ITV

Tag: Mars

  • Mars appoints Nitin Guleria as head of media to lead global strategy

    Mars appoints Nitin Guleria as head of media to lead global strategy

    MUMBAI: Mars has announced the appointment of Nitin Guleria as its new Head of Media, effective September 2025.

    With more than 15 years of experience across global media, marketing, and communications, Guleria brings a wealth of expertise to the role. He joins Mars from Samsung Electronics, where he served as deputy general manager for over seven years, leading media and marketing initiatives across mobile and consumer electronics.

    Prior to Samsung, Guleria held leadership positions at Groupm’s Essence, where he directed cross-media planning for Google’s hardware division, and at Interpublic Group’s Cadreon, specialising in programmatic media strategy. He began his career with Optimise Media Group and Shoogloo, gaining early experience in business development, client servicing, and performance-driven marketing.

    At Mars, Guleria is expected to strengthen the company’s media strategy, drive integrated communications, and deliver impactful consumer engagement across key markets.

  • Mars cosmetics names Anmol Sahai Mathur as vp marketing for brand push

    Mars cosmetics names Anmol Sahai Mathur as vp marketing for brand push

    MUMBAI: Mars is reaching for the stars in beauty. The fast-growing Indian cosmetics brand has appointed Anmol Sahai Mathur as its new vice president of marketing, signalling its intent to move from challenger to household name.

    A seasoned marketer with more than a decade of experience, Mathur has built a career at the crossroads of digital storytelling, influencer partnerships and brand strategy. He has worked with platforms such as Triller and Eloelo, and most recently led digital marketing at the open network for digital commerce (ondc).

    Speaking on his appointment, Mathur said, “Mars has always stood out with its bold, inclusive approach to beauty. I look forward to creating campaigns that mirror the spirit of our consumers and strengthen the brand’s position as a go-to choice across India.”

    Having worked with Mars before, Mathur is no stranger to the brand’s core ethos of affordability, innovation and quality. His return, according to the company, is about deepening consumer bonds and driving digital-first growth.

    Mars cosmetics, business administrator, Rishabh Sethia said, “With Anmol’s deep understanding of our brand and his digital expertise, we are confident he will lead the next phase of growth and help us connect even more meaningfully with consumers.”

    In his new role, Mathur will focus on sharpening brand identity, building out Mar’s digital presence and crafting emotionally resonant campaigns under the company’s “make-up for everyone” vision.
     

  • Zepto ATOM gets personal with brands through powerful persona play

    Zepto ATOM gets personal with brands through powerful persona play

     MUMBAI: Guess who’s checking you out before you even check out? Zepto is flipping the quick commerce script with a powerful new upgrade to its brand intelligence platform, Zepto ATOM. The latest feature, ‘Consumer Persona’, promises to make your data talk and it’s fluent in insights, psychographics, and pin code-level purchase patterns.

    Think of it as a personal shopper for brands only smarter, faster, and built with data science. Whether it’s figuring out why someone didn’t add that chocolate bar to cart, when they’ll most likely return for dog food, or how diet preferences shift across Delhi vs. Dadar, Zepto’s persona engine has the answers.

    “From multi-agency guesswork to real-time decision-making, this changes the game,” said Zepto chief business officer Devender Meel. “Brands can now engage with AI-powered personas, test messaging live, and optimise their campaigns in the moment.”

    Zepto ATOM’s suite now includes:

    ●    Chat with Synthesised Personas: Marketers can interact with AI avatars that mimic real customers to pressure-test ideas and pricing.

    ●    Hyperlocal Campaign Launcher: Roll out ads based on city-level psychographics or cart behaviour in minutes.

    ●    Upcoming features: Run city-specific surveys and tap into fresh audiences via sampling campaigns.

    Zepto assures that all of this remains privacy-safe no personally identifiable information (PII) is involved. Insights are anonymised, yet razor-sharp.

    More than 100 brands, including Tata Consumer Products, Mars, Henkel, The Whole Truth, Sid’s Farm, and Bagrry’s, are already aboard. Since launch in May 2025, Zepto ATOM has logged 40,000 plus usage hours, with over 1,500 brands participating in trial phases.

    “Zepto GPT and pin code-level Geo insights have helped us pivot strategies at lightning speed,” said Shriram from Tata Consumer Products. Mensa Brands’ Ananth Narayan added, “It’s like having a crystal ball for e-commerce, but better because it’s data.”

