Tag: Jabong.com

  • Digital Marketing Integration: foreseegame.com backs brands in consumer engagement

    Digital Marketing Integration: foreseegame.com backs brands in consumer engagement

    MUMBAI: Digital marketing is a foundation stone of any marketing strategy nowadays and with the plethora of devices taking over television and print media world, there is now an even bigger need to come up with a successful digital marketing strategy to make brands known to the public at large.

     

    Real time data analysis helps in optimising campaign effectiveness wherein requisite changes can be made in a relatively lesser time span as compared to traditional marketing thereby providing a holistic approach to effective campaign management.

    Kolkata-headquartered digital media company foreseegame.com, which has tied up with more than 105 brands including Emami, Jabong.com, Spencer’s, Khadim’s, Myntra.com, adda52.com and LimeRoad to name a few among others, acts as a bridge between brands and their customers to build strong bonding, which further leads the customers to become brand loyal consumers

     

    foreseegame.com is a medium where people can register and play games for free and get rewarded directly by the brands themselves. Through such engagement programmes, the brands can see these people converting into customers soon. The constant engagement with brands excites consumers to test the products and services.

     

    The consumer engagement platform, which is a wholly owned subsidiary of Microsec Enterprises, is eyeing to associate with approximately 500 brands by the end of current fiscal year 2015-16. It is a value innovation in digital brand promotion and marketing media. This new age platform provides a two way engagement and a win-win partnership through direct interactions between brands and consumers.

     

    foreseegame.com CEO Supriya Nair said, “Through our platform and engagement games, brands can engage with people from any age group who are internet savvy. Brands can place themselves in the mind of our game buddies (foreseegame.com users) and build more consumers.”

     

    foreseegame.com is a platform for branding, close interaction with the mass and also helps in communicating latest offers & offering by the associating brands.

     

    “It is a medium, which covers the full cycle of engagement by providing solution of rich engagement, and establishing an emotional connect between the brands and foreseegame.com users. Our platform provides a focused consumer engagement campaign/ solution. Brands stand to gain undiluted consumer attention towards its products and services by the way of fun-filled interaction,” the CEO said, explaining what foreseegame.com has to offer to clients.

     

    Businesses are trying hard to win the marketing battle by implementing all sorts of digital and traditional campaigns. Some work, some don’t, some go terribly bad. The toughest part of digital marketing is that there are thousands of places where marketing campaigns are placed; websites, social media, TV, radio, blogs, video streams etc. Arriving at the ROI (Return on Investment) from all these different campaigns is a difficult task, and hard to get accurate reports out of them, Nair further explained.

     

    “By using foreseegame.com, brands can engage with people and register the brands in the minds of people. Going forward, brands stand to gain undiluted consumer attention towards its products and offerings. The constant engagement with brands excites consumers to test the product and ultimately become the customer of the brand,” she said.

     

    In order for brands to win on the digital battlefield, understanding what digital channels and what types of digital content perform is the vital first step in “planning.” Digital advertising is set to become the fastest-growing global advertising segment over the next five years according to McKinsey, with projected compound annual increases of 15.1 per cent by 2018, compared to five per cent for TV (including advertising, out-of-home advertising, and cinema).

     

    Smart digital marketers are now investing and building integrated digital campaigns around high-impact channels while understanding how content insights, production and measurement fuel their performance.

     

    “Consumer engagement is required, but that should not just be limited to an interaction with customers. It should be more like a long-term affair, wherein key consumer insights should also be taken into account,” opined Nair.

     

    When asked if the company takes consumer insights into account, she said, “Brand ideas are often the culmination of consumer insight and the brand offer.”

     

    Speaking on how brands benefit by integrating with foreseegame.com, Nair said, “New brands can make foreseegame.com users to get to know about them and their products and service whereas, existing known brands can maintain their grip in a stronger way to its existing consumers and also can build new consumers base.”

     

    foreseegame.com with its various campaign models helps brands to reach their target group directly. “Brands with campaign model like ‘Opinion Square’ can take a public opinion on their existing and upcoming products and services which would help them to modify as per the market requirement. Similarly, ‘Treasure Hunt’, another campaign model helps to get more traffic to the website/social media pages of the brand, which popularise their website/social media pages,” she said.

