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  • Podcast consumption on Gaana jumped 40 % YoY in 2021: CMO Shashwat Goswami

    Podcast consumption on Gaana jumped 40 % YoY in 2021: CMO Shashwat Goswami

    Mumbai: If the digital revolution paved the way for the OTT boom, it also provided a fresh impetus to the audio industry to evolve with the changing times. As the habit of consuming content on the go became a lifestyle for people, audio emerged as the most convenient option to keep one entertained and informed without any hassles.

    According to the data released by the UK-based agency MIDia Research, worldwide music streaming subscriptions grew 26.4 per cent in the second quarter of 2021. The total number of subscribers currently stands at 521.3 million – an increase of 109.5 million from the year before.

    The rise of podcasts

    “Not just the musical content, but we saw a massive traction on our non-music content,” said Gaana head of marketing Shaswat Goswami in an exclusive conversation with Indiantelevision.com. Launched in 2010, the Times Internet-owned platform currently has around 180 million active listeners and finds its place among the top three streaming platforms in the country. The platform aspires to double its growth numbers by the end of 2022.

    Discussing the increasing popularity of podcasts, Goswami said, “The overall consumption of podcasts on Gaana increased by ~40 per cent YoY, while we expanded our library to nearly 40K podcasts. This not only includes exclusive Gaana Originals but also a catalogue of national and international podcasts hosted in collaboration with different associations to keep pace with the rising demand.”

    As people’s appetite for screen-free entertainment grew during the pandemic, the demand for podcasts also rose, especially from regional markets which witnessed a jump of 32 per cent in 2021. Podcasts of diverse genres such as music, motivation, stories and devotional ruled the non-music content. 

    Competition heats up, as new players jump in

    Audio streaming has seen a global boom with a host of streaming apps flooding the market during the last few years. India too witnessed a surge in popularity of music apps like Gaana, Spotify, JioSaavn, and Amazon music which stamped their impact on the country’s audio streaming scene.

    Talking about the increasing competition and entry of new players, Goswami said, “Unlike any other industry, we don’t lose a user simply because they have downloaded a new streaming app. Instead of uninstalling one as against the other new one, they usually continue using both apps. This kind of usage is the ‘new normal’ in music streaming – where there will be multiple apps on the phone.”

    More opportunities for diverse, independent artists

    With an increasing appetite for new content, Indians did not shy away from exploring a plethora of independent and diverse artists. The rise of streaming also empowered artists from all backgrounds to build a new fan base around the world and make successful careers in music. Streaming companies also provided the investment and support needed for the talent to thrive and reach a truly global audience.

    “Gaana too worked closely with regional artists like Deepak Medatwal, Rajnish Kaushik, and Abhay Maheshwari,. We also plan to onboard more content creators including independent artists and established names in 2022 by further expanding our partner network and supporting individual podcasters in content creation and broadcasting,” said Goswami.

    The Gaana CMO also expects regional language music and independent music to pick up in the coming months. “We are working with a lot of artists, and are constantly in touch with our label partners, artist partners for collaborations and to understand what support they are looking for on a new release and helping them,” added Goswami, who joined the audio streamer in October 2021 after moving on from grofers.

    Focus on content marketing

    The audio industry heavily relied on content marketing especially digital, along with traditional media like television, print to connect with their customers. Gaana launched most of its campaigns on digital and has been consistently growing its media spend in line with the business.

    The audio platform’s marketing campaigns have also become more and more contextual and tailored to its user interests. The audio streamer has increasingly moved from mass campaigns to more segmented and personalised campaigns on the basis of language, user profile etc, and reported a 48-50 per cent jump in user retention over the last quarter.

    The ambitious vision is to get to a billion users and ensure that it’s current consumer demographic represents the country’s internet penetrated demographic at large. “You cannot have 180 million users and not be representative of the country’s population,” said Goswami. “So be it in terms of language or metro vs non-metro there’s no conscious targeting on the brand’s part. However, we do see a lot of traction coming from the smaller towns, because that’s where the internet expansion is happening.”

    With the battle of audio streaming apps heating up, Gaana CMO said the brand has been going all out to ensure it stays top of mind for its user base, as well as strengthening its main product – the app. “The bulk of our energies and innovations have been on that product- on how we can give our users an experience that’s glitch-free. Having great music content is our foremost priority, along with having a well-performing, quality product that guarantees a great user experience. That’s one major checkmark in Gaana’s favour, which we are constantly working on to better, along with the brand reach and awareness.”

  • #Retrace2021: Influencer-led purchases played a big role in driving growth: SUGAR CEO Vineeta Singh

    #Retrace2021: Influencer-led purchases played a big role in driving growth: SUGAR CEO Vineeta Singh

    An established name in the Indian beauty & personal care market, SUGAR Cosmetics was among the early movers into the D2C (direct-to-consumer) space as a digital-first cosmetic brand. Nurtured by Vineeta Singh, an IIT & IIM graduate who co-founded the beauty startup in the year 2015 along with her husband, the brand today boasts over two million app downloads on iOS and Android and 1.8 million-plus Instagram followers. Not only this, it has established retail touchpoints in over 35,000 outlets across 130+ cities and has raised $21 million in series C funding in early 2021.

    The persistent entrepreneur was third-time lucky after her first two start-ups did not take off. However, the second startup, Fab Bag, a subscription business that offered women an assortment of beauty products every month for a small fee- gave her enough data and insights to kickstart her third one. Singh realized that the makeup brands that were available—foreign or local—didn’t cater to Indian skin tones or the Indian way of life, and poured her academic learning and freshly-learned consumer insights into SUGAR. Unlike most digital-first brands, SUGAR was early to develop an omnichannel presence. The gamble paid off and today the seven-year-old startup has hit an annual run rate of Rs 500 crore as of November 2021, having closed FY21 at approximately Rs 130 crore revenue.

    The massive push to the digital economy that the pandemic offered also proved to be a boon and gave the brand a huge opportunity to connect directly with its consumers.  The multi-faceted serial entrepreneur who describes herself as “CEO @ SUGAR Cosmetics. Mom. Running, cycling, swimming person – in that order” believes that “women make the best all-rounders.”

    IndianTelevision’s Anupama Sajeet, caught up with Vineeta Singh- CEO & cofounder of SUGAR Cosmetics– for an exclusive chat on the key innovations the Beauty brand brought into its portfolio in the past year and its expansion plans in 2022. She also shares her thoughts on trends witnessed by the beauty industry last year while also delving upon the learnings that she carries into the new year.

    Edited excerpts:

    On key changes/innovations brought in 2021 by the brand

    Despite the difficulties that all brands faced during the second wave of the pandemic in 2021, SUGAR Cosmetics launched 30+ new products. Keeping the market scenarios in mind, we also extended our skincare category with the launch of a coffee and citrus-based skincare range. SUGAR Cosmetics also built conversational & educative content using strong videos and infographics, exploring experiential retail marketing tactics and deploying stronger content even on the brand-owned app.

    As we continued to grow stronger on building powerful content, we also ensured that we strengthened our content distribution channels from digital and OOH to TV. Our SUGAR x Taapsee campaign TV Commercial aired on prime TV channels in eight languages witnessed over 50 Million views.