    As the quick commerce race heats up, Zepto’s making sure brands don’t just keep up, they get ahead, one consumer insight at a time.

  • Brand new day as Epic Brand Map goes global with India as launchpad

    Brand new day as Epic Brand Map goes global with India as launchpad

     MUMBAI: What’s in a brand? Quite a lot, if you ask the folks at the newly minted Epic Brand Institute. The Epic Brand Institute (EBI) has officially stepped onto the global stage with the public launch of its flagship framework the Epic Brand Map (EBM), a system designed to bring Evocativeness, Precision, Insight and Clarity (yes, that’s EPIC) to the chaotic world of brand-building.

    Already battle-tested by corporate heavyweights like the Tata Group, Aditya Birla Group, Reliance, Mahindra, HCL, and international giants like Coca-cola, Medtronic, Sun Life Financial, Mars, Walmart and Nokia, the framework is finally being made available to the wider world of founders, marketers, consultants and creatives.

    Created by global brand strategist Saurabh Uboweja, also the founder of BOD Consulting, the EBM will now form the core of EBI’s in-person training cohorts. The first will be hosted in New Delhi from 9–11 June 2025 at the India Habitat Centre, and a second will follow in Dubai from 19–21 September 2025.

    “We’re launching not just a course, but a global movement,” said Uboweja. “After years of working behind the scenes with some of the biggest names in business, we’re now opening the EPIC Brand Map to a new generation of brand-led business builders.”

    The inaugural Delhi edition will be an intimate affair, limited to 30 handpicked founders and practitioners looking to sharpen their brand-building acumen. Dubai, meanwhile, is set to attract a mix of Middle East and South Asian brand professionals hoping to join the ranks of EPIC strategists.

    With storytelling getting louder, attention spans shrinking, and differentiation harder than ever, EBI’s pitch is simple stop winging it and start mapping it. The message is clear: if your brand strategy feels like a game of darts in the dark, it might be time to go EPIC.

  • Poulomi Saha Joins Havas Media Network India as associate vice president

    Poulomi Saha Joins Havas Media Network India as associate vice president

    MUMBAI: Poulomi Saha has been appointed associate vice president at Havas Media Network India. She has over 13 years of experience in marketing, media strategy, and integrated communication planning, 

    Prior to this role, she served as deputy general manager at Madison World, overseeing media operations for Max Life. Her professional journey also includes roles such as director at Publicis Groupe and associate business director at Mediacom, where she led media strategies for major brands including Mars, Subway, and Adidas.

    Saha has previously held leadership positions at Zenith, Mindshare, and Madison World, managing high-profile accounts such as LVMH, Swarovski, H&M, and ITC.

    She holds a professional diploma in digital marketing from SVKM’s Narsee Monjee Institute of Management Studies (NMIMS) and a postgraduate degree in marketing from the International School of Business & Media.

  • THE NEW SEASON OF NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC’s MARS SHOWCASES HOW MANKIND WILL LIVE ON THE RED PLANET

    THE NEW SEASON OF NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC’s MARS SHOWCASES HOW MANKIND WILL LIVE ON THE RED PLANET

    MUMBAI: The prospect of mankind living on the Red Planet has never been more palpable. The idea once considered science fiction, but today, the future is definitely red for all of us.  

    Season 2 of National Geographic’s acclaimed series MARS – dubbed impressive, inspiring and scientifically honest by critics – returns with a six-episode arc continuing in last season’s unique hybrid format: alternating scripted and documentary sequences to predict what life will be like on the Red Planet forecasted by what’s happening today on Earth. National Geographic partners again with Brian Grazer and Ron Howard to envision what might happen when Earthlings become the planet’s first Martians. The new season premieres on National Geographic & Hotstar on 17th November.

    The first season of the series showcased how mankind will survive one of its greatest adventure -the journey to another planet. Backed by the research and technology available as of today, space pioneers showcased how the journey to Mars will unfold. The new season, picks up after this background, and highlights the actual problems humans will face as they try to survive on a completely new planet. It highlights a very important question – when becoming interplanetary, are humans doomed to repeat the same mistakes they made on Earth?

    On the scripted front, the series tackles seemingly everyday occurrences – pregnancy, break ups, new romances, epidemics, breakdowns, power outages, injuries, exercise, mealtimes and socializing. But when they occur approximately 54.7 million isolated kilometres from Earth –  where there is no escape – they are anything but ordinary.

