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Tag: Magnum

  • Magnum launches pistachio flavour, Kareena Kapoor Khan stars in campaign

    Magnum launches pistachio flavour, Kareena Kapoor Khan stars in campaign

    MUMBAI:  Magnum, that purveyor of posh popsicles, has finally unleashed a new flavour after an eight-year drought. The new Magnum Pistachio, a creamy concoction of pistachio ice cream swaddled in thick Belgian chocolate and sprinkled with roasted pistachios, aims to tickle the tastebuds of India’s premium ice cream aficionados. And who better to front this nutty venture than Kareena Kapoor Khan, who’s been sweet on the brand for a decade?

    Kareena Kapoor Khan, brand ambassador for Magnum purred: ” This year marks 10 years of devouring my favourite Magnum ice creams, one irresistible flavour at a time! I have had a great association with the brand and Magnum is everything I love and always a temptation worth giving into. I’m so happy to launch Magnum’s latest creation – the all-new Magnum Pistachio! Rich, pistachio ice cream wrapped in thick Belgian chocolate and roasted pistachios – pure bliss! So, step inside my PleasureStudio and have a taste. I hope you love it as much as I do.”

    HUL ice-cream business head Toloy Tanridagli stated, ” With Magnum Pistachio, we are bringing an ingredient that defines luxury and one of the most trending flavours globally to Indian consumers. Magnum has always been lauded for its expertise in chocolate crafting and sophisticated ice cream credentials, and we are committed to bringing this to India. The premium ice cream market in India is growing steadily, with consumers seeking indulgent and unique experiences. We aim to tap into this market with an exciting line-up in 2025, starting with the biggest – Magnum Pistachio. With the expansion of our portfolio, we remain committed to offering moments of pure pleasure through our innovative new launches.” 

    Lowe Lintas  executive creative director Vishal Bagade said: “ Our aim was to evoke luxury and pleasure through storytelling, which was an enjoyable ride given the fact that industry giants like Kareena Kapoor Khan and Bob (Shashanka Chaturvedi) were involved. We ended up creating ‘Pleasure Studio’, which is not just an ad but an ode to indulgence.”

    The new flavour, a nod to the internet-breaking Dubai chocolate trend, promises a symphony of creaminess and nuttiness. Magnum, known for its opulent partnerships and Cannes shenanigans, is banking on this new launch to keep its crown as the king of indulgent ice cream. 

    Here’s the link to the Kareena Kapoor Khan ad

  • Unilever ropes in Noopur Bapna as media and digital marketing lead for ice-creams

    Unilever ropes in Noopur Bapna as media and digital marketing lead for ice-creams

    MUMBAI: Noopur Bapna has taken the plunge into the frosty world of frozen desserts, nabbing the coveted position of media and digital marketing lead for ice creams at Unilever India.

    Bapna’s career path has been anything but vanilla, having most recently served as group media manager at Marico Ltd where she spent nearly three years climbing the corporate ladder. Prior to this chilling new appointment, she honed her digital chops at GroupM, where she rose from senior director to partner during a two-and-a-half-year stint.

    Her CV boasts an impressive medley of media roles, with previous positions at The Social Street, where she spent nearly five years as media supervisor, and earlier gigs at the Times Group and DDB Mudra, where she cut her teeth on brands such as BPCL, Kuoni and World Gold Council.

    Bapna’s has  a well-stocked toolbox of skills to her new role, including media strategy, digital strategy and social media expertise—all essential ingredients in today’s marketing mix. 

    Unilever’s ice cream portfolio, which includes global heavyweights such as Magnum, Cornetto and Wall’s, will now benefit from Bapna’s digital savvy as the company continues to battle for supremacy in India’s increasingly competitive frozen treats market.

    The appointment comes at a time when digital marketing for consumables is heating up, even for products that need to stay below zero. With summer approaching in the subcontinent, the timing couldn’t be more delicious for both Bapna and Unilever.

  • Magnum to debut a luxurious new flavour at Lakme Fashion Week x FDCI

    Magnum to debut a luxurious new flavour at Lakme Fashion Week x FDCI

    MUMBAI: Magnum, is set to create a stir at Lakmē Fashion Week x FDCI with the unveiling of its newest indulgent flavour. Taking place from 26 to 30 March 2025 at the Jio World Convention Centre, the brand promises a lavish celebration of fashion, luxury, and pleasure.

