Goal’ that will support the girls of the YUWA football team in Jharkand.

    Founded in 2009, Yuwa is a girls’ football programs in India, with 250 players. The Yuwa Foundation uses football as a platform to combat child marriage and human trafficking in the poorest of communities in Jharkhand.

    Through this activity Viber is giving its users a change to be a part of a movement to ensure there are football equipments and education facilities for these girls who have succeeded at the national and international levels.

    The campaign is conceptualised and executed by FoxyMoron.

    “Viber India aimed to engage with their target audience interested in football. The idea is to leverage the football madness that has taken over everyone. With India nowhere close to participating in the World Cup, it only seemed fitting to have the youth identify with an Indian team through an emotional yet inspiring message,” said FoxyMoron business head – north Akshay Gurnani.

    The inspiring story of girls of the YUWA football is encapsulated in a short digital film. The campaign was launched on 17 June. The film has received over 2.9 Lakh views., so far.

    Click here to watch the film:

    The campaigned has garnered 18.6 million impressions on Twitter with 24,300 tweets generated in support of the #VibeTheGoal initiative and close to 9.5 lakh fans have engaged on Facebook.

    “Viber is proud to partner with YUWA team. Through our association with YUWA we are aiming to generate maximum awareness about the NGO which has championed the social cause of combating issues such as child marriage and human trafficking in India. Everyone can be a part of the conversation on Viber to support the team. Every message exchanged on Viber will go a long way in contributing towards uplifting the social and economic conditions for these girls who have earned great reputation for India at national and international levels,” mentioned Viber country head Anubhav Nayyar.

    Through every conversation happening on Viber various monetary levels of contributions will be displayed on a meter on the campaign microsite which is also an aggregator of the support the girls are receiving.

    YUWA India founder Franz Gastler said, “Society teaches girls to fit in. Yuwa coaches girls to stand out.  In Jharkhand, 6 in 10 girls drop out of school and become child brides. Yuwa is using football and education to combat child marriage, illiteracy and human trafficking.  We are thrilled to join hands with Viber India to build support for Yuwa’s programs and a center of excellence to educate, nourish and sustain the girls of Yuwa.  Join the cause, make some noise.”

  • ‘Blogging’ on brand’s mind

    ‘Blogging’ on brand’s mind

    MUMBAI: If you are a blogger then you will definitely relate with Nora Ephron’s Julie and Julia.  As portrayed in the film, blogging which was once upon a time considered as just a hobby is today the most sought-after platform.

     

    The bloggers’ community has got its due recognition with social media becoming an integral part of our lives. What is interesting to note is that bloggers today are on priority list of many brand managers when it comes to drawing an online marketing strategy.

     

    “Brands today are engaging with bloggers because they want to talk about experiences and the brand with their readers. Bloggers are respected for the various topics they write about and no one questions their credibility as well. Most importantly, blog posts are permanent advertisements. With search being an important function on the internet today, blogs become extremely useful for a consumer. Consumers are always searching for information, products, brands and services. And, if bloggers are not writing about you; you won’t figure in the consumer selection subsets,” elaborates IndiBlogger spokesperson.

     

    Brands and blogging

     

    According to the Business World-IndiBlogger report on the Indian blogosphere, 56 per cent bloggers claim that they influence buying decisions of their readers.

     

    In the last few months, Indiablogger has hosted blogger events for brands across travel, consumer electronics, FMCG, education, finance, personal care and most recently entertainment sectors. SkyScanner, Nokia, Dove, Tata Capital, Asus, Kissan, Racold, Sunsilk, British Airways and British Council are a few popular brands that often associate with bloggers.

     

    Recently, ahead of the new entertainment channel Zindagi’s launch, Zeel invited almost 500 bloggers from Mumbai and Delhi. The reason behind the exercise was simple: though it gave bloggers an opportunity to interact with scriptwriters, directors and actors of the show, it also helped the channel create enough buzz on the digital world.

     

    Similarly, Imagica, the theme park from the house of Adlabs Entertainment, invited close to 30 blogging mothers to spend a day at the venue.

     

    When asked how the activity helped the brand, Adlabs Entertainment CMO Harjeet Chhabra says, “If we have to measure the response through the excitement amongst bloggers and their experience at Imagica, then we can surely say that we had 30 happy women bloggers and their families at the end of the day. Such initiatives are not carried out for immediate results. They are done from a long term viewpoint as opposed to being tactical or promotional. These activities help drive conversations on the digital platform and builds social content with a long term standpoint. We believe that one of the key parameters for measuring success of activities such as these is the scale of engagement and involvement. Being an experiential destination, it is imperative that the influencers are provided the right experience and engagement platform which Imagica provides.”

     

    The byproduct of these activities is the impact and reflection on social media. For example the number of tweets sent out by these influencers, the number of shares and eventually the number of people the message reaches out to. “We have also seen tremendous success in terms of the number of images being shared, including the trendy new fad of selfies. Such are the moments that actually define the success of any activity; however small or big. We are inspired to do more and more such events and are very soon going to be back with a food blogger’s event too,” adds Chhabra.

     

    One of the biggest trends in the blogger’s space is the increased usage of video content on YouTube in the form of tutorials and reviews. When Maybelline New York India launched the Colossal Kohl Turquoise, popular blogger Rati Tehri Singh created videos that showcased different styling technique using the product. These video tutorials were then shared on the brand’s social platforms.  

     

    The shifting trend

     

    While most brands have celebrities with a huge fan following as brand ambassadors, the rise of the influence of bloggers and their marketing strategies have helped brands in many ways.

     

    “Blogs reach out to a wide range of audience and have a diverse group of fans. A blog entry related to your brand will be seen by a larger fan base whom you may have not targeted earlier thereby expanding the reach of your brand. Bloggers and influencer marketing strategies have truly transformed the decision-making process of consumers while purchasing products and services,” says FoxyMoron co-founder Harshil Karia.  

     

    Over time, brands are also realising that it is important to cherry-pick the bloggers so that relevant content is created for your brand. “A large fan base is not enough to amplify the brand’s message. Content that is relevant to the target audience and in sync with the brand’s philosophy increases engagement.  In fact, bloggers are now entrenched in the larger community of fans and followers. Brands are not only reaching out to bloggers before a campaign begins but also establishing and maintaining long-term relationships with them irrespective of a campaign launch,” adds Karia.

     

    With the blogger community getting popular in the online marketing business, it will be interesting to see how brands go ahead and engage them uniquely in the coming days.