     

    “Dedicated campaign around the associated brand build strong connect between the brand and game buddies where they get a chance to win offers and offerings directly from the brands. foreseegame.com instils a pride of winning, as game buddies (foreseegame.com users) participate in the brand dedicated games and win the offer,” Nair concluded.

  • Mumbai Marathon: Media professionals run for a cause

    Mumbai Marathon: Media professionals run for a cause

    MUMBAI: On the day that Mumbai runs, it’s another city altogether. No honking, no mad rush to reach somewhere, but an army of runners, who want to test their limits, painting a healthier sight of the maximum city.

    Keeping aside the usual business suits, a whole bunch of executives right from broadcast companies, media agencies to marketers and advertisers will once again don their running shoes as they join others for the 2015 edition of the Mumbai Marathon.

    The largest marathon in south east Asia, which will take place on 18 January, will see media veteran Bharat Kapadia running half marathon; his 12th marathon, overall. “Last year, I ranked 47th in my category. I started running at the age of 54. I have been training with a group called ‘Be Fit’ and we have been practicing on alternate days from 6 am to 8 am at Juhu Beach,” he says proudly.

    Kapadia believes that for people, who are hesitant to run, it’s all a mind game. “Anybody can run. 75 per cent of it is a mind game. No one is a born athlete. Also, the benefits of running versus that of visiting a gym can’t be compared,” he adds.

    Agrees his follow runner, HDFC Life marketing, product, digital and e-commerce senior executive vice president Sanjay Tripathy. “It is a great way to test your limits and prepare your mind for bigger challenges in the life. One can also see it as an opportunity to meet like-minded people,” he says, while adding that he will be running his seventh marathon for which he has been preparing for three months now.

    For Spatial Access founder Meenakshi Menon running the dream marathon is like child’s play. A regular runner, Menon will be running for her NGO Vanashakti along the likes of film director Namita Roy Ghose. “Lately, running has become sexy so a lot more people are up for the challenge. I believe everyone should run for a cause because the country lacks social compassion and to be great country it is a must,” she opines.

    India chairman and managing director Sunil Lulla will be running the half marathon with two partners of which one is physically handicapped. “I will be running for Children’s Movement for Civic Awareness,” says Lulla who is running his sixth marathon.

    Media agency Vizeum India managing director Yesu Yesudas is running the marathon. And he has taken to social media to raise funds for two of his causes: an old age home and orphanage Swagat Ashram in Mumbai, and a tribal school Vidya Vanam in Tamil Nadu.  “I have a desire to raise Rs 500,000 for these two causes. I am making a personal contribution of Rs 100,000,” he announced on Facebook.  And he went on to urge his friends to contribute Rs 2,000 each to help him reach his goal.

    GroupM ESP entertainment, sports and live events national director Vinit Karnik says that the property has been evolving over a period of time and it is highly commendable. “The organisers i.e. Procam have done a fantastic job and it is one of the most well respected and well organised sports property in India. Right from the registration of the participants to the doubts of the participants on the actual day about their well being is taken care of completely by the organizers,” he highlights.

    This year five new brands, namely Cigna TTK, Jabong.com, Volini, TUI, and India Cares Foundation have associated with the event as health insurance, online retail, recovery, travel and philanthropy partners, respectively.

     

  • Jabong.com integrates fashion with technology, sets up Jabong Labs

    Jabong.com integrates fashion with technology, sets up Jabong Labs

    MUMBAI: Jabong.com, an online fashion destination, is stepping into the Silicon Valley of India with its new establishment – Jabong Labs.

    Jabong’s sole focus since its inception has been fashion and in order to provide fashion with convenience, Jabong is setting up its very own research and development center – Jabong Labs, which will provide customer experience adept with the latest scientific know-how. The goal is to marry the best of consumer experience that comes with buying and experiencing fashion with the state of art technology on the official website and mobile application.

