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Tag: GlaxoSmithKline

  • Kedaara Capital adds industry vet Jai Shankar Krishnan as operating advisor

    Kedaara Capital adds industry vet Jai Shankar Krishnan as operating advisor

    MUMBAI: Kedaara Capital  is laying it on  thick with advisors. The latest to be added on its roster is Jai Shankar Krishnan as an operating advisor, effective immediately. 

    With over three decades of diverse experience in high-impact industries such as FMCG, pharma, industrials, life sciences, and diagnostics, Jai’s career began at Hindustan Unilever. He has since held key leadership roles at prominent companies including GlaxoSmithKline, Novartis, and Danaher Corp.

    Notably, Jai served as managing director &d CEO for Danaher Corp in India, where he scaled the business nearly tenfold within six years. He later became regional president for Asia Pacific, overseeing a revenue stream exceeding $2.5 billion and chairing the APAC board.

    In 2019, he took on the role of president for high growth markets at Danaher, managing critical markets that contributed significantly to the company’s $10 billion+ revenue.

    In addition to his corporate roles, Jai is active on the boards of several respected organisations and is committed to community service with various non-profits.

    At Kedaara, Jai will provide strategic guidance to its healthcare team, advising on both existing and new investments in the sector

  • Cerebras selects Qualcomm to deliver unprecedented performance in AI inference

    Cerebras selects Qualcomm to deliver unprecedented performance in AI inference

    Mumbai: Cerebras Systems, a pioneer in accelerating generative artificial intelligence (AI), has announced the company’s plans to deliver groundbreaking performance and value for production artificial intelligence (AI). By using Cerebras’ industry-leading CS-3 AI accelerators for training with the AI 100 Ultra, a product of Qualcomm Technologies, Inc., for inference, production grade deployments can realize up to a 10x price-performance improvement.

    “These joint efforts are aimed at ushering in a new era of high-performance low-cost inference and the timing couldn’t be better. Our customers are focused on training the highest quality state-of-the-art models that won’t break the bank at time of inference,” said Andrew Feldman, CEO and co-founder of Cerebras. “Utilizing the AI 100 Ultra from Qualcomm Technologies, we can radically reduce the cost of inference – without sacrificing model quality — leading to the most efficient deployments available today.”

    Leveraging the latest cutting-edge ML techniques and world-class AI expertise, Cerebras will work with Qualcomm Technologies’ AI 100 Ultra to speed up AI inference. Some of the advanced techniques to be used are as follows:

    ●    Unstructured Sparsity: Cerebras and Qualcomm Technologies solutions can perform training and inference using unstructured, dynamic sparsity – a hardware accelerated AI technique that dramatically improves performance efficiency. For example, a Llama 13B model trained on Cerebras hardware with 85% sparsity trains 3-4x faster and using AI 100 Ultra inference generates tokens with a 2-3x higher throughput.

    ●    Speculative Decoding: this advanced AI technique marries the high throughput of a small LLM with the accuracy of a large LLM. The Cerebras Software Platform can automatically train and generate both models, which are seamlessly ingested via the Qualcomm® AI Stack, a product of Qualcomm Technologies. The resulting model can output tokens at up to 2x the throughput with uncompromised accuracy.

    ●    Efficient MX6 inference: The AI 100 Ultra supports MX6, an industry standard micro-exponent format that performs high accuracy inference using half the memory footprint and twice the throughput of FP16.

    ●    NAS service from Cerebras: Using Network Architecture Search for targeted use cases the Cerebras platform can deliver models that are optimized for the Qualcomm AI architecture leading to up to 2x higher inference performance.

    A combination of these and other advanced techniques are designed to allow the Cerebras and Qualcomm Technologies solutions to deliver an order of magnitude performance improvement while enabling it at model release, resulting in inference-ready models that can be deployed on Qualcomm cloud instances anywhere.

    “The combination of Cerebras’ AI training solution with the AI 100 Ultra helps deliver industry leading perf/TCO$ for AI Inference, as well as optimized and deployment-ready AI models to customers helping reduce time to deployment and time to RoI,” said Qualcomm Technologies, Inc VP – Cloud Computing Rashid Attar.

    By training on Cerebras, customers can now unlock massive performance and cost advantages with inference-aware training. Models trained on Cerebras are optimized to run inference on the AI 100 Ultra leading to friction-free deployments.  