    On the brand’s association with the non-fiction show ‘Shark Tank India’ on Sony

    I am very grateful to have been invited to ‘Shark Tank’ as one of the Sharks. As this wasn’t a kind of brand collaboration, my acceptance of this offer by ‘Shark Tank India’ was purely a personal interest to nurture the entrepreneurship boom in the country. It’s a sheer pleasure being a part of this iconic show that has helped create several multi-million-dollar companies across geographies, over the years, along with a unique viewing experience to the audience not only educating them but entertaining them at the same time.

    On leveraging influencer marketing to connect with consumers

    For SUGAR, influencer marketing has played a big part in creating online and offline popularity for the brand. Not only in the sense of getting our engagement levels high, but also the direct response from consumers through the sales conversions has seen a spike when we have engaged in influencer marketing strategies. In the near future, we plan to take our association to the next level, by creating an exclusive community of these mini brand ambassadors and rolling out an exclusive program for them.

    On expanding the brand’s current consumer demographic

    As a brand, we continue to stay laser-focused and loyal to the 18-to-25-year-old target group. However, with retail rapidly blitz-scaling to become a significant part of our business over the last three years, the brand has also attracted a slightly older target group of 25-to-34-year-olds. What’s common though in both audience sets is that they’re digital-savvy, more peer and influencer-led than celebrity-led and know what a good lipstick looks like. We are definitely foraying into Tier 2 – 3 cities and are already available in more than 500+ cities through just our retail channels.

    On major trends witnessed in the Beauty & Cosmetic industry in 2021 

    We are seeing a dominance of peer/influencer-review led purchases over celebrity-promoted ones. Traditional retail, of course, continues to dominate the lion’s share of colour cosmetics and beauty sales in India but with the democratisation of data and access to low-cost internet, there’s a massive Tier 2/Tier 3 city audience that’s waiting to consume beauty brands like never before. In terms of new product trends, apart from transfer-proof lipsticks and mask-proof makeup, hybrid products are a new rage. Such products have gained a surge in sales for SUGAR through our illuminating moisturizers, lip primers, lip balms, hydrating primers, and more.

    On key trends that might dominate the industry in 2022

    2022 will see further integration of tech in beauty. I definitely see a lot more experimentation happening on these lines as consumers and brands explore the blurred boundaries between the digital and real world. Also as the growing GenZs community joins in as early adopters of makeup – I see a lot of influence of their buying behavior skewed on brands that focus on sustainability, and who explore themes around realistic beauty and inclusivity. Adoption of an omnichannel approach and focus on conversational commerce will also gain popularity among a lot of brands.

    On brand USP amid tough competition from rising players in the D2C cosmetics space

    The three main USPs of the brand – highly coveted colours, the right pigments that compliment all skin tones, and makeup made with formulations that last long, has helped the brand to build a cult following in a short span of time. Our products are just more value for the price tag we command – it will be hard to find products that are more pigmented, longer-lasting, and more suited to the Indian skin tone.

    SUGAR, as a brand has always been more creator-led, than celebrity-led in a cluttered market, where brands spend more time talking about discounts than the power or beauty and cosmetics. Ensuring all SUGAR Cosmetics products are manufactured in regions across the globe that excel in providing high quality for that specific product – has also been a major contributor to maintaining quality. With a clutter-breaking persona, signature low-poly packaging and chart-topping products –SUGAR will continue to keep providing more value and better quality than any other competitor in our price range. We will also continue to be a squarely millennial-focused brand.

    On looking ahead: Goals & plans for 2022

    We will further strengthen our core pillars – distribution, product, content, and community. We aim to be in over one lakh stores in 2022 and make SUGAR one of India’s top three brands in the overall colour cosmetics category with a company turnover of more than Rs 500 crores. We currently employ more than 2000 women and we also aim to raise that number to 3000 so that the brand is truly built by women for women.

    On the personal learnings that she will take into the new year

    Covid-19 has changed the way the world behaves. For SUGAR, we came out stronger with so much gratitude in our hearts. Firstly, towards our customers who continued to support endlessly, secondly towards our retail, warehouse, and HQ employees who were nothing less than frontline workers. Another learning has been that no matter what challenge is thrown at us, agility matters. We realised that growth is not about how fast you get to it, but how well you sustain it once you have arrived. And, lastly, we learnt to not stop making bold and brave decisions, like we always did!

  • Dangal TV gears up for launch of new shows

    Dangal TV gears up for launch of new shows

    Mumbai: Riding on the success of two of its prime-time shows, the 24 hours’ general entertainment channel (GEC) Dangal TV has entered 2022 on a high.  The channel has now announced a slew of new launches that will be premiered in the coming weeks.

    Apart from its growing fandom across the rural areas, the channel has also extended its viewership in the urban segment with two of its popular shows, ‘Rakshabandhan… Rasal Apne Bhai Ki Dhaal’ and ‘Nath Zevar Ya Zanjeer’.

    Launched in July 2021, ‘Rakshabandhan… Rasal Apne Bhai Ki Dhaal’ is an opening prime time show that is running in its seventh month. Based in Rajasthan, the story of a strong bond between two siblings as they navigate through various setbacks in life, has struck a chord with the masses. The show stars Nishant Malkani and Nyra Banerjee in the lead and has taken to finding its place amongst the top shows on Indian Television.

    Another show that connected with the audience is ‘Nath- Zevar Ya Zanjeer’. Launched in August 2021, the show got moved from a 10 pm slot to 8pm slot owing to its popularity. Starring Arjit Taneja, Chahat Pandey and Vaibhavi Kapoor among others, Nath revolves around the story of a progressive girl who takes on an age-old practice to dissolve caste and class boundaries in its utopian pursuit. A take that has found great rapport with its core audience.

    Dangal TV MD Manish Singhal said, “We at Dangal TV are delighted by the success we have found with both these shows, though it doesn’t really surprise us. We have a great connection with the masses and know the kind of content that keeps them engaged. Our social dramas are rooted in deep societal understanding and offer a progressive modern take on issues close to heart. We are working on many more original shows that will build on our success story in 2022.”

    Amongst the array of new shows, another newly launched show ‘Mann Sundar’ that captures the struggles of a dark-skinned girl Ruchita has resonated with audiences and gained mass popularity. Starting the year with a bang, and hitting the marquee soon is show ‘Rang Jaun Tere Rang Mein’ that was first aired on 3 January – a social drama, deep-rooted in the tradition of marriage. 

  • #Retrace2021: Associating with marquee properties on TV helped us take a quantum leap on digital: Arjun Mohan

    #Retrace2021: Associating with marquee properties on TV helped us take a quantum leap on digital: Arjun Mohan

    The only ed-tech “to have a ‘donkey’ as its brand ambassador”, upGrad has been hitting all the right notes, starting from its eye-grabbing ‘Don’t lick ass, instead kick ass’ 2020 ad to its fortune-teller donkey ad in early 2021 to drive across its “Sirf Naam Ki Nahi, Kaam Ki Degree” messaging. Having achieved the desired impact with its former campaign, the edtech consciously shifted its brand positioning to ‘Fast Forwarding’ one’s career with upGrad’s online courses, ending the year with a striking print campaign that took on CAT, while also tackling with humor the perception of ‘online’ MBAs not being effective.

    The seven-year-old start-up, known to make full use of its marketing channels to amp up the reach has crossed a subscriber base of two million learners at last count, and the jump from one million to two million came about in approx. eight months.