    On the occasion of the launch of the new office at Bengaluru, Jabong.com HR head Ashu Malhotra said: “In order to further enhance customer experience, we are establishing a new office in Bengaluru singularly focused on making online shopping more transparent and user friendly. This technology lab will be used to further improve our backend systems with a focus on meeting long term IT goals for the organisation. The new office will include a talent pool of software engineers and techies with extraordinary IT skills who will further contribute to make us market leaders in the online shopping business.”

    With the advent of m-commerce and extensive internet penetration within our nation, Jabong has recognised the alarming need to improve and constantly innovate for better technology.

     

    Jabong has in place a strong leadership team that brings strong and relevant industry experience, along with a board of advisers, who are veterans in ecommerce product and technology.

     

    Jabong Technology Labs is one such platform that enables innovation and faster implementation of newer features.

     

  • Jabong and Nike create football frenzy with ‘Day of Play’

    Jabong and Nike create football frenzy with ‘Day of Play’

    MUMBAI: Jabong.com and Nike hosted ‘Day of Play’ a football tournament for young footballers in Mumbai. Kids in the age group of 13-20 years faced-off a two day football camp going through rigorous trials and a selection match assessed by AIFF licensed coaches.  Twenty four of the most promising players were chosen and mentored by the former Indian captain, Bhaichung Bhutia and current India team goalkeeper, Subrata Pal. These young players were divided into teams and the finals were played between the top two teams.

     

    The best player of the tournament and the winning team were awarded the trophies along with personalized Nike football boots in the presence of  Bhaichung Bhutia, Subrata Pal, Arun Chandra Mohan (Founder & CEO, Jabong.com) and Avinash Pant (Marketing Director, Nike India).

     

    Recently, Jabong has introduced Shoe personalization in collaboration with Nike which has happened for the first time ever in India. Reaching out to the increasing football fans in India, Nike boots can now have their name written or they can choose the flag of their favorite football FIFA ’14 team printed on various locations on the boot. Jabong as a brand has always encouraged various sports in the country, evident so from its past alliances like FIFA merchandise – NIKE soccer shoes, exclusive NBA retailer in India and much more. With an effort to further popularize sport in India, Jabong and Nike are providing this unique offering to help football enthusiast’s show off the support for their favorite teams and players. Additionally employees of Nike and Jabong played a friendly match, post which Bhaichung Bhutia and Subrata Pal got their own Nike personalized boots by Jabong.

     

    “We are at a very interesting chapter in Indian football, the sport is finally beginning to get its due and this will only increase over the next few years. I am really delighted to be here at Nike’s Day of Play with Jabong. The passion of these young footballers will help elevate the sport. I would like to congratulate the winners and all the footballers who were part of this tournament” said Nike athlete Bhaichung Bhutia.

     

    On the occasion, Mr. Arun Chandra Mohan, Founder & CEO, Jabong.com said, “We are delighted to partner with Nike to offer our customers the exclusive Nike football boot personalization feature on our website for all footballers. #Nameurshoe is a strong fashion trend amongst sports enthusiasts and personalized boot is something that we believe ardent football fans would love to own.  Personalizing their football boots with either their name, the name of their idol or their favourite football team is a cool feature that makes it unique and speaks to their individual style”.

     

    Mr. Avinash Pant, Marketing Director, Nike India said “At Nike, it is our mission to bring inspiration and innovation to every athlete in the World. The chance to play alongside two of India’s greatest footballers is not only a unique experience but is also inspiring. Personalization on football boots is a global phenomenon and we are delighted to be partnering with Jabong to provide this feature for footballers in India”.

  • GOSF: Bringing out the shopping bug

    GOSF: Bringing out the shopping bug

    MUMBAI: The e-commerce sector is booming and how. The very purple patch, every now and then, gets a boost with OTT sale bonanzas.

    The addictive online shopping portals lured customers through Big Billion Sale or Diwali Dhamaka Week throughout this year, but the icing on the cake has been the Google promoted Great Online Shopping Festival (GOSF).

