ITV

Tag: #VocalForLocal

  • Five companies redefining success with #VocalForLocal initiative

    Five companies redefining success with #VocalForLocal initiative

    Mumbai: In the spirit of #VocalForLocal, a movement that resonates deeply in India, companies across the nation are actively championing local businesses.

    Amid India’s growing emphasis on the #VocalForLocal movement, these companies shine brightly, demonstrating that expanding their global presence doesn’t mean compromising their local roots. They not only rejoice in the vibrant tapestry of Indian cultures but also play a pivotal role in nurturing and sustaining local businesses. These impactful campaigns go beyond fleeting trends, serving as a resounding reminder that championing homegrown art and artisans is a dynamic movement that not only captivates consumers within India but reverberates globally.

    Today, let’s turn our focus to five companies that have wholeheartedly embraced the #VocalForLocal ethos in India, seamlessly integrating it into their campaigns with authenticity and impact.

    Protium:

    Championing MSMEs: Protium takes center stage in the #VocalForLocal movement, advocating for and supporting micro, small, and medium enterprises (MSMEs). The campaign reflects their dedication to empowering small businesses, addressing the challenges they face in a competitive market, especially during festive season.

    Protium is guided by a strong moral compass to support small businesses, which often grapple with the challenges posed by intense competition and the allure of more expensive alternatives.

    Protium reaffirmed its commitment to the #VocalForLocal campaign, carrying forward the spirit that has ignited positive change over the past years. The campaign’s essence revolved around the idea of encouraging individuals to embrace and support local businesses, with a special focus on Micro, Small, and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs), the backbone of our nation’s economy.

    This resounding success of the campaign underscored Protium’s commitment to the #VocalForLocal principles, emphasizing that collective efforts truly empower small businesses and fortify our local economy.

    MobiKwik:

    Local merchant partnerships: MobiKwik, another prominent player in the Indian fintech space, has collaborated with local merchants to promote digital payments. Their initiatives often focus on supporting local businesses and driving financial inclusion, aligning with the #VocalforLocal campaign.

    MobiKwik’s strong focus on financial inclusion and commitment to serving traditionally underserved markets, such as tier two, three, and four cities, rural areas, and lower-income brackets, sets them apart from its peers. At MobiKwik, the digital payment services have been used in 19,103 pin codes out of 19,253 in India, covering 99.2% per cent of India’s PIN codes.

    At MobiKwik, innovation has been a driving force for us to differentiate ourselves in a highly competitive landscape.

    Paytm:

    Local Initiatives: Paytm, one of India’s leading fintech companies, has been active in promoting local businesses through its platform. They have supported various local campaigns, encouraging users to shop from nearby stores and promoting local merchants.

    PhonePe:

    Boost for Local Merchants: PhonePe, a popular digital payments platform, has been actively involved in initiatives to support local businesses. They have introduced features and campaigns to encourage users to transact with local merchants, contributing to the #VocalforLocal movement.

    Razorpay:

    Empowering small businesses: Razorpay, a fintech company specializing in payment solutions, has shown support for local businesses through various initiatives. They have provided tools and technologies that empower small businesses, aligning with the ethos of the #VocalforLocal movement.

  • Protium’s #VocalForLocal Diwali campaign highlights small businesses

    Protium’s #VocalForLocal Diwali campaign highlights small businesses

    Mumbai: As Diwali, the festival of lights, approached, Protium reaffirmed its commitment to the #VocalForLocal campaign, carrying forward the spirit that has ignited positive change over the past years. The campaign’s essence revolved around the idea of encouraging individuals to embrace and support local businesses, with a special focus on micro, small, and medium enterprises (MSMEs), the backbone of our nation’s economy.

    Launched on 8 November, Protium’s Diwali campaign seeked to rekindle the spirit of supporting local businesses, a concept that has gained momentum in recent years. The campaign kickstarted with a heartwarming video featuring a young girl making a conscious choice to shop at a local shop named “Diwali Chirags” instead of visiting malls or opting for big retail chains. This action not only echoed the campaign’s message from the previous year but also served to underscore the powerful impact of individual choices on the livelihoods of local vendors. It aimed to inspire individuals to prioritize local businesses, fostering a deeper connection to the community, especially during festive seasons.

    Protium, an advocate for MSMEs, is guided by a strong moral compass to support small businesses, which often grapple with the challenges posed by intense competition and the allure of more expensive alternatives. The core objective of the #VocalForLocal campaign was to empower and boost these enterprises by driving business in their direction. Protium’s Diwali campaign culminated in a fun celebration in which employees from across the organisation gathered to revel in the festival of lights, fostering a sense of community and support for small businesses. The highlight of the festivities was a vibrant Diwali Mela organized by the employees which echoed the campaign theme and showcased a diverse array of products and crafts, emphasizing the richness and uniqueness of offerings by local enterprises and artisans. This resounding success of the campaign underscored Protium’s commitment to the #VocalForLocal principles, emphasizing that collective efforts truly empower small businesses and fortify our local economy.

    The Diwali campaign symbolised Protium’s commitment to nurturing local businesses, fostering community support, and igniting a sense of responsibility towards sustaining our economy at the grassroots level. In line with this commitment, Protium has chosen to lead by example. For their in-house decorations, they consciously opted to shop from local establishments. In doing so, Protium embraces the philosophy of “being the change they wish to see in the world.” Protium believes that every small step contributes to the larger movement of supporting local enterprises and fostering a resilient, interconnected community.

