ITV

Tag: Unilever

  • Criteo unveils commerce Max DSP and next-gen retailer monetization suite

    Criteo unveils commerce Max DSP and next-gen retailer monetization suite

    Mumbai: Criteo (Nasdaq: CRTO), the commerce media company, today announced the general availability of its self-service demand-side platform (DSP), Commerce Max, giving brands and agencies a single point of entry to retail media inventory onsite and across premium publishers offsite. Complementing Commerce Max, Criteo is also expanding its retailer monetization solution suite, offering retailers the means to tap previously unattainable demand by paving the way for the integration of marketplace and in-store monetization technologies.

    Retail media has proven extremely successful for retailers looking to grow additional revenue streams and brands and agencies looking to engage consumers actively in a buying mindset. Until now, however, fragmentation across the industry has held retailers, brands and agencies back from reaching their full potential with retail media.

    “Our focus is enabling all commerce-driven companies to buy and sell audiences engaged in shopping. The process has to be frictionless, and it has to solve for fragmentation,” said Criteo CEO Megan Clarken. “With today’s launch, we’re equipping our clients with the right tools to cut through and connect in a more unified retail media ecosystem that ultimately creates more unity across the broader advertising marketplace.”

    Driving Commerce at Scale

    Commerce Max entered market testing in 2022 with leading consumer electronics retailer, Best Buy, and the world’s foremost media investment company, GroupM, as exclusive Alpha partner. Over this period, Commerce Max enrolled 10 retailers including Best Buy, Macy’s and Shipt. Retailers who have completed campaigns have more than doubled conversion rates on average when running both onsite and offsite advertising through the platform.

    Industry Praise for Commerce Max

    “Through Criteo we now have one point of entry to a pivotal retail media network, all within a single platform – Commerce Max – that applies the same KPIs to retail media as those we use for our programmatic buys,” said Unilever club team shopper marketing lead Billy Dyer following another successful test with GroupM and Unilever in which the brand’s conversion rate rose by over 400 per cent.

    “Combining onsite and offsite targeting enables us to focus media spend across a broader part of the shopper funnel while finding the most suitable audiences wherever they are.”

    “Shipt is known for having a unique member community that is loyal to our platform, and when coupled with Criteo’s onsite and offsite products and enhanced personalization features in our full-funnel offering, advertisers have found it to drive an ever greater return for their ad spend,” said Shipt VP, CPG partnerships David Young.

    “We’re excited to be at the forefront of the rollout of the Commerce Max platform, starting with its initial testing phase and now its general availability,” said Mark Heitke, Director of Ad Products and Audience Strategy at Best Buy Ads. “The platform offers a variety of onsite and offsite capabilities, giving our brand partners even more options to reach our audiences in meaningful ways.”

    Now in general availability, brands and agencies across the globe can use Commerce Max to access data and inventory across multiple retailers and marketplaces, finding valuable audiences on these sites and extending these audiences offsite. This is underpinned by closed-loop measurement, enabling advertisers to quickly and efficiently determine the effectiveness of campaigns and optimize accordingly.

    Criteo is a leader and one of the first to bring digital measurement standards to retail media with Commerce Max. Criteo’s partnership with Integral Ad Science allows brands and agencies to measure viewability and invalid traffic on a retailer’s site across all ad formats, including native and sponsored products by 2024.     

    A Unified Approach for Retailers

    The second component of today’s launch is the unveiling of Criteo’s retailer monetization solution suite. This suite marks the next phase in the development of Criteo’s core monetization technology, Commerce Yield, which will not only provide retailers and marketplaces with a complete media toolset but also serve commerce companies such as automakers, movie theatres, transportation services, airlines and more.

    Commerce Yield combines Criteo’s former Retail Media Platform with several solutions derived from recent strategic acquisitions, including

    Commerce Yield Marketplace: Through Criteo’s strategic acquisition of Mabaya, Commerce Yield Marketplace will help monetization officers integrate marketplace tactics and formats.

    Commerce Yield In-Store: The powerful union of Brandcrush and Criteo’s in-store monetization technology, providing advertisers access to a wider range of offline inventory.

    Commerce Yield Insights: Previously called Gradient, a cutting-edge suite of insight and data tools which provides digital-shelf insights to support enterprise-level retail media buys.

    Criteo’s leadership team will unveil more details during a hosted event today, 12 September at 12p.m. Eastern Time. To watch the broadcast, click here.