    On the documentary front, present-day vignettes draw parallels to the future happenings on Mars by looking at some of the dire issues facing Earth’s last frontier – the Arctic. This includes a spectrum of events that currently are compromising life on Earth – and could plague us in the future as we become an interplanetary species: drilling, glacial melting, rising sea level and indigenous health epidemics which surface when the permafrost melts.

    The experts once again navigate the audience through the struggles and opportunities awaiting humans on Mars. This elite group includes some of the biggest names in human exploration, technology, the environment and social science, such as Elon Musk, SpaceX CEO; Ellen Stofan, former NASA Chief; Michio Kaku, theoretical physicist and futurist; Casey Dreier, director of space policy at the Planetary Society; Antonia Juhasz, leading oil and energy expert; and Naomi Klein, bestselling author, activist and award-winning journalist on climate change.

    “In MARS, everything as simple as the quotidian, like personal hygiene and meals, requires greater effort and is exponentially more difficult in this foreign frontier of limited resources where new rules are often written on the fly,” says Stephen Petranek, MARS’ co-executive producer, scientific advisor and award-winning author of How We'll Live on Mars. “Leaving Earth insures long-term human survival, and we have the technology and spirit to get there, but what will it actually take to live there? MARS is a six-to-nine month trip one way…so before we get there, we better make sure we can permanently make it our own.”

  • MS Dhoni becomes a drama king in Snickers’ latest ad

    MS Dhoni becomes a drama king in Snickers’ latest ad

    MUMBAI: Mars Wrigley Confectionery, the company behind Snickers bars, known for its quirky, tongue-in-cheek personality has found a partner in the charming and dynamic cricket icon, MS Dhoni. He is the new brand ambassador.

    Since its launch in India, the filled chocolate bar has established itself as a solution to hunger cravings and has developed a strong base of loyal consumers. As the cricketer gets set to join the Snickers family, fans will get a chance to see a side of him that has so far remained undiscovered, that of a Drama King.

    Conceptualised by creative agency RK SWAMY BBDO, the TVC captures a humorous locker room conversation between captain cool and his team. MS Dhoni is seen in a completely new avatar, dressed as a warrior. Channeling his inner king, in full gusto, he calls upon his teammates to take a pledge to beat the opposing team. This uncharacteristic tirade is finally brought to an end when one of the players reasons that hunger makes even captain cool lose his cool and offers him a bar of Snickers to satiate his hunger.

    The new TVC gives a new spin to MS Dhoni’s otherwise calm personality and successfully reiterates that ‘hunger ache achhon ko badal deta’ and India’s favorite cricketer is no exception!

    Talking about the association, Mars Wrigley Confectionery marketing director Yogesh Tewari says, “We are honoured to have MS Dhoni join the Snickers family and with this association, we are beginning the next chapter of our journey in India and strengthening our relevance amongst Indian consumers.”

    Cricketer MS Dhoni adds, “I am extremely excited to be associated with the brand. It breaks away from the monotony and resonates with the quirk in everybody. It has the capability to curate emotions that redefine one’s personality the best. It has always been one of my favourites not only because of its delicious taste, but also because it is a perfect solution to hunger pangs.”

    The campaign that went live on 5 March on television, will be supported by an extensive 360-degree marketing approach including digital, in-store and OOH.

  • Hershey’s eyes India; to invest $50M in 5 years

    Hershey’s eyes India; to invest $50M in 5 years

    MUMBAI: The confectionary industry has emerged as one of the largest and well-developed food processing sectors of India. With international companies coming in and a stiff competition within Indian players to create a space for themselves, it is at an interesting juncture.

    Amidst all this, US confectionary giant The Hershey Co has announced that it will invest $50 million in India over the next five years to focus on growing and expanding their presence in India. “India is one of our key International focus markets and we are investing to build this important business,” says Hershey India chairman and managing director Praveen Jakate.

    India has emerged as the fastest growing market for the company, according to its recently announced its Q3 2017 global earnings and revenue. Hershey India recorded a strong double digit constant currency net sales growth, according to a statement from the company. As per the company’s Q3 2017 results, the constant currency net sales for Brazil in the third quarter increased by 3.3 per cent, while Mexico registered a net sales increased by 10 per cent. India outnumbered and recorded a net sales and growth of 16 per cent.

