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Tag: Hotstuff Medialabs

  • Weekend Unwind with: Hotstuff Medialabs chief creative officer Terence D’souza

    Weekend Unwind with: Hotstuff Medialabs chief creative officer Terence D’souza

    Mumbai: With another weekend upon us, IndianTelevision.com rolls over to the next edition of fun snippets that peek into the mind of a corporate executive. This week, sharing his musings with us we have the chief creative officer of Hotstuff Medialabs, Terence D’souza.

    An advertising professional, creative director, filmmaker, writer, musician, and brand strategist- all rolled into one, Terence pursued a career in finance before realising his true calling was in advertising. He then switched over from Auditing to Copywriting in 2012, by joining Hotstuff. Here, he channelled his finance acumen into transforming communication for most BFSI brands, and was instrumental in introducing off-beat jingles and genres of communicating financial information through his campaigns. He specialised in investor education drives, working very closely with the mutual fund industry and more than 50+ brands, including ICICI Prudential MF, Edelweiss MF, Kotak Life Insurance, SBI Life Insurance, Axis, SUD Life, HDFC Ergo, HDFC Life, IIFL Group and UTI Mutual Fund to name a few.

    So here goes…

    – Your mantra for life
    Choose happiness. Everything else will follow.

    -A book you are currently reading / plan to read
    The Silmarillion by JRR Tolkien. (Hope to finish it before the Rings of Power starts streaming on Prime).

    -Your fitness mantra, especially during the pandemic
    I choose sports over the gym, and play Badminton- Properly, I mean, with the right technique on courts. It helps me be more agile.

    -Your comfort food
    Dal, rice, and rava fried fish- especially when it rains.

    -When the chips are down a quote/ philosophy that keeps you going
    The poem Invictus by William Henley, especially the last verse which goes, “It matters not how strait the gate, how charged with punishments the scroll, I am the Master of my fate, I am the Captain of my Soul.”

    -Your guilty pleasure
    Loud and ultra-macho action movies from the 80s.

    -When was the last time you tried something new?
    Tried mint flavoured coffee for the first time a week ago. Felt like I was brushing my teeth with coffee.

    -A life lesson you learnt the hard way
    If you don’t protect your work as you would your own children, someone else will raise them.

    -What gets you excited about life?
    The fact that an entire generation of kids is being introduced to 80s music and pop-culture once more, gives me hope.

    -What’s on top of your bucket list?
    Winning an Oscar for Best Director.

    -If you could give one piece of advice to your younger self, what would it be?
    Travel more, by yourself. You will discover a side of you that is beautiful.

    -One thing you would most like to change about the world
    Only educated citizens with a proper psych evaluation and certified cognitive skills should be given a license to vote in every election.

    -An activity that keeps you motivated / charged during tough times
    Talking to the ones closest to me, and realising that no matter how bad it gets, I am still the hero of their story and they believe I can win.

    -What lifts your spirits when life gets you down?
    I get by with a little help from my friends.

    -Your go-to stress buster
    Sunday jam sessions with my band Kehkasha. It’s my anesthesia. 

  • Hotstuff and Genesis to handle digital mandate of Goeld Frozen Foods

    Hotstuff and Genesis to handle digital mandate of Goeld Frozen Foods

    Mumbai: Hotstuff Medialabs and Genesis Film Production have joined hands to work on the brand and social media mandate for Goeld Frozen Foods.

    Goeld is an entirely vegetarian frozen food brand that uses cutting-edge freezing technology to preserve all the nutrients, flavour, and texture of the food. ‘Mac and Cheese Pops,’ ‘Dilliwalli Dal Aloo Tikki,’ ‘Oozy Cheese Corn’ bites, are just a few of the interesting alternatives available in the product line-up. Goeld also makes other Indian breads like Lachha Paratha, a premium Malabar Paratha, and other Indian breads.

    With such a broad variety, Hotstuff and Genesis intend to take the brand digitally across platforms, focusing on product awareness and brand promotion that would eventually promote the offtake, both online and offline.

    Speaking on the collaboration, Genesis founder and director Prahlad Kakkar said, “I have been associated with the Goel family for a couple of years now and it gives me great pleasure to be entrusted with the branding of their latest venture, GOELD frozen Foods. What makes this brand stand out from the others in the category is its unique attributes to India’s diverse food cultures, offering the basics in staples to the exotic in snacking. We do have a lot in store for the brand, which will be rolled out strategically through the year, with the ad film being the big highlight to watch out for… so stay tuned.”

    About the association, Goeld Frozen Foods director Archit Goel added, “We as a brand and organisation, are looking for a huge game, and after meeting the teams at Genesis and Hotstuff, I knew that these are the individuals who can make my goal of a clean-label frozen food brand a reality while also making it simple for consumers to understand. Team Genesis and Hotstuff, as collaborators, have solutions to all our marketing and promotional needs. And yes, they’re very practical and have thoughts of the common man (not easy to find these days). I am sure that with the talent on board, we are going to work together for a longer period of time to create something like Garma-garam.”