  • Kantar launches Sensory eValuate in India as a part of its Innovation testing suite

    Kantar launches Sensory eValuate in India as a part of its Innovation testing suite

    Mumbai: – Having worked with marquee clients like, Loreal, Colgate Palmolive, Coca-Cola, Nestle, Pepsi, Johnson & Johnson, Bayer, Diageo, and Unilever globally, Kantar, the world’s leading marketing data and analytics company announces the launch of Sensory eValuate in India as a part of Innovation testing suite. It uses sensory research to help evaluate consumer products using the human senses – touch, smell, sight, sound and hearing.

    Strong brands generate superior shareholder returns, are more resilient in times of crisis and recover more quickly – those investing in innovation saw their brand value increase by 273 per cent. Innovation is the foundation for a brand’s growth and it’s imperative in challenging times, however, most innovation fails. As per Kantar’s Innovation Guide 2021, 15 per cent of new product launches contribute to top-line growth, however, only 20 per cent of new product launches survive. It is therefore more essential than ever to keep the consumer at the heart of product development and understand their modern-day pressure points and desires.

    Driven by scientific expertise, Sensory eValuate helps to develop and optimise superior products; explore, design, or optimise new and existing products to drive consumer satisfaction, repeat purchase and brand loyalty – giving marketers the ability to protect and maximise the value of their brand equity. The solution covers a broad range of categories including food & beverage, fragrance, personal care and beauty, cleaning products, automotive, physical environments, and consumer goods. Catering to three critical stages of innovation aligned to growth – Identity, Build and Launch, Sensory eValuate provides insights through the process in a layered approach. The new offer complements other solutions from Kantar’s eValuate suite of innovation tools, including Idea eValuate, Concept eValuate, Pack eValuate and Product eValuate, to help clients identify growth opportunities. These solutions are highly flexible and can be customised according to client needs.

    Speaking about Sensory eValuate, Kantar lead – innovation, South Asia, insights division Ranjana Gupta said, “Understanding what product formulation best meets expectations requires specific sensory expertise and methods. Sensory eValuate brings insight into the detailed attribute level of formulations, empowering the R&D capability within client organisations for the creation of the ultimate sensory experience. Understanding how flavour, fragrance, surfaces, or sounds interact with consumer perception is crucial for the success of a product. Getting these elements right has the power to positively impact brand equity, demand a premium price, create memories, and establish a sensory signature that underlies long-term success in the market. Complimenting this with salience and a congruent total offer is the secret.”

    Kantar MD & chief client officer, South Asia, insights division Soumya Mohanty added, “Innovation requires continual, ongoing effort to ensure that your pipeline delivers the products that will create growth opportunities. Since 1998, Kantar BrandZ has consistently identified three qualities that are the hallmarks of the strongest brands- meaningful, different, and salient. With the launch of Sensory eValuate in India, brand owners will benefit from staying meaningfully different and ahead of the pack. With a 30-year history in sensory and technical innovation and a total of one million plus consumers surveyed across 90 markets, Kantar’s Sensory eValuate solution can revolutionise product development in India.”

  • Next by Rediffusion names Asheesh Malhotra as executive director

    Next by Rediffusion names Asheesh Malhotra as executive director

    MUMBAI: Next by Rediffusion has roped in Asheesh Malhotra as its executive director. Asheesh joins the Rediffusion group from Dentsu. The launch of Next was announced by Rediffusion on 15 August.

    With over 25 years of experience in the advertising industry, Asheesh has worked in leadership roles at Dentsu, Ogilvy, Lowe and Bates. He has straddled strategy and business functions on global & local businesses alike. He helped launch India’s first private life insurance company, ICICI Pru. He led global business hubs for Castrol and BP across Europe, Asia and also the business of Unilever beverages.

    Asheesh has over the years won the prestigious Effie awards for Unilever, ICICI Pru, Mondelez in India and APAC regions. He has also worked on the launch of Royal Enfield Meteor and Classic and Malabar Gold’s Brides Of India campaigns.

    Additionally, he teaches marketing and advertising students at institutes like SP Jain and Northpoint Center of Learning. He is also on the advisory councils of a couple of universities, and an active member of Intach.

    Asheesh did his schooling at St Edwards in Shimla and went on to pursue his higher studies at Delhi University. Thereafter, he attended the New York Film Academy and studied film and content development. Asheesh is also a certified apple orchardist having grown up in the pristine Kullu valley.