    As the person at the helm of upGrad’s India operations, Arjun Mohan has steered the edtech unicorn and helped put it on an upward trajectory. An experienced industry professional, Mohan has worked across domains spanning sales, marketing, and product development for over 15 years.  Before upGrad, Mohan worked with edtech major Byju’s as marketing vice-president and later as the chief business officer (CBO). A gold medallist from IIM Kozhikode, Mohan has worked with brands like Titan and Tata services.

    In a free-wheeling conversation with IndianTelevision’s Anupama Sajeet, the upGrad India CEO Arjun Mohan talks about steering the edtech brand through a post-pandemic world and on the key marketing innovations adopted by the brand in the past year. He also shares his thoughts on being a ‘hardcore optimist’ and the trends that might dominate the edtech industry in 2022.

    Edited excerpts:

    On looking back at how the year 2021 fared for upGrad

    In a growing industry, every year is a good year. So, from a business perspective, 2021 was a good year as overall business metrics have been quite good. But it was pretty challenging considering the multiple waves of Covid which struck us – the lockdowns, the inconsistencies of when to come to the office, and the problems that our consumers were facing. As a result, decisions were getting delayed. But then it was these challenges that pushed us and I believe as a result of that we were able to carve out several good ideas on all three aspects of business i.e. products, sales, and marketing. Hence we were able to create an impact in the market.

    On key innovations adopted by the brand in 2021

    Yes, between 2020 and 2021, there have been a lot of changes in the way upGrad communicated. That change is a testimony to consumer behaviour, where the association between education being something ‘serious’ is a thing of the past. And that is why we positioned the brand differently.  We realised that learning, upskilling, lifelong learning- all these aspects are no longer constrained to a few. There are guys who want to learn, upskill, and constantly improve themselves but at the same time, they want to enjoy life. We started talking to our consumers in a lighter vein, started communicating with working professionals in a language they connected to.

    One of the initial communications we did was on office politics- on how one should stop bothering about office politics and focus on specialisations and upskilling that will take your career ahead. The second campaign we built upon was ‘Sirf naam ki nahi, kaam ki degree’. We continuously heard from customers that “we would definitely think of doing this course, par ye degree koi kaam ki honi chahiye.” In India, a degree is associated with – a better job, a promotion, a better salary, a future, and so on. So, we worked on those insights and repositioned the entire company into offering courses that will actually be life-changing. That’s where we moved to our positioning of ‘kaam ki degree’.

    In 2022, we moved into phase two of it. Rather than just talking about online learning, we started focusing more on the value proposition part of it- On how the upGrad course/ degree is better than whatever options you have in the market. Thus, if you see our communication, it has also been based on the life-changing impact that upGrad courses have, followed by two or three shorties or 15-second films where we talk about the USPs. This format has been really helping us with the consideration part and we have been seeing that the conversion on the lead has been on the uptick. So, if last year the donkey was the high point from an ‘awareness’ perspective, then this year the MBA campaigns we did focusing on the ‘value proposition’ – that would be the highlight which saw a lot of impact for us. That’s been a big change in 2021. 

    On launching campaigns sans any celebrity endorsements

    While we do joke about it that every edtech out there has a celebrity brand ambassador- Byju’s has a SRK, Great learning has Virat Kohli, now Vedaantu has got Aamir Khan- and we have a donkey (!), it’s not been a conscious decision. If at a point in time we feel we need a celebrity vehicle we would do that. Currently, we are at an early stage of our brand building and the aspect we have been focusing on, as well as the TG we are talking about, is very different. This is not for mass India; this is for a smart audience. We didn’t see working professionals as the right vehicle for getting a brand ambassador. Even if you look at who or what they follow on OTTs or YouTube platforms – the kind of influencers these people follow are not celebrities. They are very individualistic and iconoclastic in that they follow what they think is right- they don’t believe they need to follow the crowd. And that’s why we stuck to the basics and the donkey!

    On exploring influencer marketing and subsequent ad-spends

    The way we look at brand marketing is that there are three pillars- The first pillar for us is ‘Content’ which includes social etc. Then comes the ‘Mass media’ which is where the TV and Print comes in and finally the ‘PR’ and all other aspects.

    For Content- we focus a lot on the content creators: influencers on YouTube, Instagram, OTT platforms, etc because our TG, especially the knowledge worker who is in IT/ ITES follows this segment a lot. We have started by working with multiple content creators like BeYouNick, Dhruv Rathee, who are very popular with this TG. We work with them on bringing Upgrad into their content very organically.

    Apart from relying on other content creators, we have also started creating our own original content called ‘the office canteen’. This again revolves around the theme of office politics, along with BeYouNick and YouTube, Google and has been a big success for us (trending with ten mn views).

    On the brand’s ad spend across TV, digital and print

    When it comes to mass media like TV and Print, rather than a ‘spray and pray’ our strategy has been focused on large properties.  When we do it, we do it big because we want to work on those properties which have a huge reach. So, we worked on IPL, the Test championship, UEFA, Wimbledon, and such. You can also see the sports association- as sport is connected with winners and ambitions so that works for us. Even in newspapers, our ad was an impact ad. It was more like moment marketing in that we took a dig at CAT, saying ‘CAT is so yesterday’. So that’s the kind of ‘big bang’ approach we are taking with mass media.

    We do digital marketing all the time and we’ve our leaps coming at particular CPL (Cost per lead) and traffic coming with a particular threshold. I want these brand properties on mass media to be at a point where I’ll get a quantum leap on the digital side of it. We plan it in such a way that our traffic moves a threshold and comes to a new benchmark. That’s been our larger strategy.

    Digital is where we get to do direct marketing. And we keep using large-scale marketing properties to get quantum jumps. Because, the kind of scale these properties give, digital will take years to reach there. We are also seriously looking at OOH. We shall do a clinical campaign, once our TG is back in the office, by trying to focus on places where we know our TG is- for instance, an IT park- and then do BTL inside such premises along with hoardings etc.

    So, all of this mass marketing is important to us, and we have a way to measure their impact. For that matter, even ‘Shark Tank’, where we are the title sponsors, we are quite sure that is the direction large-scale mass media is moving into. Rather than doing a couple of ads in between programs, writing your brand into the story is what really works. So that’s something we have really worked on and we have big plans for the show.

    On rising competition in ed-tech space and strengthening their USP

    We have complete confidence in our product. This product took almost five years to develop after multiple iterations. We were always clear that if we are able to get our customer to at least try our product then we can change his/ her perspective and even convince them that online is better than offline. There has been a lot of influx but if you see what’s happening today is that the players with a strong product, and sales & marketing capability are finally emerging out of this. So, I feel the solution for us is just to have our ears to the ground and keep on listening to the customer and then be ready with a solution that they will love. And that’s what we have been doing with our products, sales and marketing.

    On upcoming plans for 2022

    I am a hardcore optimist so I am sure 2022 will be superb for the brand. We are very clear we want to be the largest integrated edtech in the higher education space (post K-12) across the globe. Our international operations, which we started in 2021, is panning out well. We have our offices in the US, APAC and India where we have set up our subsidiaries. Post-India, our focus market will be the US- we really want to crack that market. So really looking forward to 2022 when we can take this to the next level.

