MxMIndia

Author: mxmadmin

  • About 63% Indian consumers to cut back non-essential spending

     PwC tables 2023 Global Consumer Insights Pulse Survey

    By Our Staff

     

    PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) tabled its 2023 Global Consumer Insights Pulse Survey, which captured the views of 9,180 consumers across 25 territories.

     

    According to the survey, consumers globally are weighed down by concerns around cost of living and personal finances. Around 74% of Indian respondents say they are concerned about their personal finance situation, as opposed to 50% globally. 63% of Indian consumers are cutting back non-essential spending altogether, according to the 2023 PwC Global Consumer Insights Pulse Survey, which captured the views of 9,180 consumers across 25 territories. In India, the survey included 500 Indian respondents across 12 metros, tier-1 and tier-2 cities of India (Mumbai, Delhi-NCR, Bengaluru, Visakhapatnam, Chennai, Kochi, Kolkata, Nagpur, Jalandhar, Hyderabad, Meerut and Rajkot). Out of these, 57% of the respondents were male and 43% were female.

     

    The survey also found most Indian consumers expecting to reduce their expenditure across all surveyed categories over the next six months, a significant decline in planned spend across all categories since the previous pulse survey in June 2022. Industries, including luxury and premium products, travel, and fashion, expect to see the greatest portion of consumer spend reductions over the next six months, whereas the groceries segment is expected to decline the least.

     

    Sharing insights from the survey, Ravi Kapoor, Partner and Leader – Retail & Consumer, PwC India said: “PwC’s latest Global Consumer Insights Survey for India drives home the key message of ongoing financial stress in the lives of the consumers, where 75 percent of them are very concerned about their financial situation. This sentiment will have a potential restraining effect on spends in highly discretionary categories of electronics and luxury. Consumers will continue to demand world-class buying experiences in both physical and digital channels with work cut out for brands to reduce costs, enhance availability, and for ‘going local’. The silver lining here remains the unequivocal growths in adoption of digital channels and the desire to spend more on travel in the coming months.”

     

    Consumers, globally, are shifting their consumption habits in-store and online as the cost-of-living surges and supply chain disruptions impact product availability and delivery times. As a result, almost half (45%) say they are buying certain products when on offer/promotion, 44% are looking to retailers offering better value, 38% are using comparison sites to find cheaper alternatives, 36% are buying in bulk to save cost, and 33% are buying retailers’ personal brands for better savings.

     

    Supply chain disruption is shifting in-store/online consumer behaviour

    Half of the Indian consumers (50%) said rising prices remain the most frequently experienced issue when shopping in-store, supply chain issues also dominate with larger queues and busier store locations (35%), along with product availability (28%), which is also impacting consumer behaviour.

     

    Luxury/premium product industry to see decline in consumer spend

    Consumers are planning to reduce their spending across all surveyed retail categories over the next six months, with the greatest decrease forecast in luxury/premium products or designer products (38%), virtual online activities (32%), consumer electronics (32%) and fashion products (clothing and footwear) (31%). However, there remains an appetite for future spend, with 38% indicating they will look to treat oneself/others, whereas 54% view them as better quality. Travel (30%) and groceries (21%) had the least reported planned spend reduction.

     

    Vocal for local (Sustainable products are in demand from consumers)

    Despite a planned spend reduction and a challenging economic environment, consumers say they are still willing to pay more for sustainable products. Overwhelmingly, more than 88% are willing to pay higher for a product that is produced/sourced locally, or made from recycled, sustainable, or eco-friendly materials (87%), or produced by a company with a reputation for ethical practices (87%).

     

    Metaverse: Early-stage adoption strong, executives recognise the importance of risk management, cyber security and governance

    Adoption of the Metaverse as a shopping channel is still in its early stages, however, the medium remains under-utilised, with only one-quarter (23%) of Indian respondents familiar with the term. The largest portion of these users have primarily employed the Metaverse for virtual reality (VR), i.e., playing games or watching a movie (20%), experiencing the virtual world through the retail environment or a concert (13%), or purchasing a digital product, such as a Non-Fungible Token, or NFT (17%). Millennials (36%) are most likely to use the Metaverse, especially in countries like India (48%), Vietnam (43%), and Hong Kong (42%).

