Mumbai : Upstox extends its partnership with Tamil Nadu Premier League 2022 as associate partner
Sub: The aim of this year’s partnership is to further strengthen its position in the state.
Tags: Upstox, Tamil Nadu Premier League, Shrini Viswanath, K. Shivakumar, Associate partner, partnership, marketing, advertising
Mumbai: Investment platform Upstox (a.k.a. RKSV Securities) announces its continued association with Tamil Nadu Premier League (TNPL) 2022 for the second year in a row as an Associate Sponsor.
This is the sixth edition of TNPL, which begins with the inaugural match between Chepauk Super Gillies and Nellai Royal Kings on 23 June at 7:15 pm. There are 32 matches (28 league matches and 4 play-off matches) that are going to take place in Tirunelveli, Natham (Dindigul), Coimbatore and Salem from 23 June to 31 July. This time around the league will have six double headers and all the evening matches will start at 7:15 pm.
Upstox added that it recently crossed the one crore customer milestone in India, and Tamil Nadu remains one of its most important markets. Partnering with TNPL it explains has previously helped it increase financial inclusion and awareness in the state of Tamil Nadu. The aim of this year’s partnership is to further strengthen its position in the state, while allowing it to expand its reach into other parts of southern India.
Upstox co-founder Shrini Viswanath said, “We are thrilled to associate with Tamil Nadu Premier League. We seek to strengthen our foothold in Tamil Nadu, foster long-term brand love and loyalty, while making a meaningful difference in the lives of cricket enthusiasts. We believe that our collaboration with TNPL will inspire and encourage the audience to participate in the culture of equity investing.”
Upstox was established in 2009 with the aim of making financial investing simple, equitable, and affordable for all Indian investors. It allows investors and traders to invest in equities, mutual funds, derivatives, and exchange-traded funds (ETFs). Majority of Upstox’s customers in Tamil Nadu hail from Chennai, Coimbatore, Kanchipuram, Tiruvallur and Vellore.
TNPL chairman K. Shivakumar said, “We are delighted to partner with Upstox for the second time as our Associate Partner. This partnership will further boost the financial aspirations of TNPL enthusiasts, as well as encourage them to set a firm foot towards their financial planning to ensure a secure future. We look forward to achieving milestones together.”
Tamil Nadu Cricket Association (TNCA) secretary RS Ramasaamy commented on the partnership, “Our association with Upstox has been fruitful, and the TNPL has helped provide momentum for the brand within Tamil Nadu. We are happy to be continuing our collaboration with the brand for TNPL 2022.”
The matches will be played at two new venues: SNR College Ground, Coimbatore, and Salem Cricket Foundation Ground, Salem, along with the regular venues NPR College, Natham and ICL – Sankar Nagar Ground, Tirunelveli. All the matches will be streamed on Star Sports 1 HD, Star Sports 1 and Star Sports 1 Tamil.
Mumbai: QYOU Media India has announced a partnership with OnePlus, giving OnePlus TV users access to its IP channels – The Q, Q Marathi, The Q Kahaniyan and The Q Comedistaan.
The brand’s channels are available across 70+ smart TVs including Samsung TV Plus, Mi, TCL, Videocon, Haier, LLOYD, MarQ by Flipkart, Sansui, Hyundai, Daiwa, and Croma, among others.
The company’s content is also available on platforms such as Jio, JioTV+, MX Player, Chingari, etc.
“Connected TV platforms as a medium are witnessing explosive growth in India. As a young entertainment brand, making digital-native content available for viewers on linear TV provides us with an opportunity to open doors to millions of viewers and also give our content a place & platform of its own,” QYOU Media India chief operating officer Krishna Menon. “We believe that as a disruptive and differentiated brand, expanding our digital footprints with major Connected TV platforms such as OnePlus TV will further bring us one step closer to becoming a holistic entertainment brand in India.”