    Welcoming Asheesh Malhotra to Next by Rediffusion, Rediffusion group managing director Dr Sandeep Goyal said, “In Asheesh, we have a true blue-blooded professional who has worked across categories, domains, brands and geographies. I have personally worked with him during his earlier stint at Rediffusion when he was handling the Taj hotels business nearly 20 years ago. We again worked together when he led the Toyota business in Bangalore at Dentsu. Asheesh is client-focused, strategically strong and very good with creative teams. The assignment at Next by Rediffusion is just right for him – a combination of innovation and experience”.

    “This is my second innings at Rediffusion. I love the easy informality at the agency. Also, the wide canvas afforded everyone to do their best. Next by Rediffusion is a rare opportunity for me to create a completely new metaphor in advertising and communication. All soonicorns and unicorns, despite their size and apparent success, need a lot of help with brand building and ideation. We will do just that at Next by Rediffusion”, added Asheesh Malhotra.

    Asheesh Malhotra will be based in Mumbai. Next Rediffusion aims to have offices pan-India in the next 18-24 months.

  • Unilever Professional India eyes portfolio expansion; launches digital distribution network in India

    Unilever Professional India eyes portfolio expansion; launches digital distribution network in India

    Mumbai: Unilever Professional India, also known as UPro, has announced that it will be extending its portfolio under the brand names CIF, Domex, Surf, and Comfort to include products like glass cleaners, air fresheners, degreasers, kitchen hygiene products like dishwasher chemicals, food contact safe surface sanitizers, kitchen sanitizers, laundry care detergents, and fabric conditioners for commercial use.

    The products are designed to meet the daily needs of cleaning experts at an affordable price, providing maximum performance. They are manufactured in India and are suitable for Indian operating conditions.

    It further plans to launch a digital distribution channel through its website to reach small operators in India.

    UPro’s priority would be to tap into food services, hospitality, laundrettes, offices, and schools. The business will also address accessibility issues with how instructions are communicated on the product packs.

    Poor working conditions, lower pay, and societal perceptions make the job of a cleaner less attractive, and it is even tougher for the female workforce. Yet the need for professional cleaning requires an understanding of processes and the right application knowledge of cleaning chemicals. UPro plans to address this issue by making the portfolio simple yet effective and making the guidelines accessible digitally.

    With a product range that is locally manufactured, combined with deep operator insights across geographies and professional usage manuals delivered digitally, UPro promises to make professional cleaning chemicals accessible to all.

  • Mamaearth names ex-Unilever Snigdha Anand as VP – marketing

    Mamaearth names ex-Unilever Snigdha Anand as VP – marketing

    Mumbai: Snigdha Anand has been appointed as the vice president of marketing for Mamaearth, Honasa Consumer. Prior to joining Mamaearth, Anand served an eight-year stint at Unilever, having joined the conglomerate in 2014 in the profile of brand management-HUL Home Care. She went on to handle business for Unilever’s Surf Excel, apart from sales and consumer marketing.

    Sharing the news on LinkedIn, Anand wrote: “Delighted to start a new journey as VP, Marketing, Mamaearth (Honasa Consumer). Looking forward to creating new brands, meeting emerging consumer needs and to work and learn with the most energetic and amazing team!

    Anand’s experience in consumer marketing, trade marketing, and sales in India and Sri Lanka aided her in developing a thorough understanding of consumers, trade, and strategies for managing a consumer products business.She lists as her skill sets: new business development, new media, e-commerce, marketing management, and marketing strategy, among other things.

    An MBA in marketing from the Indian Institute of Management, Lucknow, Anand has been previously associated with Godrej Consumer Products.

  • Cannes Lions Day 2: India secures 20 more shortlists for six categories

    Cannes Lions Day 2: India secures 20 more shortlists for six categories

    Mumbai: After the grand opening success of the Indian contingent on day one of the Cannes Lions Festival of Creativity 2022 with a seven-metal haul, which includes two Grand Prix, three Silvers, two Bronzes and 20 shortlists across five categories, the Indian contingent has clocked in 20 more shortlists on the second day.

    On Day-2 of Cannes Lions 2022, 20 more shortlists for six categories across Brand Experience & Activation (10), Creative Business Transformation (1), Creative Commerce (4), Mobile (4), Creative Effectiveness (1), and Creative Strategy were released.

    Brand Experience & Activation

    In the Brand Experience & Activation category, 10 shortlists were selected from 71 entries from India.