     

    All the while, as online shopping continues to grow in volume, consumers are increasingly weary of data privacy. 65% of respondents are extremely or very concerned when interacting with social media companies, third-party/portal travel websites (54%), healthcare (59%), and consumer companies (58%). As a result, 41% respondents do not share more personal data than they must, 37% opt-out from receiving communications from these companies, and 38% have overall reduced their interaction with these types of companies.

     

  • Urge to upgrade to large screen TVs to enjoy ongoing cricketing season

    Flipkart and Shikhar Dhawan team up for new TVC

    By Our Staff

     

    Flipkart has launched its latest advertising campaign ‘Time to Move on and Upgrade with Flipkart!’ featuring Shikhar Dhawan. While focusing on promoting attractive offers on large-screen TVs through sellers during the ongoing cricket season, the campaign also encourages consumers to upgrade or exchange their old TVs for a better viewing experience. With Shikhar Dhawan as the protagonist, the campaign aims to reach out to consumers who are considering upgrading their TV sets, as well as those gearing up to enjoy the cricketing season.

     

    Jagjeet Harode, Vice President, Large Appliances at Flipkart, said: “The television segment has rapidly evolved in recent years, and Flipkart is committed to providing access to a wide selection of smart TVs from various brands to meet the changing needs of customers. We are delighted to collaborate with ace cricketer Shikhar Dhawan to bring the best of the cricket season to our customers’ homes. With this association, we expect to bring a fresh wave of engagement with viewers, making it an ideal time to upgrade with Flipkart – adding a new dimension of excitement and entertainment to the lives of our customers.”

     

  • On 'Media Controls: Regulations, Denial of Access & Curbs on Press Freedom'

    Editors Guild to hold conclave today

    By Our Staff

     

    The Editors Guild of India, an organisation dedicated to protect freedom of press and raising the standard of editorial leadership of newspapers and magazines, has organised a conclave on ‘Media Controls: Regulations, Denial of Access & Curbs on Press Freedom’.

     

    The conclave is scheduled for Friday, April 14 and will take place via Zoom, according to a press release.

     

    There will be five sessions one each and eminent journalists, editors and writers will discuss regulations and controls in different areas of reporting namely Politics, Sports, Business, Films and Legal issues.

     

    Those participating are –

    Ms. Mrinal Pande,Sankarshan Thakur,Umakant Lakhera in the political segment while on challenges in reporting on Ayaz Memon, Mr. Chandra Shekhar Luthra and Sharda Ugra. will share their views. The session will be moderated by Pradeep Magazine.

    Those speaking on constraints in Business reporting are Paranjoy Guha Thakurta and T.N. Ninan. The session will be moderated by Anant Nath.

    Speakers on the session on films include Mayank Shekhar, Shobhaa De and Anuradha Raman. This session will be Moderated by Nandini Ramnath.

    In the session on legal reporting we will hear Sanjay Hegde and Samanwaya Rautray. This session will be moderated by KV Prasad.

     

    The Guild welcomes wider participation and those wishing to attend the Conclave can write to the Editors Guild of India on info@editorsguild.in for Zoom link or can join live proceedings at organisations Facebook page –Facebook.Editors Guild.

     

  • To leverage its expertise to help the fintech giant deepen market penetration

    Lodestar retains PhonePe’s integrated media mandate

    By Our Staff

     

    Lodestar, media agencies, announced that it will continue to drive PhonePe’s integrated media strategy for the third consecutive year. As a part of the extended partnership, Lodestar will leverage its extensive experience and expertise to develop media campaigns that will help the fintech giant deepen its market penetration and reach new audiences. Lodestar’s mandate for PhonePe spans the entire media spectrum across mainline, digital, out of home, and special projects. The account will continue to be led out of the agency’s Bengaluru office.

     

    Commenting on the extended partnership, Aditi Mishra, CEO, Lodestar UM said: “We are thrilled to continue our association with PhonePe and support their growth trajectory. Our team is committed to delivering innovative and effective media campaigns that will help PhonePe consolidate its position as a leader in the fintech space. We look forward to driving the brand’s success and achieving our shared goals together.”