    The 72 hour shopping festival was expected to bring out the crazy shopaholic within us all, and if stats are to be believed then it has succeeded in many ways. For instance, in  December LimeRoad, witnessed explosive growth that sent its implied revenue run rate shooting up to Rs 450 crore on the first day of GOSF 2014 – this despite the platform being only focused on women.

    Quick deliveries, cash on delivery, and big deals have made it hard for even non-shoppers to resist the temptation to shop online.

    The portals too are glad to have made the most of it.

    “Successful in creating a delightful shopping frenzy, Google Online Shopping Festival this year has witnessed a great response from the consumers. Three days of this shopping carnival is not less than some annual festival that customers await around this time of the year. On the first day itself, we have observed an extraordinary leap with our revenue rising four times compared to our sales on any regular day.  There has been a rise in revenue from mobile at least by six times as compared to the last GOSF.  Even the traffic from GOSF on the website has significantly risen by eight times as compared to the last year. This tremendous excitement shown by our customers has made us open doors to some of the best offers from exclusive brands like River Island, Dorothy Perkins, Miss Selfridge and more. All in all, we are geared to double the excitement and make this festival bigger, better and brighter like never before,” said Jabong.com founder and MD Praveen Sinha.

    Added, LimeRoad founder and CEO Suchi Mukherjee, “Whilst the growth in sales is interesting and a reflection of our non-linear growth curve throughout the rest of this year, we are super delighted both at the scale and at the trajectory of our organic traffic.”

    Speaking about the response on GOSF 2014, CouponDunia.in CEO and founder Sameer Parwani said, “So far we have seen a very good response to GOSF. Our traffic increased 4X as compared to the daily traction on the website. There was a massive spike as soon as GOSF started during midnight however the traffic peaked the highest on the first day of GOSF during lunch hours.”

    However, he believes that GOSF 2014 was comparatively lukewarm if 2013 edition is taken into account. One of the reasons for this is the kind and number of deals merchants provided compared to GOSF last year or even for that matter deals during Diwali, a few months back. “GOSF 2014 deals were both, less in number and not providing as deep discounts as we’d expected. Also some of the bigger players, have already exhausted their best offers due to their own festivals like Flipkart’s Big Billion Day, Amazon’s Appiness day and Snapdeal’s ongoing 9am to 9pm shopping fest. Most of them have offered almost 40-50 per cent discounts on regular days or their special days, so they do not have anything bigger than that to offer at the moment.”

    He also added, “As a result of frequent online shopping festivals, these festivals are no longer a novelty factor for the consumer. They have higher expectations and expect the best from everyone and are not impressed easily now it is the e-tailer’s turn to come up with better and bigger deals every festival to meet these demands and expectations.”

     

  • NBA, Sony Six and Jabong.com partner to expand NBA JAM in India

    NBA, Sony Six and Jabong.com partner to expand NBA JAM in India

    MUMBAI: National Basketball Association (NBA) and Sony Six have come together yet again for the second edition of NBA JAM in India. Powered by Jabong.com, the touring sports event which last year visited only four cities will be travelling four times that number now- Yes, 16 cities!

     

    The event which will take place from 22 September to 6 December 2014 features a 3-on-3 tournament format with more than 3,000 teams and more than 600 colleges participating. NBA talent, including a legend, dance team and mascot, will travel to select cities to engage fans.

     

    NBA India managing director Yannick Colaco said, “Through this edition of NBA JAM, we look forward to bringing the NBA experience to college students and youth in these 16 cities. From the largest ever 3-on-3 tournament ever held in India to shooting and graffiti competitions, I know sports fans across India will be excited to participate.”

    Six will telecast important highlights and the finals of JAM. Sony Six business head Prasana Krishnan said, “We take immense pride in partnering with the NBA in bringing the second season of NBA JAM to India. With a remarkable format, NBA JAM will not only boost basketball participation in the country, but also strengthen the footprint of sports and drive viewership for NBA programmes available exclusively on Six.”

     

    The 3-on-3 national tournament, part of NBA 3X events will be conducted in 14 countries and 52 cities this year and will include divisions for both men and women aged 16-24. 