    “AI has become a key part of pharmaceutical research and development, and the cost of operating models is a critical consideration in the research budget,” said GlaxoSmithKline head & senior VP Kim Branson. “Techniques like sparsity and speculative decoding that make inference faster while lowering operating costs are critical: this allows everyone to integrate and experiment with AI.”

  • HUL tops personal care & hygiene advertisers on TV, print: TAM AdEx 2020 report

    HUL tops personal care & hygiene advertisers on TV, print: TAM AdEx 2020 report

    MUMBAI: The TAM Adex overview of advertising in the personal care and hygiene sector across TV, print, radio and digital media for the year 2020 has thrown up some significant insights. All four media witnessed a thumping recovery in Q4 advertising over Q1. The trends also reflected the growing importance of handwashing and sanitisation due to the Covid2019 scare.

    The personal care/hygiene sector witnessed 38 per cent growth in television ad volumes in Q4 of 2020, compared to Q1, according to the TAM AdEx overview of the segment across TV, print, radio and digital in 2020. Compared to Q1 of 2020, Q4 witnessed 3X ad insertion growth on digital, while ad space in print witnessed double digit share from November 2020 onwards. Ad volumes for the personal care and hygiene sector grew by 4X on radio in Q4 over Q2 of 2020.

    Television

    Ad volumes of the personal care/hygiene sector on TV increased by seven per cent in 2020 over 2019. Compared to Q1 of 2020, Q4 witnessed 38 per cent growth in ad volumes of this sector. Due to Covid2019, the lowest ad Volumes were observed in Q2, which includes the lockdown period. A drop recorded in personal care and hygiene sector advertising was seen during April 2020 over March 2020 due to the lockdown. However, during September-December 2020, ad volumes on television witnessed a double digit share. The GEC genre topped preference list of personal care/hygiene players during 2020.

    The top three product categories contributed more than 55 per cent to the ad volume share of the personal care/hygiene sector. Top 10 Advertisers accounted for more than 80 per cent share of ad volumes in 2020 with FMCG major Hindustan Unilever (HUL) topping the list. Among the Top 10 brands, five belonged to the toilet soaps category. Top 10 brands accounted for more than 30 per cent share of ad volumes in 2020 with Dettol Toilet Soaps topping the list.

    Print

    Ad space in print witnessed double digit share from November 2020 onwards. Compared to the first quarter of 2020, Q4 witnessed 45 per cent ad space growth in print publications.

    Ad space of the personal care/hygiene sector in print decreased by 19 per cent in last year over 2019. Compared to Q1 of 2020, Q4 witnessed 45 per cent ad space growth. Print ad space recovered to pre-lockdown level within four months of post lockdown period. Ad space in print witnessed double digit share in the months of September, November and December of 2020.

    Fairness creams leads the list of top 10 categories under the personal care/hygiene sector. Top 10 advertisers accounted for more than 65 per cent share of ad space in 2020 with HUL leading the list, followed by SBS Biotech. 

    Among four zones, north topped for personal care/hygiene advertising with 41 per cent share in print during 2020. Mumbai and Kolkata were the top cities in the west and east zone respectively as well as in overall India.

    Radio

    Ad volume for the personal care/hygiene sector on radio dropped by 11 per cent last year over 2019. Q3 of 2020 registered the highest advertising of personal care/hygiene on radio. Due to Covid2019, lowest ad volumes were observed in Q2 which includes the lockdown period. Highest share of ad volumes for personal care/hygiene sector registered during August to October of the previous year.

    Ad volumes for the personal care/hygiene sector grew by 4X in the fourth quarter over second quarter of 2020. On radio, ads for tooth pastes and toilet soaps ruled with more than 45 per cent of the total ad volumes.

    Maharashtra was the top state with 16 per cent share of ad volumes followed by Gujarat with 15 per cent share. Top 10 advertisers accounted for 74 per cent share of ad volume in 2020 with Vicco Laboratories leading the list. 

    Digital

    Ad insertions of the personal care/hygiene sector on digital decreased by 24 per cent in 2020 over 2019. Compared to Q1 of 2020, Q3 and Q4 witnessed 2X and 3X growth in ad insertions, respectively. The highest share on digital was observed during the festive period, that is, October-December 2020, which had 40 per cent share of total ad insertions on the medium.

