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Tag: Thomas Cook

  • Shop CJ eyes Rs 1200 crore sales in 2016; ties-up with Thomas Cook

    Shop CJ eyes Rs 1200 crore sales in 2016; ties-up with Thomas Cook

    MUMBAI: Home shopping network Shop CJ, which has inked a marketing alliance with travel services company Thomas Cook, is eyeing turnover of Rs 1200 crore in FY 2016, which is a growth of almost 40 per cent.

     

    Speaking to Indiantelevision.com, Shop CJ Network CEO Kenny Shin says, “We are poised to cross Rs 1200 crore turnover this year, recording a 40 per cent growth over sales of Rs 850 crore achieved in the last fiscal ended 31 December, 2014. Our channel reaches to more than 6.5 crore households in India and currently caters to about 40 per cent of the market.”

     

    Through the marketing initiative undertaken by Shop CJ and Thomas Cook, the companies will showcase their ‘Holiday Savings Account.’

     

    Earlier this year, the shopping network rebranded itself as Shop CJ from Star CJ Alive, which marked the conclusion of the treaty between CJ and Star. The transition has been smooth sans any glitches according to Shin. 

     

    “The transition has happened smoothly without any breakdown and we have continued our growth journey. We knew from the beginning that we have the strength to establish ourselves and I am happy to say that we are way ahead of where we were,” he informs.

     

    Star CJ is planning to expand its base with multiple developments in various regions of the country. “Before the end of the financial year 2016, we plan to have our warehouse ready in eastern and southern provinces of the country. In the east, we are looking at Kolkata, which will help us deliver efficiently in the Northeastern states, while for the south we are yet to shortlist a place,” Shin says.

     

    Not ruling out possible tie ups with established e-commerce ventures like Amazon.in, Flipkart etc, he however says, “In the future, we may go in that direction if we feel the need but at the moment, there are no such plans.”

     

    Speaking about the tie-up with Star CJ, Thomas Cook (India) chief innovation officer & head – marketing and service quality Abraham Alapatt says, “Our Holiday Savings Account is a truly innovative product that allows customers to save, earn and travel! Its unique concept allows customers to save via 12 easy instalments while earning an attractive interest (via our Bank Partners Indus Ind, ICICI and Kotak Bank), with further benefits of a Thomas Cook top up on the 13th month and a zero exit penalty. Indeed a significant consumer empowering tool.”

     

    Elaborating on the marketing association, he adds, “Our tie up with Shop CJ gives us access to its extensive network of high potential yet under leveraged travel hungry middle India. Our innovative Holiday Savings Account, is ideally suited to the informative format of Shop CJ’s electronic and online shopping platforms, ensuring visibility-reach, as also the personal touch of our Toll Free number for details and assisted transactions.”

     

    “The home-shopping industry is growing rapidly in India and Shop CJ is expanding its market share by entering into a new segment to create a unique shopping experience for its consumers. Shop CJ, with a footprint of 75 million households will create great value for its consumers with Thomas Cook India’s unique and affordable Holiday Savings Account range of holidays. Travel is seeing impressive demand from Indian consumers and we bring to this partnership an audience, which is yet untapped by organized players in the Travel & Tourism industry,” Shin concludes.

  • FY-2015: Sterling Holiday Resorts Sales Promo spend up 4.1%

    FY-2015: Sterling Holiday Resorts Sales Promo spend up 4.1%

    BENGALURU: Sterling Holiday Resorts (India) Limited (Sterling Holidays) reported Sales Promotion spend (Sales Promo) in FY-2015 (year ended 31 March, 2015) at Rs 17.16 crore (10.2 per cent of net sales), which was 4.1 per cent more than the Rs 16.48 crore (12.5 per cent of nets sales) in the previous year. Sales Promo spends in Q4-2015 (quarter ended 31 March, 2015) at Rs 5.71 crore (13.6 per cent of net sales) was more than double (2.6 times) the Rs 2.19 crore (eight per cent of net sales) in Q4-2014 and 26.9 per cent more than the Rs 4.5 crore (9.8 per cent of net sales) in the immediate trailing quarter.