    On key trends that might dominate the industry this year

    I think most of the ed-tech players in the K-12 segment will ultimately stabilise with the hybrid model, wherein there’s an offline component to it and an online component. But in higher edtech I don’t see that happening. Higher online learning has gotten established as a clear option or a side-by-side alternative to what used to exist earlier offline. There’s a very clear value proposition that you can continue upskilling even when you are working: ‘Learn while you Earn’.

    Hence, I believe, online education will be the preferred mechanism, at least from a Masters-degree perspective in India. The majority of Indians do not do a Master’s today because they are not sure whether thereafter, they will be able to get a job with that kind of a package. Even from a NNation-building perspective it is important for a country like India, with such a young population that we have highly skilled people. That’s when the country’s economy will move to the next level.

    Also, as we keep getting feedback from our learners, there has to be some social component to even online learning. So we are working to build a social module where learners can share their ideas, meet their lecturers, and have a session offline also. So that’s the way we see it and we will keep improving on it in 2022.

  • Eurosport & Jio TV acquire broadcast rights for 2022 AFC Women’s Asian Cup

    Eurosport & Jio TV acquire broadcast rights for 2022 AFC Women’s Asian Cup

    Mumbai: Eurosport India, Discovery Network’s sports brand, and Jio TV Network have acquired the broadcast rights for AFC Women’s Asian Cup India 2022. India hosts the 20th edition of Asia’s showpiece women’s football tournament between 20 January and 6 February.

    Eurosport India will telecast the tournament on television. Meanwhile, Jio TV will stream the matches of the competition on its online platform and across its network.

    The Football Sports Development Limited (FSDL), which currently holds the media rights for all Asian Football Confederation (AFC) competitions in the Indian subcontinent, has accorded the PayTV broadcast rights to Eurosport India.

    The 20th edition of the AFC Women’s Asian Cup India 2022 will feature 12 teams, which have been divided into three groups. Group A includes India, China PR, Chinese Taipei, and IR Iran, while Group B includes Australia, Thailand, Philippines, and Indonesia. Meanwhile, Japan, Korea Republic, Vietnam, and Myanmar have been slotted in Group C.

    The tournament will begin in a round-robin format where each team will face the other three teams of the group to secure a place in  the quarter-finals which will be held on 30 January. Hosts India will play their opening game against Iran on 20 January as they aim to gather home points to seal the top spot on an opening day.

    The sports event will act as the final stage of Asian qualification for the 2023 FIFA Women’s World Cup in Australia and New Zealand. With Australia having already qualified as co-host, five more teams will qualify for the main event directly while two of them will progress to the inter-confederation play-offs.

  • My11Circle joins Lucknow IPL Team as official Title Sponsor

    My11Circle joins Lucknow IPL Team as official Title Sponsor

    Mumbai: Games24x7’s fantasy sports platform, My11Circle has signed up with RP-Sanjiv Goenka group’s newly announced Lucknow franchise as the official title sponsor. The three-year deal will see the My11Circle logo featured on the Lucknow team jersey, as it begins its IPL journey this year.

    “We are excited to announce our first IPL team sponsorship and the Lucknow team is a perfect fit as it represents the heartland of the country where cricket fans have ardently supported the sport and now get an opportunity to support their own team,” said Games24x7 co-founder Bhavin Pandya. “We launched My11Circle in 2019 and within a short span, it has emerged as one of the most popular fantasy sports platforms in the country. We witnessed a 100 per cent growth last year primarily because of our ability to connect with the discerning Indian cricket fan, where our campaigns have celebrated and rewarded their fervor and skill. We believe that this partnership will further strengthen our engagement with millions of cricket fans across India.”

    The team will fight their first IPL game this year, with Gautam Gambir as the mentor, and former Zimbabwean cricket coach, and former cricketer Andy Flower as head coach. “We are delighted to have My11Circle as our Principal Team Sponsor. We thank them for the faith they have shown in our new franchise and are confident that this will be a winning partnership,” said RPSG Sports CEO Raghu Iyer.

  • GUEST COLUMN: How D2C brands can level up their digital marketing game in 2022

    GUEST COLUMN: How D2C brands can level up their digital marketing game in 2022

    Mumbai: In today’s times, Direct-to-consumer is an extremely exciting space, primarily because there are so many interesting brands coming up in multiple industry verticals. Right from food to technology to health and many others, there are home-grown D2C brands making it big while raising investors’ money handsomely. And we are seeing some very interesting products and services rolled out for the end-users.

    Here are some focus areas on the top digital marketing activities that the D2C brands need to keep in mind when they want to market their products and services in 2022 –

    Advertising on Google, Facebook, and Instagram

    While this is something that most D2C brands are already doing to a very large extent, there is still a big gap in the way these campaigns are executed. Funnel wise break up of your ad campaigns on these platforms is going to be very crucial to be able to run profitable ad campaigns for your brand. In our experience of working with D2C startups, we have always advised having – remarketing campaigns right from the start, campaigns focused to maximise conversions, and using lookalikes as much as possible.

    Retention Marketing

    I primarily would like to talk about the usage of user engagement tools that help you retain. You want to focus on the lifetime value of your customers and while you do that the prime objective of your campaigns should be to use sophisticated tools like Webengage to bring the audience over and over again to your website and to have them purchase from you more than once in a year as per your product life-cycle.

    Conversion Rate Optimisation

    While D2C brands have spent quite some money in the acquisition game, the bleeding cost of sale has always been quite an important matter of discussion. In today’s time and age when the bottom line is super important from day zero, it becomes imperative that you focus on the conversion rate of the website as much as the number of conversions on your website. Reports which will help you understand where your users are dropping off and where you probably need to do a quick fix need to be generated regularly.

    Do not take an SEO any less seriously than earlier

    SEO is still one of the primary factors that will give you a long-term arbitrage on your cost per sale or cost of acquisition. This is primarily because when you are spending a lot of money in your acquisition campaigns using advertising models there is a very good chance that your organic growth will help you lower the overall cost for acquisition in your acquisition spree and help you remain sustainable in the long term. In our experience working with several D2C businesses, long-tail keywords with high intent and medium competition work best.

    Social Media Marketing

    Connecting with your customers is going to be much more important in 2022. With customers determining the persona of a brand depending on the kind of content they publish on their social media handles. If you want to be a cool brand you will have to have cool content on your social media channels for your customers to take interest and be connected to your brand in the long term. Start talking to your customers like a real person and not a suited-up brand.

    Similarly, the kind of influencers that your brand intends to associate with is going to matter a lot. The kind of content your influencers have been pushing is going to also affect the kind of personality you’re going to build for your brand in front of your customers. Personalisation, thought leadership, and focusing on building a strong brand image will separate you from the crowd.

    Being present omnichannel

    Being present omnichannel is going to be as important in 2022 as never before. This is primarily because of the kind of user behaviour that customers today have started from checking out a product online but probably going off-line and purchasing the product. You have to be in sight so that you are in the top of mind recall for your customers And hence being available at their favourite offline or local stores is going to impact your sales numbers more than ever.

    Creative Packaging

    Having great packaging for your products will be important. This is primarily because no matter how good or bad the eventual product is, the way it is packaged paints the first impression for the customer.

    (Deep Mehta is the co-founder of DigiChefs. The views expressed in this column are personal, and Indiantelevision.com may not subscribe to them.)