    On the digital medium, tooth pastes and face wash were the top personal care/hygiene categories, with 24 per cent and 13 per cent share, respectively. The top 10 advertisers accounted for more than 75 per cent share of ad insertions in 2020, with GlaxoSmithkline leading the list.

    The top 10 brands accounted for 47 per cent share of ad insertions on digital in 2020. Sensodyne Rapid Relief topped the list with 11 per cent share of the total ad insertions for the personal care/hygiene sector.

  • Amitabh Bachchan faces heat for Horlicks campaign

    Amitabh Bachchan faces heat for Horlicks campaign

    MUMBAI : Bollywood actor Amitabh Bachchan on May 30 posted a series of tweets announcing his collaboration with GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) brand Horlicks to fight malnutrition in India. “I am taking the 1st step by joining the biggest movement to fight malnutrition,” tweeted Bachchan tagging media group Network18, prime minister Narendra Modi, union minister for women and child development Maneka Gandhi, CEO of NITI Aayog Amitabh Kant and Poshan Abhiyaan, the government programme for combating malnutrition.

    The 75-year-old actor now finds himself at the centre of a controversy after several public health experts wrote to him asking him to end his association with Horlicks. The experts believe the campaign is disingenuous and flouts the optimal nutrition norms.

    “Horlicks is a high sugar product, as 100 gram of a popularly advertised pack of Horlicks Delight, contains 78 gram of carbohydrates of which 32 grams is sucrose sugar,” read the letter from the experts from Nutrition Advocacy in Public Interest – India (NAPi), according to news agency PTI.

    The letter added that representing a brand like Horlicks hurts the veteran actor’s image as a socially responsible celebrity.

    “Going by this recommendation promotion of Horlicks falls in the category of inappropriate as they use false health claims in TV commercials,” the letter stated.

    Horlicks has titled its campaign ‘Mission Poshan’, with a motto “we are here to fight the malnutrition in our country”. Interestingly, the GSK brand has opted for a campaign name that is similar to the government programme ‘Poshan Abhiyaan’.

    “I fear that this campaign may have serious adverse repercussions: Horlicks is expensive and is likely to drain pockets of marginalized families under the misbelief that Horlicks is a good nutritious product for children as it is endorsed by Mr Bachchan. Thus Horlicks may displace healthy real family home foods and this way contravenes tackling the problem of undernutrition among children,” said RML hospital’s head of neonatology department Dr Arti Maria.

    Bachchan, who had ended his association with Pepsi in 2014, is yet to respond to the criticism.

  • OgilvyOne Worldwide names Namrata Keswani as Mumbai head

    OgilvyOne Worldwide names Namrata Keswani as Mumbai head

    MUMBAI OgilvyOne Worldwide’s has named Namrata Keswani as vice president and head of the Mumbai office.

    Welcoming Keswani  to her new role, OgilvyOne Worldwide India president Vikram Menon said “OgilvyOne has been India’s No. 1 Digital Agency for many years. Our flagship Mumbai office was recently ranked among the World’s 10 Best Digital Agencies. And to have Namrata now at the helm is truly exciting. Her varied experience across markets, brands and new media will be ideal, as OgilvyOne, Mumbai looks to set new benchmarks across the board.

    Keswani  said, “ OgilvyOne Mumbai has grown and transformed rapidly over the last few years into a leading digital agency. It’s a fantastic opportunity to be at its helm and chart its next chapter of growth. I hope to nurture a nimble, learning agency culture and ensure our clients see us as their partner of choice in this exciting, challenging environment where the digital landscape and consumer are evolving so dramatically.

    This is a home-coming of sorts for Keswani, who began her journey with Ogilvy & Mather Mumbai, way back in 2003 where she proceeded to handle some of the agency’s most prestigious businesses. Among them were Asian Paints, Mattel, Unilever, Google, Cadbury, Taj Hotels and TBZ. She also spent a year and a half at Ogilvy Singapore where she managed the GlaxoSmithKline, American Express and Kimberly Clark businesses.

    Her inherent leaning towards fashion and style, led her to the role of a Fashion Stylist at NBC in 2005 and more recently, at Condé Nast India where she led the Condé Nast factory – a content vertical for the publishing group.  
     