“Providing a truly immersive and intelligent smart TV experience to our community, is the central focus of the OnePlus smart TV portfolio,” said OnePlus India CEO and head of India region Navnit Nakra. “We are thrilled to partner with QYOU Media, and this association will provide our community access to unique content curated by digital creators from across the region, further elevating the viewing experience for our users.”
Mumbai: The SaaS marketplace Pepper Content has announced its partnership with Skillshare, an online learning creative community.
The vision behind this association is to empower creators. Together these two platforms aims to help creators upgrade their skill sets and deliver engaging in-depth content.
With the total size of the creator economy estimated to be a little over $100 billion, this partnership will further build credibility for the content ecosystem.
As a content marketplace, Pepper Content skillfully connects organisations with its large database of content creators. To enable this profusely, the partnership will empower content creators with better skills to deliver on-ground impact for brands. Through an AI-enabled platform, Pepper Content helps create unique and custom made content for each organisation. Further to this, their ultimate aim is to empower the passion economy that offers alternative ways of making money, innovative paths towards professional fulfilment, and unprecedented career opportunities.
Under this partnership, Skillshare will provide a special discount coupon code on their annual subscription and scholarship to 10 Pepper Content creators every month. The winners of the scholarship each month will be announced on Pepper Content’s social media. Creators can also explore thousands of hands-on creative classes giving them an opportunity to build on their existing writing skills in an institualised framework from the comforts of their home.
Working on a new way to get content done, Pepper Content is building for the world from India and also looking at entering the US market by end of the year. Currently, about four to five per cent of the company’s revenues come from outside India and the company is looking to expand the creator network and demand-side globally.
On this association Pepper Contenr lead community, events and partnership Pawan Rochwani said, “We are extremely excited to work with a brand like Skillshare that truly understands the power of content. At Pepper Content, our larger mission is to build a virtual content team for any company globally. Creators and brands are at the core of our business and content, our superpower. Therefore, we aim to enable the ambitions of our creators to articulate their creativity and help brands communicate their story to the audience.”
Speaking of this partnership Skillshare India market head Aayur Kaul commented, “The creator economy has seen tremendous growth in the past year and is expected to boom in the coming years. Skillshare, is at the forefront of empowering creators by providing access to learning resources to help them inspire and explore their creative instincts. Our partnership with Pepper Content, is definitely a step taken in the right direction with a mission to enable the next generation of content creators in India.”
Mumbai: SEO company Infidigita has won the SEO mandate for Khatabook, a Bangalore-based SaaS FinTech company. The partnership aims to help Khatabook achieve its marketing objectives via organic channels.
Following this association, Infidigit will work closely with Khatabook to help it expand its organic reach and develop a distinctive identity in the country’s business landscape.
Infidigit is also responsible for delivering organic recommendations to help drive traffic and further strengthen its SEO processes.
Khatabook SEO manager Kiran Kurnool said, “We are partnering with Infidigit to strategise and elevate our brand image. The team identified the key attributes of our SEO and developed a strategy that has a higher chance of becoming a success. Also, we were impressed with the team’s enthusiasm when it came to optimising our site, and I am hopeful that it will help us reach out to the appropriate audience.”
Infidigit founder and MD Kaushal Thakkar, said, “Khatabook is a visionary brand that I know will revolutionise how Indian SMEs manage business finance. We are delighted to collaborate with them to create organic digital growth via the Khatabook website. We will be creating the SEO strategy, roadmap and content assets to make Khatabook’s digital journey even more successful and boost organic growth.”
Mumbai: Tata Communications and Dorna Sports have renewed their multi-year strategic collaboration to bring MotoGP to its fans worldwide. Dorna Sports is the exclusive commercial and television rights holder of the FIM MotoGP World Championship.
Tata Communications media edge services will allow MotoGP to continue to ensure excellent video quality, coupled with tremendous speed, delivering the race live from the track to the viewers’ screens in just a few tenths of a second.
Tata Communications and Dorna teams will also boost migration from an onsite traditional media production to a remote production that will culminate in a future cloud-based model, increasing the number of video signals from 60 to 110 – some in ultra-low latency – providing more content to the viewers, and enabling the innovation of remotely produced immersive sound.