  • #Retrace2021: A look back at print ad campaigns that stood out in 2021

    #Retrace2021: A look back at print ad campaigns that stood out in 2021

    Mumbai: Reeling under the aftermath of the pandemic, the Indian print industry began its road to recovery in 2021. According to the latest Magna Global Forecasting Report released in December, overall, the print industry grew +12 per cent from a low base (2020: -40 per cent), despite the slowdown in business in 2021. Maximum growth came from Retail, Durables, Finance, Real Estate, and Government spending.

    After witnessing a tumultuous period of plummeting circulation, and advertising revenue, the industry also began pivoting fast to strengthen its digital presence. The projections paint a heathier picture, with 2022 growth expected to be broad-based, with most categories increasing spends and elections in a few large states helping to drive an increase of +14 per cent. However, a rise in cases of the new Covid variant could prove to be dampener.

    Nonetheless, Print remains one of the most trusted mediums to influence brand perceptions on critical factors like quality, price, and trust. This explains why 2021 saw the return of traditional, as well as newer brands, and advertisers to print to create some stand-out campaigns. As we begin 2022, we take a look back at some of these campaigns …

    TRUECALLER

    While the businesses were beginning to reopen, the Truecaller print ad in January 2021 set the tone for the rest of the year. The in-your-face, unmissable ad carried by the app on the front pages of leading national dailies, talked about the issue of phone harassment women face. It mentioned how women could block these numbers on the app and should step forward and report these callers. The campaign #ItsNotOk has been running for four years now. But it caught everyone’s attention, courtesy of the latest print ads. Thinkstr, the Gurgaon-based independent agency for the campaign said they were “a little jittery about spending money on print” because they “knew the circulation was down”. But the print ads outdid itself “more than any other medium we’ve advertised on.” 

    NESTLE

    When in doubt, choosing ‘Print’ seems to be the mantra of marketers. Whenever there was a need to emphasise a brand’s credibility or build trust it was the go-to medium. Nestlé India’s print campaign launched in June 2021 did just that- reinforce the brand’s assurance of offering quality products, while talking about its long-standing legacy of 100 years and ‘family-like’ trust. The FMCG conglomerate switched to the damage control mode, coming out with the print ad campaign to rebuild consumers’ faith in the brand, only days after news reports questioning the ‘healthiness’ of the company’s products surfaced.

    FORTUNE

    A similar approach was followed by the Adani Wilmar Group’s Fortune oil brand. The brand’s claims of ‘a healthy oil for a healthy heart’ suffered a beating after Sourav Ganguly, the brand’s endorser, suffered a heart attack. Prior to this, he was seen in an ad for the brand’s Rice Bran oil which promotes the oil’s heart health benefits. Fortune faced severe trolling on social media as netizens chose to highlight the irony of the situation. To salvage the situation, the brand came out with front-page ads across leading publications with the caption ‘Today seems to be a good day to talk about the heart’, which had a fit-looking Ganguly dismissing the talk about his ill-health and tackling the subject of heart health head-on. The long format copy presented as a signed letter from the former cricketer himself, pushed heart health conversation to the fore, was the brand’s comeback after the stretch of online trolling.

    INDIAN OIL

    Nothing beats the traditional medium when you want to create an impactful awareness about a social cause. Indian Oil wanted to create awareness around the ill effects of excessive honking ahead of World Environment Day 2021 (5 June). It came out with a creative print campaign, conceptualised and executed by Mumbai-based agency, Grey Group that showed the life-threatening impact honking had on other living creatures. The artwork by Vaibhav Bhilare replaced the body parts of various animals with sound waves to depict the hazardous effect the loud noise had on them.

    MANFORCE

    That Print media allows a brand to tell its brand story effectively with no excessive drama is a known fact. To simply and effectively convey its message of protected sex and to educate people to use condoms as against ‘messy’ scenarios related to the consequences of indulging in unprotected sex, the Condom brand come up with a campaign, #DontMessAround. The series of tongue-in-cheek ads which appeared in leading newspapers creatively nudged people not to engage in unprotected intercourse as it can come with bigger problems such as STDs and unwanted pregnancy, even as it drove its brand message through.

    SEBAMED

    After the famed Cola ad wars, this year saw the battle of the soaps, with major soap brands taking on one another, directly targeting their rival brands in their ads. Sebamed kickstarted the creative sledge-fest at the outset of 2021, going after other popular brands like Lux, Santoor, and Dove, by comparing them to a detergent bar. The German skincare brand made quite a splash launching a series of print ads in leading dailies, with shocking claims alleging that each of these leading soaps had pH factors (ranging from 7 to 10) that rivaled that of the detergent soap Rin, to highlight the harshness of these skincare products, as against its own which it claimed stood at ‘an ideal 5.5’.

    The brand has launched another campaign ‘Conditions apply’ with print ads taking on other anti-hair loss shampoos. The campaign sought to discredit the ubiquitous disclaimer ‘Conditions apply’ used by these products while making tall claims. It has, however, refrained from naming any brand this time.

    DOVE

    The HUL brand of skincare, Dove chose to respond to Sebamed’s ‘pH’ allegations with a print campaign that reiterated its gentleness, falling back upon its familiar messaging –that the soap is mild and comprised of one fourth ‘moisturising milk’. The print ad seen in major newspapers Dove responded to the jabs that Sebamed’s ads have taken at it, coming hot on the heels of the Sebamed campaign. The ad copy in a prominent font stresses that ‘Dermatologists have put something strong in Dove’s bar – their trust’.

    The beauty soap launched another print campaign titled ‘Stop The Beauty Test’ that attempts to call out the stereotypes associated with Indian matchmaking and goes against unrealistic stereotypes of beauty in our society. Conceptualised by Ogilvy India, the campaign urges one to look at the beautiful aspects of a person’s personality and not their shortcomings. “Khoobiyan dekho, khaamiyan nahin” says the ad released across print and other media. The print ad, written in a long format, tackles in-depth how a girl is subjected to these beauty stereotypes and biases right from childhood, only getting worse as she becomes of marriageable age.

    And it is not just traditional categories that see the profit in the printed word. Newer advertiser categories like the edtech, crypto, and several digital-first brands are also opting for the mass medium, even going full-throttle with full pager, front-page displays in major dailies. For newer categories like crypto exchanges who are in their next phase of growth in India, it becomes even more crucial to target beyond the early adopters of this digital world by associating with traditional mediums like television and print, the study noted. Thus, making print a viable medium to build credibility and trust.

    COINSWITCH KUBER

    One such platform, which has been investing heavily in print is CoinSwitch Kuber. Building trust is key to the category as a lot of uncertainty and risk have been associated with cryptos in the past. The crypto brand came out with full front-page ads in leading newspapers in the last few days. “While digital media enables us to target a certain set of audiences, print has the accessibility to the most basic audience group which finds credibility in the print news,” said CoinSwitch Kuber chief business officer Sharan Nair explaining the brand’s decision to go aggressive on print advertising.

    UpGRAD

    With eye-catching full-page ads in leading dailies, edtech brand, upGrad launched the campaign for its online MBA programs to ‘fast-forward your career’ because ‘CAT is so yesterday’. The two-page managed to grab eyeballs for the brand with its effective use of empty spaces and an attention-grabbing caption.