     

  • OgilvyOne Worldwide names Namrata Keswani as Mumbai head

    OgilvyOne Worldwide names Namrata Keswani as Mumbai head

    MUMBAI OgilvyOne Worldwide’s has named Namrata Keswani as vice president and head of the Mumbai office.

    Welcoming Keswani  to her new role, OgilvyOne Worldwide India president Vikram Menon said “OgilvyOne has been India’s No. 1 Digital Agency for many years. Our flagship Mumbai office was recently ranked among the World’s 10 Best Digital Agencies. And to have Namrata now at the helm is truly exciting. Her varied experience across markets, brands and new media will be ideal, as OgilvyOne, Mumbai looks to set new benchmarks across the board.

    Keswani  said, “ OgilvyOne Mumbai has grown and transformed rapidly over the last few years into a leading digital agency. It’s a fantastic opportunity to be at its helm and chart its next chapter of growth. I hope to nurture a nimble, learning agency culture and ensure our clients see us as their partner of choice in this exciting, challenging environment where the digital landscape and consumer are evolving so dramatically.

    This is a home-coming of sorts for Keswani, who began her journey with Ogilvy & Mather Mumbai, way back in 2003 where she proceeded to handle some of the agency’s most prestigious businesses. Among them were Asian Paints, Mattel, Unilever, Google, Cadbury, Taj Hotels and TBZ. She also spent a year and a half at Ogilvy Singapore where she managed the GlaxoSmithKline, American Express and Kimberly Clark businesses.

    Her inherent leaning towards fashion and style, led her to the role of a Fashion Stylist at NBC in 2005 and more recently, at Condé Nast India where she led the Condé Nast factory – a content vertical for the publishing group.  
     

     

  • WPP’s Brand Union promotes Toby Southgate to worldwide CEO

    WPP’s Brand Union promotes Toby Southgate to worldwide CEO

    MUMBAI: WPP’s global brand strategy and design agency Brand Union has promoted Toby Southgate to worldwide CEO, effective 1 July.

     

    Southgate will manage the growth of the global network while to continuing his responsibilities in the Americas. He will remain based in New York and will report to Brand Union and FITCH group CEO Simon Bolton.

     

    “Toby is a true professional in our industry and a trusted adviser to senior clients all around our network. He has a unique thought process and leadership style that enables him to have compelling conversations with clients, prospects and talent alike. I have no doubt Toby has what it takes to step into this role on a worldwide stage and take Brand Union to the next level,” said Bolton.

     

    In this new role, Southgate will be responsible for leading the growth of Brand Union across each of its 24 markets. He will manage all of Brand Union’s international teams and lead collaboration with other WPP agencies, delivering on the group’s ‘horizontality’ strategy.

     

    “I love this business and I’m proud to be leading Brand Union beyond the traditional definition of branding. I’m delighted Simon has given me the chance to lead the network. Brand Union is all about creating brilliantly designed and beautifully connected experiences for our clients and their brands. There is much more to come,” said Southgate.

     

    Southgate brings extensive Brand Union experience to this role, having joined the agency in 2008. He has held a number of roles including Brand Union Middle East managing director, Brand Union UK CEO and most recently, CEO Americas. In his latest role, he helped grow the agency’s footprint leading the acquisition of Epigram, a Brazilian brand and communications agency, in 2014.

     

    He has been a key player in the agency’s business development over the last seven years, bringing in major clients like The Coca-Cola Company, Vodafone, Shazam, GlaxoSmithKline and CBRE.

     

    CBRE global chief marketing officer Paul Suchman said, “Toby’s partnership and dedication to our business has been nothing short of outstanding. Under his leadership, Brand Union has helped us find a powerful global voice and significantly strengthen our brand equity in every market we serve.”

  • GlaxoSmithKline healthcare Q2-2014 marketing spend down 24 per cent q-o-q

    GlaxoSmithKline healthcare Q2-2014 marketing spend down 24 per cent q-o-q

    BENGALURU: Nutritional products and OTC drug major GlaxoSmithKline Consumer Healthcare Limited (GCHL) spent 23.9 per cent less towards advertising and sales promotion (ASP) in the quarter ended 30 June 2014 (Q2-2014) at Rs 141.40 crore (14.6 per cent of Total income from operations or TIO) versus Rs 185.75 crore (16.6 per cent of TIO) in Q1-2014 and just 2.8 per cent more than the Rs 137.56 crore (15.5 per cent of TIO) in Q2-2013.