    Note: 100,00,000 = 100 lakh = 10 million = 1 crore

    Please refer to Fig 1 below. During the 13 quarter period starting Q4-2012 until the current quarter, sales promo spends show a linear increasing trend in terms of absolute rupees as is indicated by the broken maroon trend line. However, in terms of percentage of net sales, the linear trend is reducing, as demonstrated by the broken green trend line. The company’s highest sales promo spends in terms of absolute rupees , whilas in the current quarter in terms of percentage of net sales was it in Q2-2013 at 21.7 per cent (Rs 5.10 crore) of net sales.

    Sterling Holidays net sales in FY-2015 at Rs 168.05 crore was 27.4 per cent more than the Rs 131.89 crore in FY-2014. The company’s net sales in Q4-2015 at Rs 42.1 crore was 13.4 per cent more than the Rs 37.11 crore in the corresponding year ago quarter, but was 7.8 per cent lower than the Rs 45.67 crore in Q3-2015. The company’s net sales show a linear increasing trend during the period under consideration as indicated by the black broken trend line. 

    Until the current financial year, Sterling Holidays has in general been a loss making company. Please refer to Fig 2 above. However, for FY-2015, the company has reported a profit after tax (PAT) of Rs 0.52 crore (0.3 per cent of net sales) as compared to a loss of Rs 21.29 crore in the previous year. For Q4-2015, the company has reported PAT of Rs 2.35 crore (5.6 per cent of net sales) as compared to a loss of Rs 5.78 crore in Q4-2014 and a PAT of Rs 0.82 crore (1.8 per cent of nets sales) in Q3-2015.

    Sterling Holidays managing director Ramesh Ramanathan said, “FY-2015 performance speaks for itself. As should the year-on-year improved performance metrics over the last 3 to 4 years. We have begun FY-2016 with a strong, confident note by opening four new resorts in one go at Corbett, Daman, Shirdi and Dindi. Sterling is now in a position to offer varying holiday experiences – from hillside to riverside to spiritual beach and wildlife in 24 resorts across India.”

    With effect from 3 September, 2014, Sterling Holidays has become a wholly owned subsidiary of Thomas Cook Insurances Services (India) Limited – (TCISL). As at 31 December, 2015, Thomas Cook (India) Limited through its subsidiaries hold 55.07 per cent of the equity shareholding of the company.

  • Global Advertisers says ‘Hola!’ for Thomas Cook in Mumbai

    Global Advertisers says ‘Hola!’ for Thomas Cook in Mumbai

    MUMBAI: Global Advertisers, Mumbai’s outdoor media giant has launched a massive campaign for Thomas Cook’s innovative push for Mexico Tourism. It focuses on the country’s Spanish heritage as well as its Incan roots. Moreover, the campaign aims to attract Indian tourists who are making international trips in rising numbers year after year.

     

    With the Thomas and Cook campaign, Global Advertisers adds yet another prestigious brand to its fast expanding kitty. Global is the largest owner of premium hoarding sites in the Mumbai Metropolitan Region with associates and partners across India.

     

    The campaign rolled out in cities like Mumbai and Delhi started from 8 December and ran till 22 December. In Mumbai it focused on areas like Marine Drive, Bandra, Dadar, Mahim, Kandivali, Andheri, Juhu, Sion and Vile Parle.

     

    Global Advertisers MD Sanjeev Gupta stated that the initial reports were very encouraging. He believed that Indians are familiar with Mexican food, music, dance and culture and a rising number of Indians speak Spanish. “We choose some of the best sites in Mumbai for the campaign. These are neighbourhoods that have substantial populations of international travellers who like to explore the world. The team did a great job with the site selection, the planning and the execution. The buzz is fantastic. I thank the client and my entire team for pulling this off.”

  • “Not international but Indian production houses get sentiments right”

    “Not international but Indian production houses get sentiments right”

    MUMBAI: The recent video of Alia Bhatt uploaded by comedy collective All India Bakchod (AIB) ‘Genius of the Year’ once again brought out the power of digital to the forefront.

    Today, brands are increasing their marketing spends on the medium as they create interesting videos to connect with the audiences. And thanks to this, a number of independent production houses have mushroomed which specialise in telling a story.