    Working with the individuals behind the brand, Hotstuff business head associate partner Rohit Sadavarte said, “It is more interesting than working with the brand itself. Archit Goel, the team’s spearhead, is frequently portrayed as having a contagious excitement and sense of optimism.”

    “Because of this, we are free to consider and try out novel concepts and branding strategies. With Goeld as a new entrant to the Hotstuff family of clients, we are aggressively looking at spreading our wings in new directions; the future will soon see Hotsuff across categories like beverages, EV two wheelers, motor SUVs, fintech and many more,” he added.

    Goeld is a brand that emphasises its unique qualities through India’s many culinary cultures With the purpose of digitally disseminating its specialties among customers, it seeks to offer a variety of items to its clientele while also taking part in many industries. With this mandate, Hotstuff is looking to cement their place as a leading media agency that has the experience and expertise to work across verticals.

  • GUEST COLUMN: How will metaverse redefine the advertising industry?

    GUEST COLUMN: How will metaverse redefine the advertising industry?

    Mumbai: The recent advent of the metaverse—a continuous and virtual 3D world where users may interact with one another, hold meetings, and even shop for items—has been a popular topic of discussion in recent months. The opportunity for advertisers to target metaverse users with branded material and other sales strategies is evident.

    When it comes to advertising in the metaverse, immersion will be the key selling point. This implies that marketers will not only be able to provide better, broader, and more sophisticated branded experiences, but they will also be able to do it without appearing intrusive because customers will already be immersed in a virtual environment.

    But how will that manifest itself on a practical level?

    Brands should see the metaverse first and mainly as a new Advertising channel. The metaverse, like any other channel, will provide advertiser’s with unique chances that will lend themselves nicely to richer, more immersive narrative experiences. Advertisements in the metaverse have already taken on some common forms, such as product placement.

    Here are some instances of how brands may utilise the metaverse to advertise themselves:

    Characters and virtual real estate

    It’s understandable to wonder if businesses may own virtual real estate and have branded characters in the metaverse. This is how it might work: World of Virtual Reality, a company can purchase VR world for its specialty and incorporate a storefront / experience center for consumers to visit and shop, as well as an exercise space where people can compare items side by side. Many businesses have built branded characters and venues, as well as reproduced their services, within the virtual world. Interestingly, advertising has blended in seamlessly with surroundings.

    Avatars in metaverse

    When you first started using the internet, you probably came across avatars. They are virtual representations of our physical identities and may provide a great chance for advertising industry to establish its presence in the metaverse. Avatars are an essential component of the metaverse, and they would be crucial in a variety of metaverse advertising use cases. Once you’re able to totally immerse yourself in a world using your holographic glasses, your avatar will be the first ‘connection’ you’ll be able to wear and feel. Branded avatars, one of the most engaging and participatory methods to advertise a business, would play a significant role in upgrading your avatar’s appearance. In the future, businesses may give their new collections to customers virtually before they are released. It is easy to see the dual benefit of having avatars as tools for allowing customers to evaluate things.

    Massive Interactive Live Events (MILE)

    Massive Interactive Live Events, or MILEs, employ a single simulation to bring together a large number of participants on a single platform. Events are the next big thing that will provide chances for marketing in the metaverse. The power of live events is already being used by numerous businesses, but it has the potential to be taken to a whole new level in the metaverse. Events may be used to build interest in a product, market new products or services, and teach employees. Advertisers seeking to attract the attention of a large audience might utilise events to generate interest in new items that will be offered at a later date.

    Diversity and inclusion

    Finally, the most essential element influencing chances for metaverse advertising examples would be inclusion and diversity. These characteristics are critical to metaverse adoption since they not only provide a chance to get more users into the systems but also allow users to have a better understanding of who they are and how they interact with other users. As part of a wider campaign to promote the benefits of the metaverse among current users, these features must be reinforced through advertising possibilities. The metaverse, on the other hand, may enable companies to break through such barriers by allowing customers to construct their own experiences. Brands may seamlessly enter consumers’ metaverse experiences, making them feel connected.

    In the end, the metaverse provides a unique marketing platform. If the advertising industry can create an atmosphere in which people can engage with brands it will make their communications more real. This may lead to increased retail and other business development, as well as more interactions with customers when they are on-site. Brands may reach a worldwide audience for advertising objectives by using SL avatars and user-generated content. While the structure of SL and OS projects may not be as prominent in mainstream advertising as video or social networks, the metaverse is a perfect place for the advertising industry to experiment with new advertising strategies and concepts.
    However, every new marketing channel or technology has its own set of obstacles. So one should proceed with extreme caution when it comes to metaverse advertising. 

    (About Author: Arun Fernandes is the founder and CEO of Hotstuff Medialabs)