These remote production capabilities, combined with the global video content delivery network, will also enable increased remote broadcasting of live track action, supporting the increased sustainability and long-term environmental objectives of MotoGP and Dorna Sports as both continue to work together on world-leading and world-changing technological solutions.
Tata Communications and Dorna have also been working together to leverage private LTE deployment at race tracks to manage wireless camera feeds in low latency and the highest quality possible, bringing even more incredible content to viewers around the world.
“Tata Communications has been pivotal in enabling us to bring immersive live race action to our millions of fans around the world,” said Dorna Sports chief commercial officer Manel Arroyo. “Together, we’ve pushed the boundaries of innovation in sports broadcasting, increasingly bringing our global fans closer to their favourite sport.”
He further added, “With this renewed collaboration, we trust Tata Communications to help us take the fan experience even further, using cutting edge technology to deliver an incredible experience for fans at home, which is as enthralling as watching the races on tracks.”
“MotoGP represents the best in global motorsports today,” said Tata Communications global head of media and entertainment services Dhaval Ponda. “Fuelled by our deep broadcast experience, video engineering pedigree and passion for technological advancements, we’re proud to extend this relationship to further accelerate the fan experience. Together, we’ll continue to co-create and elevate the viewing experiences for the legions of passionate motorcycle racing fans globally.”
MUMBAI: The sports sponsorship market is booming. Never before has more money been pumped into marketing sporting events, athletes and sports teams- globally as well as in India. According to a recent Nielsen study, sports sponsorships were up by 107 per cent in 2021, even as sponsorships drove an average of 10 per cent lift in purchase intent among the fan base. Today, aided by accelerated digitalisation, sports sponsorship offers brands entirely new opportunities than a few years ago, that’s especially attractive. And when it comes to sporting properties in India, it goes without saying that the Indian Premier League (IPL) is indisputably the mother of them all!
For the second consecutive year DHL Express India, one of the leading players in logistics, parcel delivery, e-commerce shipping and international supply chain management is the principal sponsor and official logistics partner of Mumbai Indians (MI). The deliverables entailed in the partnership are indicative of the brand’s 360-degree approach. While the brand logo can be prominently seen on the back of the players’ jerseys, DHL branding is visible in the player dugout banners, stadium concourse, outdoor, as well as digital and print ads of the MI team and all its official stationery. And that includes the right to present the coin toss in one home match!
As DHL Express (DHLE) India, enters its second year of partnership with Mumbai Indians, IndianTelevision.com had an exclusive interaction with DHLE India VP of sales and marketing Sandeep Juneja to try and understand the background and rationale behind the continued association. Having joined DHLE in 2004, Juneja worked his way up in the organisation, taking on the mantle of VP- sales & marketing in October 2013. He has played a key role in driving the sales and marketing strategies, especially in the new normal.
Juneja also shares insights into the value and ROI that DHLE gained basis the partnership as well as the campaigns it has planned to further leverage the collaboration. Despite its bad run at the IPL this year the MI team remains one of the crowd favourites. The brand recently released its latest ad film featuring the MI players titled ‘DHL #TheTeamBehindTheTeam for Mumbai Indians – 2022.’
Edited excerpts:
On the value/ROI that DHLE gained basis its partnership with Mumbai Indians in 2021
2021 was a bit different for the Indian Premier League. While it started with an in-stadia audience, the second wave of Covid-19 put a halt to the game, moving it to the later part of the year. However, for DHL Express India, it still ended up being a fruitful association with the team. As per Broadcast Audience Research Council (Barc) India data, while the tournament’s reach (live matches on TV) in India was 405 million, matches featuring Mumbai Indians were watched by 306.5 million households. In fact, the buzz on social media around the team also saw an 18 per cent growth over 2020. All this data only strengthens our belief in Mumbai Indians and this partnership. In fact, the presence of DHL’s logo on the back of the jersey positions us as the team behind the team and we have enjoyed great brand visibility with this association.