    The company’s nutritional product brands include Horlicks, Boost, Foodles , while its OTC drugs brands include Crocin, Eno and Iodex.

    Notes: (1) GCHL’s follows the calendar year and its fiscal ends on 31 December, hence quarter ended31 March is Q1, quarter ended 30 June is Q2, quarter ended 30 September is Q3 and quarter ended 31 December is Q4.

    (2) 100,00,000 = 100 lakh = 10 million = 1 crore.

    GCHL’s TIO in Q2-2014 at Rs 965.97 crore was 13.7 per cent less than the Rs 1119.82 crore in Q1-2014 and 8.5 per cent more y-o-y than the Rs 890.30 crore in Q2-2013. The company’s TIO shows an upward trend over a nine month period commencing Q2-2012 and ending with the current fiscal Q2-2014.

    In terms of actual rupees spent, the company’s ASP shows a slightly upward simple linear trend, while in terms of percentage of TIO, ASP seems to have flattened out. The simple average ASP across the nine quarters under consideration is Rs 148.42 crore, which means that the current quarter’s ASP is 7.9 per cent below par when compared to the average of the nine quarters under consideration in this report. Please refer to Fig 1 below.

    GCHL’s PAT in terms of absolute rupee value shows an upward simple linear trend, while in terms of percentage of TIO, the linear trend is flat, tapering downwards slightly, a fact that could easily change with a slightly higher than average PAT  in percentage of TIO terms in the next few quarters. The company’s simple average PAT across the nine quarters under consideration is 13.4 per cent of TIO.

    GCHL reported PAT of Rs 130.12 crore (13.5 per cent of TIO) in Q2-2104, 24.2 per cent lower than the Rs 171.71 crore(15.3 per cent of TIO) in Q1-2014 and 8.5 per cent more than the Rs 119.96 crore (13.5 per cent of TIO)  reported in the year ago quarter Q2-2013.

    GCHL’s analyst presentation says that its domestic sales have grown 10 per cent despite an extremely challenging environment. It has witnessed a 24 per cent drop in export sales due to certain one-offs and slowdown in Bangladesh. Overall, domestic growth can be attributed to a 3 per cent growth in volume and 7 per cent due to increase in pricing.

    Strong innovation led re-launches of sub-brands – Mother’s Horlicks, Horlicks Lite and Chocolate Horlicks were re-launched during the quarter. GCHL says that it ran new impactful campaigns on Mother’s Horlicks and Chocolate Horlicks, and has added focus on digital marketing during the current quarter.

    Click here to read the financial report

    Click here to read the unaudited financial report

  • Glaxosmithkline Consumer promotion expenses 19% of Oct-Dec Op Income

    Glaxosmithkline Consumer promotion expenses 19% of Oct-Dec Op Income

    BENGALURU: Nutritional products and OTC drug major Glaxosmithkline Consumer Healthcare spent Rs 164.78 crore or 18.96 per cent of Income from operations in the quarter ended 31 December  towards advertisement and promotion. This was the highest amount spent on advertising and promotion by the company in terms of percentage of operating income as well as in value terms over seven consecutive quarters starting quarter ended 30 June, 2012.

    Note : (1) GCHL’s fiscal ends on December 31, however in keeping with standard conventions in India, the following periods have been used in this report:
    Q1-2013 is the Quarter ended June 30, 2012; Q2-2013 is the quarter ended September 30, 2012
    Q2-2013 is the quarter ended December 31, 2012 ; Q4-2013 is the quarter ended March 31, 2013
    Q1-2014 is the quarter ended June 30, 2013 ; Q2-2014 is the quarter ended September 30, 2013 and Q3-2014 is the quarter ended December 31, 2013.
    (2)Rs 1 Crore  = Rs 100,00,000 = Rs 100 lakhs = 10 million

    The company’s nutritional products brands include Horlicks, Boost, Foodles , while its OTC drugs brands include Crocin, Eno and Iodex.