    TINDER INDIA

    In another resounding endorsement, a millennial and Gen Z brand like Tinder released a series of print ads, acknowledging that print still carries ‘trust and maturity’ which digital is yet to achieve. The new age dating app’s ad is indicative of how serious it is about educating its existing and potential users about consent, serving as a lesson on how many times we misinterpret our partner’s words to consider it a ‘Yes’. Tinder India’s front page Bombay Times ad is a primer on consent and what all doesn’t equate to a ‘Yes’. This ad is the latest installment from the dating app’s ongoing campaign around consent, emphasising that only a ‘Yes’ means a ‘Yes’. Nothing more, nothing less.

  • #Retrace2021: From Nykaa’s Falguni Nayar to dentsu veteran Ashish Bhasin, who all made news in 2021?

    #Retrace2021: From Nykaa’s Falguni Nayar to dentsu veteran Ashish Bhasin, who all made news in 2021?

    Mumbai: The year that began with the slowdown of pandemic cases, and phased opening of businesses across the country, is ending with another Covid variant rearing its head. The new cases of Omicron are spreading faster, even as the industry struggles to hold on to its post-pandemic revival after braving a deadly second wave in May early this year.

    Amid all these challenges, there were signs of resilience, that highlighted the advertising industry’s slow yet significant recovery this year. If 2020 was the year of ed-tech, 2021 only took the game a notch higher. E-commerce dominated headlines, and several D2C brands rose to success with their innovative advertising and marketing strategies. The year saw the largest number of startups joining the unicorn league, of which many of them are internet-based companies, including Flipkart, Nykaa, Zomato, and Paytm. The agencies too, adapted to the new normal, brainstorming newer ways to strengthen brand connect and retain audiences across media channels.

    With the curtains falling on this eventful, yet resilient year, we take a look at some of the biggest names that made headlines, and created a buzz in the world of brands, advertising, and marketing this year.

    1.      FALGUNI NAYAR, NYKAA FOUNDER

    An entrepreneur at 49 and a billionaire at 58, Nayar made waves with her company’s chartbuster initial public offering (IPO) in November. The ₹5,352-crore IPO of her FSN E-Commerce Ventures Ltd was oversubscribed nearly 82.5 times. On the same day, the company’s market capitalisation touched the ₹1 lakh crore mark, making Nayar who owns a 52.56 per cent stake in the company, India’s richest self-made woman billionaire. An investment banker, Nayar launched the beauty and fashion e-commerce platform Nykaa in March 2012 after quitting her job at Kotak Mahindra Capital. Today, Nykaa Fashion is a multi-brand platform with close to 1,500 brands—of which five are its own brands- two acquired and three it has built from scratch. Nykaa Beauty and Nykaa Fashion are separate businesses.

    Falguni Nayar: The billionaire founder of Nykaa who dared to dream at 50

    2.      BYJU RAVEENDRAN, BYJU’S FOUNDER-CEO

    Byju Raveendran-owned edtech, Byju’s has been on a dream run. The company, which saw its business grow rapidly during the pandemic, ramped up its user base and saw a swift growth in revenues. It also announced several deals around the world over, acquiring a number of its competitors, eight of which were this year. With this, Raveendran and his family have also expanded their fortunes, making them the 67th richest Indians, according to the IIFL Wealth Hurun India Rich List 2021. The home-grown edtech startup is now the 13th most valuable start-up in the world, as per CB Insights’ latest unicorn tracker. Currently valued at $21 billion, the Bengaluru-based start-up is also the world’s most valuable ed-tech start-up. It is also the only Indian name to feature in the list of the world’s elite unicorns as of December 2021. Recently, the ed-tech giant was in the news for its advanced discussions to go public through one of Churchill Capital’s special-purpose acquisition companies (SPAC). While an announcement could come as soon as January, the negotiations are not final. 

    3.      PARAG AGARWAL, TWITTER CEO

    2021 was also the year when Indians were taking over coveted leadership roles in the global forum. The first to mark his name was Indian-born Parag Agarwal, who was appointed as the CEO of the micro-blogging platform Twitter in November. An alumnus of IIT-Bombay, Agarwal had joined Twitter in 2011 and worked his way up the ladder to becoming the chief technology officer (CTO) by 2018 and was reportedly one of the ‘first choices’ of the company’s co-founder Jack Dorsey in the line of succession, after the latter announced his resignation. In a staunch endorsement of 37 years old Agrawal, Dorsey wrote: “He’s been my choice for some time, given how deeply he understands the company and its needs. Parag has been behind every critical decision that helped turn this company around… My trust in him as our CEO is bone-deep.” Before Twitter, Agrawal had briefly worked at Microsoft, AT&T, and Yahoo. He did his bachelor’s in engineering in computer science here, before moving to the US for further studies, his doctorate coming from Stanford University.   

    Jack Dorsey steps down, Parag Agarwal named as Twitter CEO

    4.      LEENA NAIR, CHANEL CEO

    In another proud moment for India, Maharashtra-born Leena Nair joined the list of Indian-origin CEOs of multinational brands in December. Her appointment as the CEO of the French luxury fashion house Chanel was unprecedented, given that Nair was a rank outsider with zilch experience in the fashion industry, not being a part of the Paris fashion scene.

    Before this, the 52-year-old had an illustrious career that spanned 30 years at Unilever, becoming the first female and youngest-ever chief human resources officer at the global company, in London- a position she resigned from to join the 111-year-old luxury group. Nair rose through the ranks of Unilever having started out as a management trainee. Under her watch Unilever achieved gender parity across global management. With the latest win, Nair is being hailed as a “serial glass-ceiling breaker”. An electronics and telecommunications engineer from Walchand College of Engineering in Sangli, Maharashtra, she did her MBA in Human Resources from XLRI Jamshedpur in 1992 before joining as a trainee at HUL.

    5.      PIYUSH PANDEY, OGILVY

    An advertising industry veteran with over three decades of experience in the industry, Pandey has donned several hats, representing Rajasthan in Ranji Trophy cricket during his younger days and being a tea taster are some of them before discovering advertising as a career choice. This year, the ad guru added one more feather to his cap when he took on the role of global creative chairman at WPP Plc. owned creative agency Ogilvy in May. He continues to serve as chairman of Ogilvy India helping brands understand their consumers.

    6.      ANITA NAYYAR, PATANJALI AYURVED COO-MEDIA & COMMUNICATIONS

    The year 2021 saw life turning 360 degrees and completing a full circle for former Havas media India boss Anita Nayyar in the advertising and media industry, as she joined Patanjali Ayurved as COO- Media & Communications in July, after a brief stint with Zee5 from May 2020 to March 2021. An industry veteran, Nayyar had an eventful two years, with transitions circumscribing the client-side from the agency side, before settling finally on the brand side, having managed many portfolios of brands across sectors in a career spanning three decades.

    #Retrace2021: Cautious optimism will drive industry growth in 2022

    The year also saw some of the country’s biggest agencies undergo senior-most level executive shuffles and the arrivals and departures of some of advertising’s top talents. In recent months, dentsu India network parted ways with many of its key leaders in an exodus that began in January. The exits were announced as part of its restructuring process to usher in the dentsu India 2.0 vision. The rejig, brings together its creative agencies under one umbrella, including Dentsu Webchutney, Taproot Dentsu, WATConsult, Perfect Relations, Isobar, Dentsu One, Dentsu India, and Dentsu Impact. The high-level exits from its India leadership team included veterans like Santosh Padhi, Shamsuddin Jasani, Vivek Bhargava, Rubeena Singh, Haresh Nayak, Gopa Menon, and the India CFO turned CEO Anand Bhadkamkar. After almost five years of being the CEO at the digital-first media agency iProspect, Rubeena Singh started new innings as the country manager at the short-video app Josh in October.