    Bringing its signature chocolate dipping bar to the prestigious event, Magnum will treat guests to an array of decadent experiences. The highlight of the celebration will be the Magnum party, an exclusive evening of glamour and indulgence, attended by the crème de la crème of the fashion industry.

    Indian designers Falguni Shane Peacock, Amit Aggarwal, and Shantnu Nikhil will craft bespoke Magnum bars inspired by their signature styles. Each creation will reflect their distinctive design aesthetic, elevating the ice cream into a work of edible art.

    Magnum will introduce a limited-edition candle collection in collaboration with designer Ritika Mirchandani. The candles, inspired by the brand’s signature flavours, will capture the essence of indulgence through scent, offering a multi-sensory experience that extends beyond taste.

    HUL head of ice cream business Toloy Tanridagli said, marking 25 years of Lakmē Fashion Week. “We are proud to be part of this landmark celebration, bringing new levels of luxury and pleasure to the Indian market. From the exclusive party to creative collaborations, we aim to offer unforgettable experiences that blend taste with fashion.”

  • Unilever’s Rahul Welde: Consumer communication in a digital world

    Unilever’s Rahul Welde: Consumer communication in a digital world

    SINGAPORE: “Advertising and campaigns are not dead,” said the red-frame bespectacled executive on stage. “Whosoever says that is foolish. The TV commercial is changing from three seconds to as much as three minutes or six minutes. Its form may change but advertising and campaigns are here to stay.”

     

    Most professionals in India are familiar with this gent. Rahul Welde is Unilever vice-president Media for Asia, Africa, Middle east, Turkey and Russia, and he is seen as a media tour de force in the world as he controls ad spends running into billions of dollars for a large part of the emerging markets for the consumer giant.

     

    Welde was speaking at the closing session of Social Matters in Singapore. He said he welcomes the explosion; the fragmentation in media. “I believe it has brought with it tremendous opportunity.  It allows to not go by classical reach and frequency approach that we have to do with mass media where we do a shot gun spray gun approach. It allows us to specifically target specific audiences. But we need to ride all the platforms – TV, print, outdoors, radio, online, social and what have you.”

     

     He pointed out that Unilever is constantly listening to whispers in the digital social universe. “We are constantly on the alert. We are listening. We are reacting to what consumers are saying. It helps us tweak products; attributes and helps build brand love amongst consumers,” he stated.

     

    He spoke about a campaign that Unilever ran in India on the day of the election results on 16 May on Facebook. “We knew everyone was going to be on Facebook to comment, give their views on the election results. The reach block we resorted to asked engaged Facebook users to embrace the change that is coming. We got 35 million impressions; 165,000 reacted and interacted. It was very effective,” he explained.

     

    Welde said that digital is also permitting Unilever to deliver on “target moments.”

     

    For instance, he said that if the weather prediction is that the temperature is going to rise four days from a specific date, then he can choose to flood the various social and digital sites with advertising or messaging pushing ice-creams.

     

    “Let’s take this further,” he said. “This month is Magnum ice cream’s 25th birthday in Singapore. I can reach out to all those who are celebrating their birthday this week or this entire month individually and help create a personal touching moment for each of them with their brand which is Magnum. In the old world of print and television, I could have never done this. “

     

    He also spoke about the Dove Real beauty sketches campaign which was conceived in Latin America but broke in Australia. The idea of the campaign was to convince 96 per cent of women who think they are not beautiful that their beliefs about themselves are untrue.

     

    As part of the campaign, a forensic artist asked women to describe themselves and he drew them without ever taking a look at their faces. The next day a stranger – who had met the women – then described the women sketched the day before to the artist who once again drew them. In almost all’ the cases, the women’s description of themselves and their beauty was not as charitable as the strangers and it showed in the two version sketches.

     

    “The video which was produced by our agency Ogilvy went viral wildly,” says Welde. “We wanted every woman to know and believe you are more beautiful than you think and I think it worked very well.”

     

    Welde and the Unilever team are obviously pressing the right levers.

  • HUL ad spends down 10 per cent in Q4-2014, up 12 per cent in FY-2014

    HUL ad spends down 10 per cent in Q4-2014, up 12 per cent in FY-2014

    BENGALURU: Indian FMCG giant Hindustan Unilever Limited (HUL) Advertisement and Promotions spends (Ad & Promo spends) was down 9.59 per cent in Q4-2014 at Rs 840.34 crore as compared to the Rs 929.46 crore in the immediate trailing quarter (Q3-2014), but was 2.34 per cent more than the Rs 821.13 crore in the year ago quarter (Q4-2013). The company spent the lowest amount towards Ad & Promo in Q4-2014 during FY-2014.