On the background and rationale behind the long-term partnership with IPL & Mumbai Indians
DHL, globally, over the years, has supported some of the world’s largest and most popular sports formats – from football to rugby, Formula One and even e-sports. Collaborating with prominent events helps brands, such as ours, to generate leads, and build customer loyalty and credibility. Cricket is a game that is well-loved and followed with ardent devotion in India, and many nations across the world. If you talk about the Indian Premier League, it is a festival in this country. The league has been able to successfully bring together sports and entertainment, making it an event for everyone, regardless of age or gender. IPL brings countries together and gets them all on one single platform.
Even within the IPL, it was essential for us to partner with a team that shares similar values. For DHL Express, the partnership with Mumbai Indians demonstrates our support for sports given the shared spirit of speed, passion, teamwork, and a can-do attitude. Mumbai Indians has proved its mettle in the game. If one has to go with pure data, they tick all the boxes: five-time champion, most popular team in IPL, highest social media buzz generator during the game, and many more. Mumbai Indians demonstrates “Excellence: Simply Delivered,” which is in sync with our mission. Therefore, we are glad to be the principal sponsor and official logistics partner for Mumbai Indians for the second consecutive year.
Sports sponsorships, like the one with Mumbai Indians, gives us an opportunity to widen our canvas and expand our target audience. It helps us build brand awareness and equity with not only a more varied target group but also reconnect with our customers and stakeholders through multiple touchpoints, a necessity in a post-pandemic world. Through this partnership, we hope to better connect with our customers and reach out to a wider customer base.
On how does the brand aim to strengthen its bond with its TG through this association
The viewership data for IPL suggests that the tournament cuts across sections, gender, geography and age groups. It is a great platform to reach out to people, primarily in the age group of 25-35, especially from tier I and II cities. This partnership with Mumbai Indians has helped DHL expand its target group and become a household brand. This season, we are looking forward to amplifying our MI partnership through a carefully curated and immersive 360-degree campaign with a focus on digital.
With our various digital activations, we created multiple touchpoints, thus giving us an opportunity to have instant and engaging conversations with our audiences across gender, geography, and age groups. We have introduced an all-new brand film featuring the crowd favourite Mumbai Indians players, to establish ourselves as the team behind the five-time league champions, as well as our customers. In fact, our digital video on #TheTeamBehindTheTeam trended number two in the first hour of it being activated on Twitter. Also, via our several social media fan contests and campaigns like Six for a Cause, DHL Match Ke Stars, the interaction with both the MI players and fans were much more authentic. We were able to tap into a new set of customers and build a greater connection with our existing customers via this crowd favorite game.
On the strategy and activations planned to further leverage this collaboration
With the traditional and digital worlds merging, it is vital for brands to leverage new technology and utilise digital platforms to develop engagement like never before. After a fruitful partnership last year, this season, we aim to amplify the association via a 360-degree marketing approach. Through digital, social, radio, print, and outdoor mediums, we will take our activations to the next level. We have leveraged all these mediums to ensure our visibility on and off the field.
Given that people are stepping out of their homes again, we have focused on outdoor advertising as well. This will include personalised branding on over 50 DHL vans, outdoor ads & radio spots. We are working on creating interactive content to engage with our target audience on social media.
We will also engage with Mumbai Indians fans as well as our current and potential customers via fan contests on social media like ‘DHL Match Ke Stars’ and through our alpha campaign – ‘Six for a Cause.’ The campaign will showcase Mumbai Indians players holding interactive sessions with the blind cricket team. We will also donate Rs 20,000 for every six that a MI player hits during their game. The proceeds of this will go to Samarthanam Trust for the Disabled which supports blind cricketers.
The focus for any brand that wants to build and retain its market position should be put on continuous user engagement, via digital touchpoints such as search engine marketing, snackable digital content, online knowledge sharing and round-the-clock availability of sales executives. We employ a 360-degree marketing mix to build stronger customer relationships. Be it television, radio, online or print, we try to ensure our brand visibility across media channels. We believe in leveraging all these channels throughout the year.