    Ogilvy India has two shortlists for ‘Shahrukh Khan – My Ad,’ while Dentsu Creative India has three for Vice Media’s “The Unfiltered History Tour.”

    VMLY&R’s commerce division received one shortlist for Unilever’s ‘Smart Fill’ campaign, while its advertising division received one finalist for Unipad’s ‘Adeli’ campaign.

    Three shortlists have been compiled by FCB India and FCB Chicago for the Times of India campaign ‘The Nominate Me Selfie’.

    Creative Business Transformation

    In this category, VMLY&R Commerce’s campaign ‘Smart fill’ for Unilever is the only Indian entry on the shortlist.

    From India, 8 entries were submitted in this category.

    Creative Commerce

    In the Creative Commerce category this year, India submitted 14 entries.

    Three shortlists have been announced for VMLY&R Commerce’s ‘Smart Fill’ campaign for Unilever.

    For the campaign ‘Shagun ka Lifafa’ created for Ujjivan Small Finance Bank, McCann Worldgroup India has received its first shortlist.

    Mobile Lions

    ‘The Unfiltered History Tour’ has secured three shortlists in Activation by Location, mobile-led creativity and social purpose subcategories under the mobile category. The campaign for Vice Media has already won a grand prix, one silver, and two bronze.

    Further, out of 19 entries in the Mobile Lions category from India, #NothingCoin for Cadbury 5 Star created by Ogilvy Mumbai has been shortlisted.

    Creative Effectiveness

    Out of 20 Indian entries, DDB Mudra Mumbai’s “Stayfree Project Free Period” was the only one to make the shortlist in the Creative Effectiveness category.

    Creative Strategy

    In the Creative Strategy category, which had 29 submissions, there was no participation from India.

  • Rahul Welde exits Unilever after 31 years

    Rahul Welde exits Unilever after 31 years

    MUMBAI: Unilever’s EVP – Digital Transformation and Digital Business Rahul Welde has decided to move on from Unilever after a stint of more than three decades at the FMCG conglomerate. He made the announcement on social media. While Welde did not disclose details of his future plans in his post, he said he is embarking on a new chapter, adding– “building a portfolio career, charting new waters and fostering the spirit of reinvention”.

    Sharing a pic of himself handing over his Unilever employee pass, Welde wrote: Time does fly. It has been 31 years since I started my career at Unilever on a bright day. What a ride! I am fortunate to have been able to ‘pivot’ my career several times, long before the word became fashionable, all while being in the same company.

    “I have always believed in owning your spirit – in my case, following my mantra of ‘Joy over Success’. And sustaining my undying thirst for the new and left field,” he continued, adding, “Unilever is a great company – just too good to sum up in words. When I completed 30 years I said (and it’s there on Twitter for posterity) – “When you are in the company that long, I guess you really bleed blue. It’s so much more than brands and business – it’s a family.”

    “How does one leave family then? A fork in the road does come though, and it is time to move on from Unilever,” he further added.

    Having joined Unilever as a management trainee back in 1991, Welde was appointed media director – south asia and general manager – media services in 2005. Thereafter, he held various senior positions like VP-media and global VP-Digital Transformation before being elevated to the post of EVP-Digital Transformation in April 2018. He undertook the additional role of EVP-  digital business at the British multinational in February 2020.

  • Interactive Avenues onboards Pranali Sarkar as Associate VP- Media Planning

    Interactive Avenues onboards Pranali Sarkar as Associate VP- Media Planning

    Mumbai: Interactive Avenues – A Reprise Network Company, the full-service digital agency of Mediabrands India, has onboarded Pranali Sarkar as associate vice president, media planning. Sarkar will be tasked to scale up and add greater value to the current capabilities under the agency’s media planning function.

    Talking about the appointment, Interactive Avenues – A Reprise Network Company CEO Amardeep Singh said, “As more brands are committing to the digital transformation journey, we strive to fuel meaningful business outcomes with precise targets and that’s where Pranali comes in. Her experience and portfolio are a perfect fit for our integrated business and complement our data-driven philosophy. We are excited to have her onboard and wish her all the success.”

    With over 15 years in the industry, integrated media planning and strategy is core to Sarkar’s area of expertise, according to the agency. She has seasoned expertise in FMCG, and Telecom categories, and her diverse portfolio features some of the top advertisers in the country including Unilever, Mondelez, ITC, Godrej, and Reliance, to name a few.