    7.      ASHISH BHASIN, DENTSU

    Ashish Bhasin -stepped down as dentsu International- CEO APAC & chairman India in November. An industry veteran with over 30 years’ experience, Bhasin had joined Aegis Media in June 2008 and was tasked with launching the business in the market. He was promoted to CEO, Dentsu Asia Pacific in September 2019. Earlier this year, Bhasin had resigned from the board of directors and Audit Committee of Broadcast Audience Research Council (BARC India) sparking the retirement rumours.

    Ashish Bhasin steps down as dentsu International CEO APAC & chairman India

    8.      SANTOSH PADHI AND AGNELLO DIAS, TAPROOT DENTSU

     

    The news about Padhi’s sudden exit from the agency he founded with Agnello Dias in 2009 shocked everyone in the industry. Padhi ended his historic innings with Taproot dentsu in September. An art graduate from Mumbai, Padhi began his career with DDB Mudra. He then moved on to Leo Burnett, where he was an executive creative director and later became the national head of art.

    Earlier in June, Taproot made some leadership level rejigs and announced that Agnello Dias (Aggie) will move on to a role as a consultant for key brands, but he too put in his papers around this time. Dias began his advertising career in 1989 and after working with many local and international agencies, including Dart, Interpublicity, Lowe and Leo Burnett, he joined JWT India in 2005, where he soon became the chief creative officer. It was in 2009 when the art and copy duo Padhi and Aggie, decided to together launch their independent creative boutique Taproot India — a bold independent setup. Over the last 12 years, Taproot dentsu rose to become one of India’s most prominent creative agencies, notching up several accolades along the way.

    9.      AJAY GEHLAUT, DENTSU CREATIVE

    Industry veteran Ajay Gahlaut joined dentsu Creative as group CCO in the midst of Dentsu India’s transformation journey towards dentsu India 2.0 and Ajay’s joining is a critical part of the plan, the agency said. Gahlaut, with over 27 years of experience in advertising, was with Publicis Worldwide, India, as chief creative officer and managing director till June 2020. He wrote the line ‘Do Boond Zindagi Ki’ that anchored the famous Pulse Polio Immunisation campaign with Amitabh Bachchan and the ‘Make It Large’ tagline for the whiskey brand Royal Stag. He was also the man behind the ‘Men will be men’ series of campaigns for whiskey brand Imperial Blue and the creator of the character ‘Mr. Murthy’ for Voltas air conditioners.

    10. SHAMSUDDIN JASANI, WUNDERMAN THOMPSON

    As Wunderman Thompson chairman and Group CEO South Asia Tarun Rai moved into a new role as executive director Strategic Initiatives, APAC, Jasani was roped in to take on the mantle. Before this, he was with Isobar as Group MD South Asia. Jasani is a veteran of the industry, having launched Isobar in India in 2008, growing it from a two-person team to over 300-strong across South Asia.

    Isobar’s Shamsuddin Jasani joins Wunderman Thompson South Asia as CEO

    11. PRITI MURTHY, GROUPM

    Priti joined GroupM India as president, GroupM Services India this October, which the network described as a ‘homecoming’ for her and strengthening of the GroupM India leadership team. As an industry veteran, Murthy has spent a large part of her 22+ year career with GroupM. Her last held role with GroupM was as the chief strategy officer at Maxus Global.

    Priti Murthy joins GroupM as president, GroupM services India

    12. ANISHA IYER, OMD India CEO

    Iyer was elevated to OMD India chief executive officer in December. With nearly 18 years of experience in the advertising business and a niche in digital and technology, she joined OMD, a subsidiary of the group, in 2019 as the managing director for Malaysia. Her previous stints include working in companies such as Mindshare, Madhouse, and GroupM in a career spanning two decades.

    13. ANUPRIYA ACHARYA, PUBLICIS GROUPE 

    Anupriya Acharya, a veteran in the media and advertising world, was re-elected as president of the Advertising Agencies Association of India (AAAI) for the year 2021-22 in September this year. Hailing from Dehradun, Acharya has worked with Ogilvy & Mather, McCann (then McCann Erickson), media agency Mindshare Fulcrum and The Media Edge in her 20 plus career. She has also remained the Group CEO of Zenith Optimedia (part of the Publicis Groupe), where she was elevated to lead the India business of Publicis Media in 2016 with a 900-plus strong team.

    14. SWATI BHATTACHARYA, FCB INDIA

    This year also saw the FCB Group India announce the restructuring of its creative agencies and a new three agency structure – FCB Ulka, FCB Interface and FCB India. FCB India, the newest agency in the fold, which’s led by Swati Bhattacharya as the creative chairperson, announced its newly elevated C-Suite leadership team. A noted industry professional, Bhattacharya has been the only woman CCO in India when she joined FCB Ulka in 2016. The brains behind award-winning campaigns like Sindoor Khela for the Times of India, Horlicks, Maggi sauces and noodles, Close up, Airtel, Kit Kat, 7Up, Pepsi, Pizza, UNICEF, Sunrise and Slice are some of her other note-worthy works.

    15. RAMESH NARAYAN, CANCO ADVERTISING

    Canco Advertising founder and Indian advertising doyen Ramesh Narayan was inducted into the prestigious Asian Federation of Advertising Associations (AFAA) Hall of Fame at the AdAsia conference held at Macao in December. “The AFAA Hall of Fame sets out to recognise those who’ve defined a generation of advertising, those who we look up to, who inspire us, and who have done what few others have ever done or could ever do; for those who have pioneered- the very few we can call legends,” said outgoing AFAA chairman, Raymond So about Narayan’s inclusion in the prestigious hall of fame. Earlier this year Narayan also released his book titled “A Different Route to Success”, which gives readers a ringside view of his professional life, having retired at the age of 50, after running Canco Advertising, an advertising agency he founded and ran for 24 years.

    Ramesh Narayan inducted into AFAA Hall of Fame

    16.  ARJUN MOHAN, upGrad CEO

    upGrad CEO ArjunMohan is an experienced industry professional having worked across sales, marketing, and product development domains for more than 15 years, before helming upGrad. One of the most creative edtechs in the country, when it comes to utilising marketing channels to amp up its reach, Mohan helped script a remarkable success story backed on innovative services and out-of-box marketing activities. The upGrad CEO is on a high this year with education going digital-first due to the compulsions brought about by the pandemic.

    17.  VINEETA SINGH, SUGAR COSMETICS CEO

    Singh famously gave up a crore-rupee job offer from an investment bank while she was still in her twenties because she wanted to dive into entrepreneurship. Sugar Cosmetics, a digital-first brand, is her third start-up—the first two did not take off but the second startup, Fab Bag, a subscription business that offered women an assortment of beauty products every month for a small fee- gave her enough data and insights to kickstart her third one. Unlike most digital-first brands, Sugar was early to develop an omnichannel presence and her mantra to make cosmetics for Indian skin tones and suited to the Indian environment paid off. In 2020-21, the D2C firm achieved Rs 130 crore in revenue, and raised $21 million (Rs 160 crore) in venture funding, bringing its valuation to Rs 750 crore.