Mumbai: Searching for products and finding the best results on Amazon is a child’s play these days. However, brands often resort to a focused keyword strategy to appear at the top search results on Amazon. Tracking metrics manually is a long-drawn process. Thus, with an aim to streamline and further improve keyword optimisation for Sebamed, WATConsult, an Isobar company and hybrid digital agency from dentsu India has partnered with Quartile, a leading ad technology service provider for the proficient AI software.
WATConsult’s partnership with Quartile has allowed Sebamed to become the first brand in India to use Quartile’s AI-powered platform. This proprietary software has auto-managed media keywords through careful analysis of previous performance and requirements. Thus, manual intervention for best-performing keywords and other metrics is eliminated. This has not only boosted optimisation for Sebamed campaigns but paved the way for the entry of ad types on Amazon, said the statement.
“The e-commerce space is extremely competitive today. Hence, distinguishing your brand on every major marketing channel and maximising returns to fuel sales with cutting edge AI technology is an important yield factor in company performance,” remarked Isobar India Group CEO Heeru Dingra. “It is great to see that Sebamed has achieved phenomenal results through the WATConsult X Quartile partnership.”
Sebamed has seen an increase in its sales monitoring, track performance, and visibility to new target consumers. The brand has also efficiently allocated its advertising spend since partnering WATConsult that resulting in a 15-25 per cent decrease in its Advertising Cost of Sales (ACoS).
“As a brand, we are always pushing ourselves to evolve with the changing times and use the latest technology to deliver our promises,” said Sebamed’s country head Shashi Ranjan. “The partnership with Quartile has allowed us to take a step towards futuristic innovations and given us the confidence to use more such technological advancements for better results.”
“There are rapid advancements in the technological field and as a future-forward organisation, we aim to seamlessly integrate the latest technology with our brands,” stared WATConsult managing partner Sahil Shah. “Quartile’s optimised technology has boosted Sebamed’s sponsored ad campaigns on Amazon. We look forward to leveraging more such advancements in providing the best tech solutions to our brands.”
Mumbai: Tech-based upskilling startup Scaler in collaboration with creative experience agency Isobar has partnered with Marathi content platform Bharatiya Digital Party (Bhadipa) to launch a web series “BE Rojgaar.”
The upcoming web series is an aspirational story of three friends that captures the struggles faced by engineers in India, today. Directed by Sarang Sathaye, the show stars Saie Tamhankar, along with Sambhaji Sasane and Jagdish Kannam.
“The objective of this association is to convey the brand’s value proposition to its niche audience through engaging storytelling, the core focus is to leverage the power of digital media on the back of regional content,” said the statement.
“We have done other small experiments in vernacular language content, and the business & brand outcomes were fantastic. The one-line story of the show is ‘skills over degrees’ built around friendship and employability of engineers, with the quintessential Marathi sass – is right up our alley,” commented Scaler and InterviewBit head of brand and content Ranjeet Kumar. “With ‘BE Rojgaar,’ we want to develop a strong affinity with our Marathi audience and break the degree/certificate hoarding bias when it comes to skilling. We are very confident it will be one of the biggest shows in that market, and our learners will resonate with the theme.”
“Content is always more relatable when it comes packed with cultural nuances and regional flavours. When a brand is seamlessly integrated within that, it is sure to hit the sweet spot and move the needle on business,” remarked Isobar India AVP and head of branded content and partnerships Madhura Ranade. “A great brand experience is elevated when it is encountered in the most comfortable setting, which is being a regional language in this case. This has proven true, time and again and with every new partnership, this belief gets stronger. This time, addressing a key market in Maharashtra and with none other than the team at Bhadipa and a stellar star cast, we are sure to make this a blockbuster in the Marathi-speaking market and beyond.”
Isobar India group CEO Heeru Dingra said “this will be the largest regional content collaboration India has ever seen.” She further added, “Given India’s size and diversity, we have always been hearing that vernacular and regional content is the way to go. However, with most brands, there is a hesitation when it comes to committing to this narrative. We are glad to team up with pan India, addressing a brand like Scaler.”