    About her new role, Sarkar said, “Interactive Avenues’ reputation precedes itself. The company is in a highly competitive industry and leading from the front in all-round media capabilities. All this backed by a dynamic leadership team that I am thrilled to be a part of. I am looking forward to using this opportunity to further elevate and enhance the existing media function by crafting new-age solutions for client and agency business outcomes alike.”

    Sarkar was last working with Fulcrum, heading the Unilever Personal care category where she spearheaded multiple campaigns for iconic brands like Dove, Closeup to name a few. She has also worked with Madison where she helped set up and lead their integrated media planning teams.

  • WPP hits 2023 target in 2021; FY revenue stands at £12801 million

    WPP hits 2023 target in 2021; FY revenue stands at £12801 million

    Mumbai: London-headquartered global communications company WPP on Thursday announced its 2021 preliminary results with the full year and Q4 financial highlights. The full year continuing operations reported revenue at £12801 million (+6.7 per cent), against 12,003 in 2020. The company posted £1,494 million operating profit for the full year (£1261 million in 2020). Profit before tax stood at £1365 million, against £1,041 million last year.

    “It has been an outstanding year for WPP. Our top-line growth, driven by strong demand for our services in digital marketing, media, e-commerce and technology, has resulted in our fastest organic growth for over 20 years. As a result, we are two years ahead of our plan, hitting our 2023 revenue target in 2021,” said WPP CEO Mark Reed.

    “Cash generation continues to be very strong, underpinned by efficiencies achieved in our transformation programme, allowing us to make significant investments in our offer and reward our people for their huge contribution, while returning over £1 billion in cash to shareholders through dividends and share buybacks,” he added.

    The company is looking forward to 2022 with confidence, guiding to strong top-line growth, improving profitability and continued investment in people and services.

    Reed shared that the company has made substantial strategic progress, creating the world’s leading board-level communications firm through the merger of Finsbury Glover Hering and Sard Verbinnen, and acquiring capabilities in AI, commerce and technology services to leverage across all of WPP for future growth.

    “As clients seek to accelerate their growth and transform how they reach customers, the depth, breadth and global scale of our offer – which combines creativity with technology and data, through Choreograph, and the largest global media platform in GroupM – is proving its value for existing and new clients. The talent, dynamism and commitment of our people have also shone through. Our extensive partnership with The Coca-Cola Company, the expansion of our work with Google and the continuation of our longstanding relationship with Unilever demonstrate the value that three of the world’s leading marketing organisations place in WPP,” stated Reed.

  • Kellogg onboards Prashant Peres as MD, India & South Asia

    Kellogg onboards Prashant Peres as MD, India & South Asia

    Mumbai: Breakfast cereals manufacturer Kellogg India has announced the onboarding of Prashant Peres as managing director for the India and South Asia markets. In this role, Peres will be based in Mumbai and steer the business forward in its endeavour to serve consumers with its wide array of food offerings.

    Mohit Anand, who joined Kellogg in 2017 and served as managing director, India & South Asia, has been elevated to the role of general manager, snacks portfolio for Kellogg AMEA (Asia Pacific, Middle East and Africa), based in Singapore.

    “We are pleased to appoint Prashant Peres to lead the Kellogg South Asia business. We believe that his strong experience will help build on our sustainable growth momentum in the market, develop our talent, and bring more food innovations to our consumers,” said Kellogg AMEA president Shumit Kapoor. “Mohit is an excellent leader with rich India and Asia experiences gathered over the years. I am excited to have him join us here in Singapore and unlock the potential of the snacks category across markets.”

    Peres is an FMCG industry veteran, with nearly 25 years of experience in the foods, snacks, beverages and personal care categories across diverse markets in Asia, ANZ and Africa. He joins Kellogg from Mondelez International where he led the Indonesia business as president and MD. Prior to this, he led the chocolate business for Mondelez in India. 

    Prior to that, Peres was with Unilever as vice president for foods, South Asia. His earlier stints include several senior roles in sales and marketing at Unilever in the South Asia region, Turkey, Africa, Middle East, South East Asia, and China.

    “The challenge of leading a business in India is always thrilling, but more so when it is a legacy brand such as Kellogg,” said Prashant Peres. “I am looking forward to step into this role and play a part in augmenting Kellogg’s commitment to serving its consumers and communities with its wide range of cereals and snacks. We are in an exciting place as a business with a fantastic opportunity for nutritious food offerings before us. I am looking forward to growing it further along with the passionate team at Kellogg South Asia.”