     

    The event will be divided into four zones with four cities in each zone. The winning team from each city will play the winning teams within their zone for the chance to compete in the national finals, which will take place in Pune. 

     

    Jabong.com, the new powered by partner for the property, has started an online event registration and a microsite www.Jabong.com/nbajam.  At each of the venues the e-commerce platform will create an NBA store in experience zone which will feature the latest NBA merchandise and exciting games for youngsters.

    Sprite which is the official beverage partner will use its digital programme; ‘Sprite Till I Die’ to engage with students. This includes the ‘Sprite Graffiti Challenge’ where artists can upload their work on www.spritetillidie.com to take part in ‘Sprite Till I Die Art’ competition.

     

    The official outfit partner Adidas, will provide players with jerseys for the tournament.  In addition, Adidas will bring back the ‘Adidas Hoopstars’ a shooting competition to find the best shooter in each city who will earn Adidas basketball gear.

     

    Jabong.com founder and MD Praveen Sinha informed, “Following our association with the NBA that started earlier this year, we have seen a great response from our customers who are fashion and sports-oriented.  We are yet again elated to join the NBA for these events, which again give us an opportunity to showcase how Jabong is contributing to the basketball enthusiasts in the country and increasing awareness of the sport. We extend our full support to the NBA’s initiative.”

     

    The event will feature a variety of exciting contests to engage students such as: ‘Jabong.com NBA College Ambassador’ programme – as part of this programme, Jabong and the NBA are looking for the biggest NBA fan in each city.  Fans in each city can register to be a part of the contest by posting an image of themselves on the NBA India Facebook page and Twitter using the #JabongNBAicon. Participants that generate the most likes and retweets will win in their respective city.  Winners from each city will receive exclusive NBA merchandise and be entered into a national competition to find India’s biggest NBA ambassador. 

    ‘Jabong.com Internship Challenge’ – Through this, the e-commerce platform will provide one talented student with the opportunity to intern at the company’s headquarters in Gurgoan.  To qualify, participants in each city can submit an application on Jabong.com.  The 16 city winners will interview with Jabong’s senior management, after which one winner will receive a three-month internship.

    Besides these two programmes, head-to-head dance and war of the DJ competitions will take place at each venue, allowing students to showcase their skills.

    As reported first by indiantelevision.com, Six aired a record 14 games per week during the 2013-14 season, up from four the previous season.  More than 50 million viewers tuned into NBA programmes during the season, with an average per game viewership increase of 300 per cent year over year, according to the channel.

     

     

  • Jabong expects up to 1000 orders a day from ‘Next-Door’ service in a year

    Jabong expects up to 1000 orders a day from ‘Next-Door’ service in a year

    MUMBAI: With logistics one of the biggest challenges in the country, physical delivery of products is not feasible in a number of villages and rural communities. Coming up with a solution to the concern and an opportunity to increase its consumer base, one of India’s biggest fashion retailers, Jabong.com has come up with a new ‘Next-Door’ service.

     

    The service will enable customers to pick up their order at the nearest coffee shop, petrol station or tour operator. The trial for the pickup service is going to start soon in 39 towns, including Murshidabad in West Bengal, Chandausi in UP, Dahod in Gujarat and Udhampur in Jammu and Kashmir.

     

    Talking about the new initiative, Jabong’s cofounder and managing director Praveen Sinha says, “This will open channels for the consumers in the rural areas. The pilot for the pickup service will be launched in 469 pincodes and 114 pickup points.”

     

    Piloting the most extensive initiative of its kind by an Indian company, the Delhi-based online fashion retailer, Jabong.com gets about 55 per cent of its revenue from non-metro centres and Sinha expects a double digit contribution in sales from this new scheme once the services scale up.

     

    “We are expecting about 20 orders a day in the first round of the service while anticipating it to go up to 200-1000 orders a day within a year,” he adds.

     

    While the revenue model for the new collaboration is still undecided, Sinha said that it is most likely to be a mixture of giving some per cent out of the revenue to the partners or on the number of orders it receives. It will find a balance between the two so that no one is at a loss.