Mumbai: Fitness technology company GOQii Inc on Tuesday announced that it has raised $10 million in an extended series C equity round of funding from Animoca Brands. GOQii will collaborate with the venture capital company and its ecosystem companies and projects to develop various offerings that leverage blockchain tokens and gamification in preventive healthcare.
GOQii’s metaverse ecosystem will be powered by a virtual token programme, the Token. Consumers will receive the virtual token, which powers the GOQii metaverse ecosystem that incentivises healthy behaviours and gamified fitness actions. These tokens can then be used to unlock products, services, purchase NFTs, participate in special events and game modes, and access curated and discounted health-focused goods, medical services, and insurance products, said the company in a statement.
“We are excited to onboard Animoca Brands to the GOQii journey,” GOQii founder and CEO Vishal Gondal commented. “Animoca Brands is one of the most prestigious names when it comes to gamification and blockchain. Web 3.0 is going to change the way companies interact with consumers. This investment from Animoca Brands and the close partnership will help GOQii bring best-of-class products to consumers and further keep them motivated to #betheforce in their journey of fitness.”
Animoca Brands is a global player in gamification and blockchain with an extensive portfolio of over 170 investments in NFT-related companies and decentralised projects contributing to building the open metaverse.
“Animoca Brands is delighted to invest in GOQii and support its mission to make people healthier,” Animoca Brands executive chairman and co-founder Yat Siu said. “GOQii has built a platform that leverages the power of gamification to make the preventive healthcare journey enjoyable for the masses, and we look forward to leveraging its synergies with OliveX and other companies in our portfolio.”
GOQii recently announced a $50 million series C round which included participation from investors including Sumeru Ventures, Modality (Digality), 9 Unicorns, Venture Catalysts, and others. The funding from Animoca Brands comes in the form of an extended series C fund raise. Its existing investors include Mitsui, funds managed by MegaDelta, DSG Consumer Partners, Galaxy Digital, Denlow Investment Trust, Edelweiss, Cheetah Mobile, and GWC, among others.
Mumbai: Homegrown grooming brand Bombay Shaving Company has signed on as the ‘official grooming partner’ of Mumbai Indians for the upcoming season of Indian Premier League (IPL).
As part of this association, the brand logo will be seen on player helmets, caps and kits right through the two-month carnival of cricket. It will appear at the stadium, on TV, in social media, and across all other Mumbai Indians marketing touchpoints in the city, said the brand in a statement. “The company aims to reach over 300 million men and women across India over the next three months as partners of the T20 Cricket extravaganza 2022,” it added.
“We’re not only immersed in Mumbai Indians, we intend to become an integral part of the lives of the people in Mumbai and the state of Maharashtra,” said Bombay Shaving Company COO Deepak Gupta. “We are planning to expand our distribution to 1,00,000 stores by the end of this year, stock up shelves with some of our best products, and paint the town blue with exciting merchandise, offers and activities for both – customers and partners. We understand the love people of the city have for the team, and we want to be the brand that brings them closer to the team.”
“We have always believed in associating with brands which resonate and support our objective to create the best fan experience,” stated Mumbai Indians’ spokesperson. “Bombay Shaving Company brings a seamless brand and team connect as our partner and we look forward to having a successful collaboration with them in a season where we eagerly await welcoming and entertaining the fans in the stadiums.”
More than anything else, it’s been a meeting of values with the franchise. Beyond the blue, and similarities in name, Mumbai Indians represent the sentiment of the nation – with a wonderful mix of players and faces from every region. As a brand and company built with the intent to bring a smile on faces across India, and help them put their ‘best look forward’, there couldn’t have been a better platform and team to partner with. It’s been the most spontaneous choice,” commented Bombay Shaving Company founder and CEO Shantanu Deshpande.
Earlier this year, the grooming brand made its presence felt in the recently concluded India vs Sri Lanka series. This partnership is set to further propel the brand, according to a statement.