    One such production house is the The Square Peg Films (TSPF), started by Pooja Mishra and Praveen Sharma in late 2013. Like a picture says a thousand words, the videos say a lot more, with this thought on their minds the two began freelancing as a form of preparation and a diploma course and made a few other films as well. They did all this for around 3-4 years before taking the plunge.

    Mishra and Sharma were working with digital agencies before they came together to explore their skills as they became part of various projects to give them the much needed push and confidence. Beyond the personal ambitions and interest of venturing into videos, they also noticed a gap in the market, which was created owing to lack of smart and a little more involved production houses that make process of video production easier and not otherwise.

    So what separates them from the others? “We are not just a production house that helps brands or agencies execute their ideas in terms of videos, but also a video production agency that has the capability to pick up briefs, understand the marketing objectives behind them, conceptualise ideas and then bring them to life. This is the reason why our clientele has a good mix of both brands and agencies,” both say unanimously while stating that a few of their work like the TVC for Rediff.com or a corporate video with Thomas Cook, has been with brands directly.

    Another thing that sets them apart is their range of work, so they claim. “Mostly, there are two categories of production houses, ones that do TVCs, and the others that are into corporate films and animation. We do it all,” says Sharma. In the past 11 months of their operation they have done a TVC, plenty of animation videos and international assignments as well.

    Click here to watch the video

    At present, there are 12 people working with the production house on a full-time basis, while there are a few others that work with it on project basis primarily on pre and post production stages.

    “Though we serve as end-to-end video solution providers, in our opinion, our strength is in pre-production, which includes conceptualisation and scripting. Further, our background and instincts give us an edge over others when it comes to shoot based content,” says Mishra.

    The clientele includes Puma, MTS India, Oakley India, Aegis Global, Thomas Cook, Lipton Ice Tea, Sab, Kokuyo Camlin, Rediff.com, and many more. The production house reaches out to brands and their past work talks for itself. “A couple of good projects to show got us more work in return,” highlights Mishra.

    When asked if international production houses form any threat to Indian houses, Sharma says, “There are different kind of videos, a few of them are high on technicality others on sentiment. International production houses might be becoming a preferred option when it comes to videos high on visual effects and other technical details, but when it comes to getting the sentiments right, there is no replacement for the Indian counterparts.”

  • Musafir.com appoints Vijay Kesavan as CEO India Operations

    Musafir.com appoints Vijay Kesavan as CEO India Operations

    MUMBAI: Last year, the Indian hospitality industry welcomed one more entrant – Musafir.com – and it is all ready to face the fast–growing Indian online travel agency (OTA) market by strengthening its team.

     

    The online portal has appointed Vijay Kesavan as the new CEO for its Indian operations. In this new role, Kesavan will be responsible for driving Musafir.com’s business strategy which is aimed at capturing the brand’s position among the top five OTAs in India.

     

    Oh his new role, Kesavan said, “With the ever increasing demand in Travel and Tourism Industry, India offers tremendous business opportunities for a new brand like Musafir.com. Having proved its credibility in the UAE, Musafir has already made an impact in the Indian segment. I look forward to the new challenges and great experiences that the brand has to offer.”

     

    Prior to this, Kesavan ran operations for Thomas Cook as the senior vice-president and head of online sales and distribution. He comes with extensive experience in the travel industry having worked across the sector with akbartravelsonline.com and Indigo Airlines. He has in-depth knowledge of the e-commerce industry having started his career with the Interglobe Technology Quotient.

     

    Commenting on the announcement, Musafir.com MD Sachin Gadoya said, “We are delighted to welcome Vijay to Musafir.com, he has a wealth of experience in the travel and tourism sector, which will greatly benefit the organisation.  Being a young and innovative brand, we aspire to be among the top 5 OTAs in India by 2018. To achieve this ambitious goal, we continue to add talent and expertise to the organisation. Vijay’s appointment is an example of the high calibre team we continue to build. We are positive that his rich pool of knowledge would contribute towards strengthening our base and accelerating growth in India.”

  • Permission-based Email Marketing takes off in India

    Permission-based Email Marketing takes off in India

    MUMBAI: Today, organisations are keen to use leading-edge technologies to engage with their customers, and improvements in permission-based Email Marketing continues to play a significant role in the always-on, interconnected world we inhabit.