     

    With 700 per cent growth in mobile usage, Jabong is banking more on the smart phone users in the non-metro regions for the success of this new venture. At Jabong, mobile users now contribute 25 per cent of its orders and Sinha expects it to cross 50 per cent in the next five years.

     

    Even though Jabong declined to share financial details about the partnership Sinha reckons, “The company is growing 100 per cent year-on-year and was valued at $26 million in the month of December 2013.”

     

    Since e-commerce in India is still booming, 60-65 per cent of its customers use the cash on delivery (COD) mode of payment and according to the co-founder, it will still be open to the customers in the pickup service launched by them.

     

    E-commerce sector companies are now beginning to experiment with newer techniques, mergers and acquisitions. While companies like Flipkart-Myntra are already in collaboration, Jabong is not currently looking at any mergers or acquisitions but is not closed to the idea.

     

    E-commerce space in India has been growing like gangbusters with an annual growth rate of 56 per cent. Over the past four to five years, competition from online retailers such as Flipkart (in books, music and electronics) and Myntra and Jabong (in apparel) has hurt physical retailers. Commenting on the advancing E-commerce industry, Sinha states, “Indian e-commerce space will increase up to eight times by 2018-2020 to $30 billion.”

  • Private labels coming soon on Jabong

    Private labels coming soon on Jabong

    MUMBAI: As the e-commerce wars continue, online fashion retailer Jabong.com is all ready to jump in. According to PTI report, the company is planning to launch private label brands in the next 4-5 months.

     

    Talking to PTI, Jabong.com’s founder and CEO Arun Chandra Mohan said,  “We are setting up a full-fledged design team in London because we also want to create our own brands that provide good, fast, western fashion to the Indian consumers. We are in the final stages of setting up a top end design studio in London. It will be a team of the best fashion companies in the world that are going to be focusing only on creating the design. There is an immense opportunity to develop our own brands.”

     

    Jabong.com sells over 1,500 brands like Adidas, Puma, Levi’s, Converse, Proline, Nike among others. It also has apparels from leading fashion designers.

     

    Mohan added, “About 55-60 per cent of the company’s revenue comes from tier II and III cities. There are not enough malls in the smaller cities, which makes it conducive for people to shop online. We are growing at 10-15 per cent month on month. We are doing sales of about $30 million a month.”

     

    Commenting on the increasing e-commerce market in India, Mohan said that India is at an inflection point, where China was nearly three-four years ago.

     

    Jabong has also invested heavily on its mobile app because nearly 50 per cent of people are accessing internet through their mobile phones and that brings about 30 per cent revenue to the company.

  • NBA hopes to jump higher with basketball in India

    NBA hopes to jump higher with basketball in India

    MUMBAI: India has always been a sports obsessed nation. While the definition of “sports” was so far limited to a collective few like cricket and football, emerging focus on kabaddi, badminton and tennis through upcoming popular leagues, is fast changing this existing notion of what comprises sports.

    Carving an audience for itself is another emerging sport: The National Basketball Association.

    Popular as NBA India, the sport has found a growing audience in the country thanks to the multiple activities it has been pursuing for creating a large fan base both at the grassroots level as well as on the digital front.

    Leading NBA India as its managing director is the young, dynamic and former university level basketball player, Yannick Colaco who oversees NBA’s India business, while also leading its growth plans with focus on growing the game of basketball in India from the bottom -up.

    Having begun his career in 2001 with IMG, Colaco has extensively covered the sports industry in a number of roles like acquisition, sales, world feed production and global rights licensing.

    It’s been a long journey for NBA India. The property has been trying to build a massive fan base across the nation since its inception in 2011. When asked how the journey for the sports so far been, Colaco enthusiastically says, “Since its inception in India in October 2011, NBA has stayed focused on growing the game as well as the fan base.”

    He further adds, “In a short period, we’ve already had tremendous success in staging over 500 events across 10 cities, providing unprecedented access to our game through television, social media and digital, and in distributing our merchandise through retail stores.”