    From the verge of closing shop, Sugar Cosmetics delivers 49x returns to investors

    18. GHAZAL ALAGH, MAMAEARTH CO-FOUNDER

    Baby and mother care brand Mamaearth turned unicorn after raising close to $80 million in a new round at unicorn valuation led by Sequoia. One among the few startups to turn unicorns with a woman co-founder, the five-year-old D2C brand took birth after Ghazal Alagh and her husband, Varun became parents. In 2016, the couple launched the brand under the parent company Honasa Consumer Pvt Ltd, in Gurugram using natural, plant-based or manmade ingredients, which are both certified safe as well as effective.  In just four years, Mamaearth became Asia’s first brand to get the MadeSafe certification for its toxin-free products. The company recently acquired a female-centric content platform, Momspresso, and associated influencer-engagement platform, Momspresso MyMoney to further accelerate engagement with consumers and strengthen content-to-commerce.

    19. ANIL KAPOOR, AD VETERAN

    Finally, taking a stock of all that we lost this year, there are some losses which cannot be restored ever in any manner whatsoever- and that’s the lives of people lost. This year saw the demise of many eminent names and talents of the industry, many of whom were lost to the Coronavirus.

    FCBUlka chairman emeritus Anil Kapoor passes away

    One such name is that of DraftFCB+ Ulka’s late chairman emeritus Anil Kapoor, who passed away after a prolonged battle with cancer, in April this year. His passing marked the end of an era in the advertising industry. Kapoor joined a struggling Ulka in 1988 and scripted one of the greatest turnaround stories in advertising. He was given charge of the situation to stop the exodus of clients and is credited with bringing in a fresh set of talent, including from institutions like the IIMs. Clients who had left returned and he built a leadership team that stuck together for decades. Kapoor’s career in the ad industry extended to over three decades, and under his guidance, Ulka group emerged among the top five advertising agencies of India. He was conferred with the Lifetime Achievement Award by the AAAI in 2013. His death leaves a huge void in the realm of India’s advertising industry.

    In memoriam: Anil ‘Billy’ Kapoor

  • #Retrace2021: Same passion for global content in Tier 2 & 3 cities as in metros: Zeel’s Amit Shah

    #Retrace2021: Same passion for global content in Tier 2 & 3 cities as in metros: Zeel’s Amit Shah

    Mumbai: With a career spanning over two decades, Zee Entertainment cluster head – North, West, and premium channels Amit Shah has amassed experience in sales and marketing from two leading FMCG organisations – Dabur and Mondelez.

    In his current role at Zeel, he spearheads a cluster of premium channels and regional channels in the North and West regions. He is responsible for delivering the P&L for the cluster and individual channels along with respective business heads. Leading a team of nearly 200 people from different functions like programming, content, research and insights, marketing, on-air promotions team, and more, Shah is also responsible for new market entries and tapping other channel opportunities in existing North and West markets along with the premium channels segment.

    As the year draws to a close, Indiantelevision.com got into a freewheeling conversation with Zee Entertainment Enterprises Ltd. cluster head – North, West, and premium channels Amit Shah who speaks about the evolving content trends in Zee English cluster in 2021, programming, and growth in viewership in

    Edited excerpts:

    On any changes in content consumption patterns

    With increased learning of English and foreign languages, India has become more welcoming and adaptive to foreign content. The same is reflected across its content consumption pattern. With the advent of OTT, the audience base for foreign movies has increased. Today, foreign language movies are not just for the audiences living in metros, but also for Tier II, Tier III cities where we see the same level of passion for global content.

    On any innovation that the channels adopted in 2021 to build viewership

    As a channel, we try to understand the needs of our viewers and innovate and come up with content matching their tastes and preferences. For example, we were early to recognise the growing affinity of viewers towards Korean content. So, we collaborated with Korean Cultural Centre India (KCCI) to treat viewers to Korean content across Zee Café, &flix and &PrivéHD. Zee Café has added over 300 hours of content post-lockdown to offer relevant content to the existing consumers along with walk-ins.

    While, &PrivéHD targets the niche audience with its premium content. Foreign language content has been an important part of the programming of &PrivéHD for its foreign language movie block ‘World Box Office’. Another disruption in the category was bringing premieres of the biggest Hollywood blockbusters within months of their theatrical release. We launched several properties that allowed TV audiences to watch Hollywood movies in the language of their choice.

    The non-fiction category has been an important part of the Zee Café programming line-up. Foreign shows such as the ‘The Drew Barrymore Show’ and ‘Masterchef’ have been an audience favourite. Indian originals ‘Chef Vs Fridge’ and ‘Dance With Me’ programmed in Hinglish for a wider reach amongst Indian audiences have also managed to build a good base for themselves. A successful season 2 of ‘Dance With Me’ recently concluded, garnering an encouraging response from the viewers on TV as well as social media.

    Our aim has always been to reach out to the right section of the audience basis programming. Hence, we involve a lot of backend research to define the target group. However, in the recent past, there have been multiple changes in the consumption patterns which has evolved the traditional media landscape.

    On the viewership trends for the English language content

    At a macro level, interest in English content is seeing a steady rise and the same is being reflected in the form of viewership numbers. This growth can be attributed to deeper penetration of the English language in various parts of the country. As a result, the acceptance of English content and its consumption has seen an exponential rise. During the lockdown, the TV industry witnessed significant growth in viewership. This was majorly led by more walk-ins, however, the time spent on television has increased too and the same has continued post lockdown as well.

    On the co-existence of TV and OTT

    TV and OTT are here to co-exist. While both mediums sometimes have a consumer overlap, they are quite different in terms of approach. OTT comes with an opportunity of ‘me-time’, television brings ‘we-time’. Also, the audience is always on the lookout for fresh and relatable content. Hence, to satiate the demand both mediums complement each other.

    On the marketing initiatives launched this year

    Consumers have become more adaptive to digital media, and multiple mediums have emerged offering the same. For instance, our ‘First Day First Show at Home’ campaign featuring comic José Covaco garnered an overwhelming response with over nine million views on YouTube. We also hosted a unique interactive live session on the premiere day with José which garnered great engagement on Instagram.

    Moment marketing has found its relevance and context has become the key element in any integrated marketing strategy. To further drive engagement and build visibility for Korean shows on Zee Café, the channel collaborated with ‘Supaarwoman’ fame Supriya Joshi for Diwali special reels with a twist of K-Drama.

    The brand also engaged in consumer connect initiatives such as the recent Flix First Screening contest organised across five cities – Mumbai, Delhi, Chennai, Bangalore, and Hyderabad. As a part of the contest, 350 winners received two tickets each for the special screening of ‘Spiderman: No Way Home’ in their cities. To ensure maximum awareness of the contest amongst the Spiderman fans, we associated with José Covaco who uploaded a video with his daughter garnering 27,000 views on Facebook and 58,000 views on Instagram. Our ad film with Deepak Tijori, Renuka Shahane, and Rohit Saraf also garnered attention exemplifying the need of the right message with the right resources and how simple themes can be molded into clutter-breaking outcomes to fuel consumer engagements.

    Tags: #Retrace2021, Year Ender, 2022, Amit Shah, Zee English Cluster, &flix, &PriveHD, Zee Café, year-ender, Retrace 2021, English channels, English content on TV.