    Hershey’s sells 11 brand in India, including Hershey’s chocolate syrup, milkshake and chocolate almond spreads, along with Sofit soya milk and Jumpin juice, which it acquired from an erstwhile joint venture with Godrej Industries.

    The company plans to focus most of its investments now in brands owned by The Hershey Co. rather than in those brought from the joint venture, Jakate.

    “Our transition of the Indian portfolio is enabling a higher margin business, and we are on track to expand gross margins here by 1,000 basis points in 2017,” says Hershey chief financial officer Patricia A Little.

    In India, Hershey faces competition in the chocolate confectionary market from Mondelez, Mars, Snickers and Nestle.

    Market research firm Euromonitor expects the Indian market to grow at an 8 per cent compounded annual growth rate to be worth Rs16,000 crore by 2021.

  • The arrival of the six-second TV spot, will India take to it?

    MUMBAI: For advertisers and brand managers, is this the shape of things to come?  Come 13 August 2017 and the US-based Fox Networks group is slated to launch a new concept in product promotion and TV commercial on live television: that of the six second spot, a first for the broadcast television industry.

    The spots are slated to be aired during the Teen Choice 2017 show between 8 to 10 pm (5:30 am to 7:30 am IST) on television as well as in on-demand streams. The first two brands to jump on to this new unit of advertising are Duracell and Mars.  Fox will simultaneously be running six second promos for its TV shows as well.

    While Mars will be running six second TVCs for  its Snickers and Twix brands during the Teen Choice Awards, Duracell will be pushing its batteries.

    The six second spot is another unit of pod of advertising that is being tested in television advertising but it owes its existence to Youtube which pioneered the format.

    Both  Mars and Duracell are excited because  youth today are preferring shorter ad lengths. The expectation is that channel zapping will go down during the ad breaks.

    The six-second spot will also offer them innovative ways of telling their stories and brand messages while helping them drive value in their media investments. Both are hoping that the new ad format could play a bigger role in their creative asset mix going forward.

    In India, the broadcasting, media and brand fraternity have been quite used to the three or five second tag-ons  for sponsor boards which come at the end of every programme segment  (or leading  into another segment) leading to a commercial break or coming into another segment. But, in most cases media agencies do not create special shorter format commercials specifically for the tag-on spots; they just clip the regular 10-30 second ad to three to five seconds and air it.

    Of course, the Indian advertising industry has experimented with long format commercials for a minute to three and a half minutes (remember Tata Sky’s Prison break commercial), but the regular unit has been between 10-40 seconds.

    Internationally, the longest ever commercial ran for  13 hours five minutes and 11 seconds  and promoted Arby’s Smokehouse Brisket sandwich. It was aired on a local TV network in Minnesota US from 24-25 May 2014. The commercial consisted largely of a single shot of a raw beef brisket being smoked over the course of 13 hours. At the conclusion of the smoking process, the cooked brisket was removed from the smoker, and a chef used the brisket to make a sandwich, according to the Guinness Book of World Records.

    We have no idea how many watched the Arby’s ultra long spot, but its quite likely viewers did dip in and out over the 13 hours plus to see if their favourite TV shows were back on the telly. Arby’s claimed that almost 350,000 people tuned in with an average viewing time of 38 minutes.

    And another commercial by Cycle and Carriage after sales service,Singapore ran on Youtube for 24 hours.

    So, will Indian advertisers and agencies also experiment with the six second spot? They have already been dabbling in branded native content and advertiser funded programmes on TV as well as special videos of varying duration for social media platforms.

    A few brands may take the six second tip and go for it. As well as some broadcasters. Especially those that target the youth – most of whom suffer from an attention deficit disorder and zap channels with determination during ad breaks.

    The benefits are many: for broadcasters more brands could be accommodated during the commercial breaks, probably getting the them higher sales revenues, as they will be in a position to put two spots in the place of one 15 seconder.  Of course it’s quite possible that audiences will stick to the channel and not run away. Which again could be  win-win for media agencies, broadcasters and brands.

    It’s now over to  India’s  brand custodians and advertisers to take a step forward.

    Also Read:

    Synergy between quality content & branding workable in digital space, feel industry experts

    Global digital platforms adapting locally for BARC’s EKAM

    Brands hop on to pre-IIFA events, Rahman & Sushant join in