    As a true testimony of the growing audience for NBA, “we’ve seen participation in our events double, our merchandise sales double, our viewership on media platforms grow by over 200 per cent, and our social media following increase by over 450 per cent,” informs Colaco.

    With NBA India and Multi Screen Media (MSM) signing a three year television agreement in 2012, the official broadcast partner for the game currently is Sony Six. Commenting on the association, Sony Six business head Prasana Krishnan says, “NBA has a long term potential in India. The infrastructure availability is more when it comes to basketball in India as it requires minimal investment. Our alliance aims at improving the coverage and visibility of the sport. And therefore all our efforts are tuned towards building it as a positive sport.”

    Many may feel that telecasting basketball matches in India in the early morning slot could pose a challenge in getting viewers. But Colaco seems unaffected and says, “We’ve been working very closely with our broadcast partner Sony Six to increase the access of the games to our fans. This year, we launched the platform #NBAmorningsOnSix wherein we showcased two live matches of the season every day. This meant we were airing 14 live NBA matches a week!”

    The focus was on creating appointment viewing by providing sports fans with live NBA action at a fixed time every morning. “We’ve had tremendous success with this. Our live game reach has already crossed 40 million viewers. In addition, Sony also broadcasts daily highlights of our games in the prime time slot,” he adds.

    In order to make its presence felt, one of NBA’s most successful properties – NBA Jam, which was held in four cities last year, will travel extensively in four stages throughout the country this year. The game has been divided in four zones. North: Delhi, Chandigarh, Lucknow and Jaipur; south: Bangalore, Chennai, Cochin and Hyderabad; east:  Kolkata, Bhubaneswar, Nagpur and Guwahati and west: Ahmedabad, Pune, Indore and Mumbai.

    The matches claim to be entertaining with DJ’s playing the best music, during the game. Not only this, for greater involvement from youngsters, the sport will be played exclusively in colleges of the chosen cities.

    NBA India is doing all that it can to increase its viewership. To inspire the youth to play basketball and also increase its fan base, it has got 30 current and former NBA and WNBA (women’s team) players to India over the last several years. These include Chris Bosh, Dwight Howard and Pau Gasol.  

    As part of this, on 4 June, Isaiah Thomas, who plays for Sacramento Kings also visited India.  During his visit, Thomas conducted a youth clinic for the first ever RF Jr. NBA infrastructure project. Providing insights and analysis around NBA finals, Thomas said, “This is my first visit to India, and I am really excited to see the passion for basketball here.”

    RF Jr. NBA infrastructure project is a joint venture between Reliance Foundation and NBA India, as part of which basketball hoops are being installed in over 40 schools across Mumbai.  Commenting on this initiative Reliance Foundation CEO Jagannatha Kumar said in a statement, “The progress under the Reliance Foundation Jr NBA program in reaching approximately 150,000 youth through in-school and after school programs has been very satisfying.  The Reliance Foundation Jr. NBA program is now providing the basic infrastructure needed to play the game of basketball. By installing these hoops, hundreds of thousands of Indian youth can play the game together and help grow the game throughout India.”

    “NBA India and the Reliance Foundation are doing a great job in the development and promotion of the sport here, and I look forward to helping them as much as possible,” said Thomas. 

    Plans are afoot to get more current and former NBA and WNBA players to the country to serve as role models to the youth here.

    What’s more? NBA India has tied up with e-retail giant Jabong.com for selling its merchandises in India. When asked how successful the bond has been, the Goan Colaco quickly replies, “The response in the first month has been fantastic.  NBA merchandises were delivered to over 85 cities in the first week alone and NBA jerseys were sold out within two weeks. Jabong and the NBA will continue to offer unique NBA merchandises to fans in India and drive sales via unique digital and social media promotions.” Though the content is limited as of now, both the partners have planned to expand the merchandise bouquet.

    NBA India’s Facebook page has more than 4,42,000 fans while its Twitter handle has more than 21,000 followers. It is this fan base that NBA India plans to use to create exciting contests and grow.