    CheetahMail, Experian’s permission-based email marketing platform, has always enabled brands to connect with their customers via precise, targeted messages and promotions. Experian Marketing Services (India) has now signed up with Thomas Cook (India), Cox & Kings, Ezeego, Star CJ and BabyOye, and will partner with these prestigious brands to help them engage with their audience through advanced Email Marketing strategies. Experian CheetahMail’s access to a global roster of clients, working across industry segments and verticals, empowers its clientele to design and deploy highly effective Email Marketing programs and deliver Return on Investment (ROI).

    On securing these new signups Mr. Naveen Bachwani, Head of Experian Marketing Services, said: “Experian CheetahMail is pleased to partner with Thomas Cook, Cox & Kings, Ezeego,Star CJ and BabyOye to help improve the effectiveness of their digital marketing programs. The objective of every marketing campaign is to get the right message delivered to the right consumer at the right time.  At Experian, our team of highly experienced professionals enables customers to adapt their marketing strategies to suit their customers’ needs and preferences and follow an appropriate segmentation approach. This approach helps them improve engagement with their customers, ultimately, resulting in better returns on their marketing activities.

    According to Farshid S. Master, General Manager – E business, Thomas Cook (India) Ltd, “Experian Cheetah mail is a very professional email marketing solution provider. The team at Experian is knowledgeable, customer friendly and provides us with the best practices followed in the industry. It’s been a great experience to partner with them and we hope to have a long lasting relationship with Experian.”

    Donald Kwag – Head of Marketing, STAR CJ commented, “We are very happy to have been associated with Experian as it has changed our thought process and way of doing email marketing. Their prompt response and fast resolutions for all issues /concerns raised is one of their USP’s. Their creativity and zeal to try and execute new things on email marketing is what we like best. With them we are seeing our best numbers in terms of open rate, Click Through Rate’s (CTR) and conversions.”

  • Aegis makes four acquisitions in 2 months

    MUMBAI: UK-based Aegis Group, which would be part of Dentsu Group after approvals, made four acquisitions in the past two months, three of which are in Europe and one in Japan.

    Aegis took over performance and search agency Netsociety which has operations in the Netherlands and Belgium. It also took over mobile agency IQ mobile in Austria, performance marketing and search agency Hablar in Japan and experiential marketing agency Irokeesi in Finland.

    Established in 2007, Netsociety has offices in Amsterdam and Brussels and is a specialist performance marketing agency whose focus is on search marketing and digital performance. It has a diverse client base including Thomas Cook, ING, ABN AMRO and KLM.

    The combination of Netsociety and iProspect will form a leading performance marketing agency in the Netherlands. Netsociety’s expertise and client base strengthens Aegis Media’s market position and is expected to generate the benefits of greater scale in the Netherlands and Belgium.

    IQ mobile was started in 2006 and has since then established itself as a pioneer in the region and led the way in the development of apps, mobile media portals, mobile ad-server and tracking tools as well as messaging solutions. IQ mobile now provides mobile services, technologies and creative solutions in the D-A-CH region as well as Eastern Europe.

    Hablar is headquartered in the capital city of Tokyo. It is a specialist performance marketing agency with focus on search marketing and digital performance media. Established in 2003, it has forged a long partnership with Aegis Media in Japan.

    Aegis Media Japan comprises in search and performance marketing iProspect, media communications specialist Carat, media ROI and communications planning consultancy Vizeum and digital communications agency Isobar. Hablar will be merged into iProspect Japan’s existing operations, strengthening its capabilities and providing additional service for its clients.

    Irokeesi initiates and develops experiential concepts to support its clients’ marketing and public relations campaigns. The agency services its clients in the areas of in-store promotion, event and festival management, street team activation, sampling and business-to-business promotion. Since its establishment in 2006, it has built up a strong client including Kelloggs, Mercedes Benz, Lego, Coca-Cola, L’Oreal, Nestle and Arla Foods, some of whom are already clients of Aegis Media in Finland.

    Irokeesi will significantly strengthen Posterscope Finland’s operations, bolstering Aegis Media’s product portfolio in that market by providing clients with a new service offering in the exciting and fast-growing area of experiential marketing.