    Note : All figures are standalone.

    Overall, across eight quarters starting with Q1-2013 until Q4-2014, HUL’s Ad & Promo spend shows an upward trend, both in rupee value as well as percentage of Operating Income (Op Inc) terms. Please refer to Fig 1 below.

    Also,  the company’s Ad & Promo spends is trending upwards, both in absolute value and as percentage of Op Inc terms between FY-2012 to FY-2014 as is evident from Fig 1A below:

    Across the eight quarters under consideration, HUL’s Op Inc shows an upward trend, though Op Inc in Q4-2014 was (-1.79) per cent lower at Rs 7094.1 crore  as compared to the Rs 7223.35 crore in Q3-2013, though y-o-y Op Inc was higher by 9.72 per cent than the Rs 6465.81 crore in Q4-2013.

    The company’s PAT has shown a declining trend, both in absolute as well as percentage of Op Inc terms during the eight quarters under consideration. PAT for Q4-2014 was (-17.90) per cent lower at Rs 872.13 crore as compared to the Rs 1062.31 crore in Q3-2014 and was 10.79 per cent more than the Rs 787.20 crore in the year ago quarter Q4-2013.

    However, on annualised basis, across three financial years from FY-2012 to FY-2014, PAT has increased and is showing an upward trend, albeit slower in FY-2014, during which it grew by 1.87 per cent to Rs 3867.49 crore from Rs 3796.67crore in FY-2013. Correspondingly, PAT grew in FY-2013 more rapidly at 41.07 per cent from Rs 2691.40 crore in FY-2012. Please refer to Fig 2 and Fig 2A below.

    HUL says that the slowdown in the market in growth (volume and value) across categories continues, and though input costs have been firm, there has been a sharp rise in cost of PFAD, while at the same time competitive intensity has remained high. The company says that its Q4-2014 domestic business has increased by 9 per cent with a 4 per cent underlying volume growth that is far ahead of the market. It says that its soaps and detergents business grew by 9 per cent, personal products and beverages grew by 8 per cent each and packaged foods by 13 per cent during the quarter.

    Here is what the company has to say about various categories.

    Soaps and Detergents: Healthy performance

    Skin Cleansing delivered double digit growth, aided by a step up in price growth as judicious pricing actions were taken to manage input cost inflation. Growth was broad based across brands with the liquids portfolio seeing accelerated growth.

    In laundry, growth was led by the premium segment with Surf maintaining its double digit growth momentum and Rin delivering good growth on the bars portfolio. Wheel growth stepped up on the back of its re-launch in the last quarter. Comfort Fabric Conditioners continue to lead market development with sustained high growth. Vim led the performance in Household Care.

    Personal Products: Growth in a challenging environment

    Skin Care grew well in a soft market. The re-launch of Fair & Lovely, with the new ‘Best Ever Formula’ and supported by a focused activation plan, is yielding positive results. Ponds had a good quarter at the premium end while Lakme and Dove sustained their robust performance. The Facial Cleansing portfolio registered broad based growth driven by innovations launched in previous quarters.

    Hair Care sustained volume led double digit growth with Dove delivering another strong performance and Clinic Plus doing well. TRESemmé, which saw the addition of a new Split Remedy variant, continued to make very good progress.

    In Oral Care, significant investments were made to sustain our competitiveness in the category. While Close Up grew in the quarter, Pepsodent was impacted by the high promotional intensity in the market. Actions are underway to step up performance.

    Colour Cosmetics maintained its strong innovation led growth momentum across both Lakme and Elle 18. Lakme continues to strengthen its position in premium make up driven by a range of exciting and contemporary offerings.

    Beverages: Growth led by Tea

    Tea sustained double digit growth on the back of stepped up volumes. Taj Mahal, Red Label and 3 Roses grew in double digits, driven by a strengthened mix and focused in-market activities. The thrust on leading market development for tea bags saw flavoured and green tea bags more than double sales in the quarter. In Coffee, Bru Gold continued to perform well.

    Packaged Foods: Strong performance by Kissan, Kwality Walls and Magnum

    Kissan registered another robust quarter with growth accelerating on both Ketchups and Jams, driven by impactful activation while Knorr growth continued to be led by Instant Soups which more than doubled volumes. Ice creams saw strong growth arising from the selling in of Magnum which was extended to four other cities, and sharper in-market execution on Kwality Walls, ahead of the season.