    To engage the netizens both NBA and Sony Six ran the ‘NBA Slam Dunk’ contest on Facebook where trivia questions were asked weekly with prizes being given to fans who answered the most questions correctly.  In addition, NBA India’s Facebook and Twitter platforms were used to giveaway many pieces of unique merchandise to fans, including autographed jerseys, photos and videos.

    The game has attracted not only men, but women alike: both as viewers and players. “In all our activities, we’ve seen tremendous engagement and participation from female fans as well,” says Colaco.

    “According to the channel sources approximately 30 per cent of our viewership comes from female audience,” he adds.

    Group M ESP national director- entertainment  sports and live events Vinit Karnik too is optimistic about the future of the game in India. He says, “NBA has come at the right time to India in terms of opportunity. Lots of schools and colleges in India have been traditionally having basketball courts. Thus already there exists a captive set of sample base which gives it an advantage. The brand therefore will have training and development ground in place and this has a lot do with our schools.”

    With the growing success and support that NBA India has received within a short span of time, we can only hope that the basket of fans as well as viewers keeps increasing.

  • Jabong launches exclusive designer collection by India’s top fashion designer RohitBal

    Jabong launches exclusive designer collection by India’s top fashion designer RohitBal

    MUMBAI: Jabong.com, India’s leading online fashion destination, in association with renowned Fashion Designer, RohitBaltoday unveiled the“RohitBal for Jabong” collectionat the Palladium Hotel, Mumbai. The evening saw the launch of this exclusive designer wear collection for women via a fashion show that had models strut for the guests in RohitBal’s creations. Actress ShraddhaKapoor walked the ramp donning a gorgeous ‘RohitBal for Jabong’ ensemble during the launch.

     

    From the time when Indian fashion was first defined, the iconic name RohitBalhas been synonymous in the light of some most exquisite cotemporary shades of ethnic India. Deeply rooted with this ideology and creating some of the finest and most chic apparel, Jabong decided to take the fashion quotient a few notches higher with this association.This is the first time that Delhi-based designer, RohitBal known primarily for his heavily embellished ethnic wear for men and women, will be designing exclusively for any online fashion retailer.

     

    RohitBal’s collectionbringsa unique charm with delicate detailing and high design. The collection reflects his brand belief of beauteous anarkalis and prolific use of net and cotton with decorative motif embroidery and block prints. Whilst at one end, it highlights RohitBal’s biggest strength of creating magic with natural shades of white, cream and almond, on the other end it depicts his interpretation of popular color shades of fuchsia, orange and yellow. The collection is an honest attempt in making RohitBal’s Signature Designs affordable and accessible to the diverse and discerningbuyers in India.The collection pricedat Rs. 5999and upwards, features the trendiest styles composed of anarkalis, lehangacholis, sarees and chudidarkurtas. The line offers must-have pieces for every occasion and the perfect standout accent to both daytime and evening looks.

     

    Commenting on the association, Arun Chandra Mohan, Founder & CEO, Jabong.com said“This launch comes in response to the increasing popularity and demand of designer clothes on our website over the past few months. Celebrating the craft of fashion with the eminent designer himself, we are proud to launch the exclusive collection ‘RohitBal for Jabong’. His collection is an incredible assortment which will cater to the growing demand for what’s new and next in designer wear for women.”

     

    RohitBal during the collection launch said, “I am really excited to launch the new collection – ‘RohitBal for Jabong’. This marks a terrific new phase of my creativity while allowing me to meet the demand for designer collections in the massive Indian market. Online retail is the future and this platform enables me to reach out to an entirely untapped market of young, fashionable buyers. I look forward to a long relationship with Jabong and present several new collections. For me, this is the future of fashion.”

     

    Jabong.com over the last few years has clocked not only the loyalty of its customers but has also grown strength by strength earning customer testimonials. Today, with the widest assortment, Jabong has become a one stop shop for all fashion needs. Jabong.com today exudes this vision of being India’s leading online fashion retailer with all its associations and expansions.

     

    To shop the latest collection, please visitwww.jabong.com. Follow Jabong on Twitter @JabongIndia and find Game4u on Facebook atwww.facebook.com/myjabong