    Let us look at the company’s results over the seven quarters under consideration:

    Figure A shows that Linear PAT as percentage of Op Inc is trending downwards. Ad Exp as both percentage of Op Inc and Total Expense (Total Exp) is trending upwards linearly. The company explains the lower PAT to high inflation in milk and milk powders and dilution in PAT growth due to higher tax rates. GHCL plans to partially offset this by renewed focus on various cost control initiatives.

    However, as per Figure B below, in value terms, PAT trend is almost flat linearly over the seven quarters, with GCHL reporting maximum PAT in quarter ended 31 March 2013 at Rs 156.41 crore, the lowest being Rs 69.65 crore in Q3-2013. The company reported PAT at Rs 79.79 crore in Q3-2014. Operating Income peaked in quarter ended 30 September, 2013 at Rs 1014.08 crore, with Rs 734.51 crore in quarter ended 31 December 2012 being the lowest operating income over the seven quarters under consideration. Operating income in the quarter ended 31 December, 2013 was Rs 869 crore.

    As mentioned above, the company’s Ad Exp in quarter ended 31 December, 2014 was the highest, both in terms of percentage of operating income and in rupee value. As figure C shows, the company’s q-o-q change in percentage terms for Op Inc as well as Ad Exp have been zigzag lines, however the linear rate of change tending downwards for both.

    GCHL says that it has had a good overall performance with Health Food Drinks (HFD) and Foods growing at 17 per cent and 29 per cent respectively in quarter ended 31 December, 2014. Its domestic volume growth has been 11 per cent, while exports grew by 36 per cent. It claims that GHCL continues to hold second position in Oats; Horlicks Kesar Badam launched during the quarter.

    The company claims that its HFD brands comprising Horlicks and Boost grew 17 per cent, while its packaged foods brands comprising of Horlicks biscuits, Horlicks Nutribics, Foodles (noodles), Horlicks Oats and Boost Biscuits grew 29 per cent during the period.

  • Get set for a chess match with the champion

    Get set for a chess match with the champion

    MUMBAI: The fans of Chess player Viswanathan Anand may now get a chance to meet their icon as Crocin Cold & Flu Max is organising a ‘Chess Challenge’ on its Facebook page.

    10 lucky winners will get a chance to meet Viswanathan Anand and one winner amongst them gets the opportunity to play a game of chess with him. While others stand a chance to win exciting prizes.

    To participate in the game, consumers can log on to https://www.facebook.com/GSKCrocin. The contest commenced on 7 November and will be on till 28 November. Players can register on the Crocin Chess Challenge Facebook app and can earn points by playing against the computer. All the games against the computer are timed; hence it would be a real test of skill and technique.

    The pecking order of the players on the game’s leader board is interestingly constructed classifying players as: Brilliant Bishops, Relentless Rooks, Knowledgeable Knights and the Chess Champion based on increasing order of their performance and points. While five ‘Relentless Rooks’ have a chance to win Viswanathan Anand merchandise every day, top 10 Knowledgeable Knights will get a chance to meet the legend himself. One ‘Chess Champion’ will be crowned from amongst the top 10 performers who will get to play a game of chess with the chess master.

    Speaking about the contest, GlaxoSmithKline India EVP-marketing Jayant Singh said, “Over the years, Crocin has been trusted by millions of consumers in India to get effective relief from pain. Backed by the strong heritage of Crocin, New Crocin Cold & Flu Max not only provides effective relief from five signs of Cold and Flu but also helps bring back your focus. Chess is one such game that epitomizes focus and concentration. We are glad to host the ‘Chess Challenge’ with the brand ambassador for Crocin Cold & Flu Max Vishwanathan Anand. We wish him a great championship ahead!”

    Delighted at being associated with the contest, Viswanathan Anand said, “Chess is a unique game that truly tests the player’s ability to strategise and foresee. I am glad to be a part of the Crocin Cold & Flu Max ‘Chess Challenge’; the contest provides a platform for chess lovers to enjoy the game and also showcase their knowledge about the game through the quiz. What is interesting is that the game can also be enjoyed by inviting friends to join. I am looking forward to being challenged by the contest winner; it will certainly be an exciting game of chess!”

    The ‘Chess Challenge’ is supported by an extensive campaign consisting of display banners, YouTube video pre-rolls and stamp ads. Viswanathan Anand and Crocin have a long-standing association and the ‘Chess Challenge’ takes this association forward.