    This Diwali, Protium encouraged everyone to join the #VocalForLocal movement yet again and take a step towards supporting local businesses, not only during the festive season but as an enduring commitment. The brand believes that together, we can illuminate the path for small businesses to thrive and make our nation’s economy even stronger.

  • Kiko TV rebrands as ‘assisted shopping’ app

    Kiko TV rebrands as ‘assisted shopping’ app

    MUMBAI: Kiko TV has announced its repositioning from a short format video app to an assisted shopping experience platform, making it India’s first AI-powered video and live commerce platform in the assisted shopping segment.

    Launched a few months ago amidst the pandemic, Kiko TV has been witnessing a 30 per cent month-on-month increase in the social commerce vertical and will now be focusing on the growing market opportunities present within the same. The start-up will be investing heavily in building the same by acquiring a larger user database and building an aggregator community for sellers.

    In the current pandemic, with buyers not able to go to retail outlets or malls to shop, the experience of shopping is missing. Buyers are looking to get a live shopping experience digitally from their favourite stores and brands and Kiko TV aims to fill this gap and provide a solution to this exact need by introducing a two-way live video communication stage between merchants and buyers. Users of the app can now enjoy a seamless shopping experience and discuss the product with the seller before purchasing it. Keeping the current #VocalForLocal and #MadeInIndia sentiment, Kiko TV will feature products from local Indian vendors only.

    The new business model will be entirely spearheaded by Kiko TV co-founder and CEO Shivam Varshney. He will be responsible for bringing in partnerships, associations and newer ways of growth strategies. Varshney is an IIT Bombay alumnus and has been closely associated with Kiko TV since inception.

    Said Varshney said, “With the social commerce market booming in India and all businesses looking at new ways of reaching out to customers, we foresee this as an excessively big opportunity to capitalise and grow in. Live bidding, live shopping, live interaction with the vendors is a space that is not tapped yet and holds the potential to thrive. Kiko TV will be focusing on this in the coming months.”

    Kiko TV has been adding new features and updates on a regular basis to provide users a new experience every time they come on the app. The start-up is consciously putting in efforts to provide the best when it comes to social commerce. Kiko TV is available on both android and iOS and the app has crossed 120k downloads since its launch, with a weekly increase in the active users by 20 per cent

  • “We are focusing on ROI marketing spends”: EaseMyTrip’s Nishant Pitti

    “We are focusing on ROI marketing spends”: EaseMyTrip’s Nishant Pitti

    NEW DELHI: The travel industry had come to a standstill until domestic flights resumed. EaseMyTrip.com co-founder and CEO Nishant Pitti shares that the situation for the travel industry is slowly improving with a daily increase in the number of passengers for domestic travel. 

    “The fear of the virus is depleting, and people have started to accept the condition and travel ensuring precautions. We expect that a new normal shall emerge within this quarter itself and to remain constant till a cure for COVID2019 is developed, post which the whole sector will quickly grow to pre-COVID2019 level and further continue its growth from there,” he says.

    After the recent call by prime minister Narendra Modi for the 'Vocal for Local' campaign, the brand is aggressively promoting its localisation vision with the help of celebrities like Kangana Ranaut, Ajay Devgn, Emraan Hashmi and Gautam Gambhir. The 12-year-old Indian company has over 8.81 million customers and a strong B2B network of more than 52,752 registered travel agent partners and 10,477 corporate customers.

    Pitti says, “Many top celebrities, realising the need for VocalForLocal, came together and supported EaseMyTrip for being 100 per cent Indian which took the internet by a storm. With a huge reach through celebrities, the brand has been able to reach out to millions of people who will definitely consider supporting EaseMyTrip in all their future travel bookings.  This has further strengthened the trust of our customers on EaseMyTrip and given us an opportunity to attract new customers and retain them with our customer service and offerings.”

    While flights have resumed, customers are apprehensive about hotel stays. “The need of the hour for the whole industry is to understand the apprehensions of the customers and adopt processes that would calm their anxiety. Hoteliers should go the extra mile to ensure the health and safety of travellers at every touchpoint by adopting practices that would ensure maximum precaution from the spread of the virus. EaseMyTrip feels that there is a major role that OTAs will play in driving responsible and sustainable practices in the tourism industry,” he says.

    Pitti affirms that marketing plays a huge role in educating customers as well as staff members. He says, “Marketing mediums like digital, TV, newspaper, radio, etc., help in reaching out to the wider audience and alerting them with the required information to curb the spread of the virus. In addition to mass media, focussed marketing through audio-visuals for customers and staff can help in wider retention of information towards safe practices.”

    However, the brand has restructured its marketing plans for this year. Pitti says, “The travel market has reduced significantly, with only a percentage of bookings taking place. Our marketing spends have always been proportional to the revenues earned by the organisation and hence, we have restructured them with a greater focus on high ROI marketing spends.”

    Pitti feels until like last year, the festive season will not be the same for the tourism sector, though it will bring some positivity in the sector. “There will be an uptick in transactions, but this uptick would be very small in comparison to the splurge that was seen during the festivities of pre-COVID2019 times.”

    The brand has plans to come up with big campaigns once the travel sector is back in shape. The medium for the campaign shall be a mix of both digital and offline sources, with a focus on digital platforms.