     

    Ramesh Srinivasan, Director & Head – Brand Marketing, PhonePe added: “Over the last two years, Lodestar has been a great media partner for us, and it gives us immense pleasure to continue our partnership. We aim to leverage the IPG group’s expertise to further our growth ambitions on the marketing side, as we expand our footprint from payments and financial services to shopping, wealth management as well. Looking forward to a successful partnership for both organizations this coming year.”

     

    Speaking about the important development, Hema Malik, Chief Investment Officer, Mediabrands India said, “We appreciate PhonePe’s continued trust in us as their business partners and are committed to providing innovative media partnerships that will help them achieve their business goals. We look forward to continuing our successful collaboration with PhonePe and contributing to their growth and success in the fintech industry.”

     

  • He becomes the eighth cricketer in RISE Worldwide’s talent management vertical

    Rise Worldwide signs budding cricketer Tilak Varma

    By Our Staff

     

    RISE Worldwide Ltd, a Reliance company and India’s leading Sports, Lifestyle & Entertainment Company, has signed cricketer Tilak Varma, to its talent roster. Tilak becomes the eighth cricketer in RISE Worldwide’s roster,

     

    As part of the association, RISE will represent Tilak with his brand image positioning and all commercial engagements including brand partnerships/ endorsements, appearances, social media monetisation, and licensing among others.

     

    Nikhil Bardia, Head of Sponsorship Sales and Talent, RISE Worldwide said: “At RISE, we aim to leverage our work of creating brand journeys for our talents, in tracing Tilak’s brand trajectory. We understand the strategic requirements in Tilak’s career right now, and our focus will be to identify unique opportunities and aligning with innovative, forward-thinking partners to grow Brand Tilak. With him, we continue to focus on identifying, nurturing, and unlocking the brand potential of talent in sports.”

     

  • Urges women to remain true to their identity

    Titan Raga films latest TVC with brand ambassador Alia Bhatt

    By Our Staff

     

    Raga by Titan,  announces the launch of its latest campaign, Love Yourself Boldly. Featuring the dynamic and feisty, Alia Bhatt, the new TVC urges women to unapologetically be themselves.

     

    Sirish Chandrashekar, Marketing Head at Titan, said: “We are thrilled to launch the #LoveYourselfBoldly campaign which aligns with the brand’s continued endeavour to normalise a woman’s choice to put herself above all else. The philosophy is reflective in the evolution of our product designs and powerful storytelling, that has found strong resonance with young contemporary women of today. Having broken several preconceptions in her own journey, Alia Bhatt is an ideal choice to augment the message of the campaign.”

     

    Puneet Kapoor, Chief Creative Officer, Ogilvy South, added: “Isn’t it great when a fabulous brand asset, like the Titan tune, can be adapted and used creatively to convey different messages and connect with audiences in new ways? In this case, it delivers a bold ‘no’ in the face of the judgments the world throws at you. Only when you love yourself boldly, can you confidently reject these judgments to cultivate self-love.”

     

  • Is expected to provide viewers with a seamless TV viewing experience

    ABP Network partners with Samsung TV Plus

    By Our Staff

     

    ABP Network has announced the launch of its all six TV news channels – ABP News, ABP Ganga, ABP Asmita, ABP Sanjha, ABP Majha, and ABP Ananda – on Samsung TV Plus, the free, ad-supported service from Samsung. This partnership is expected to provide viewers with another touchpoint to connect with the award-winning content and unbiased journalism that ABP Network has delivered over the last two decades.

     

    This partnership is expected to provide viewers with a seamless TV viewing experience and access to a wide range of content. With Samsung TV Plus at the forefront of streaming services in India, ABP Network is poised to extend its reach and provide its content to a broader range of viewers.

     

    Commenting on the partnership, Vijay Jung Thapa, Chief Digital Officer, ABP Network, said: “We are thrilled to partner with Samsung TV Plus to bring our channels to their viewers. This is a great opportunity for us to expand our reach and make our content available to a wider audience. At ABP Network, we take pride in delivering programming that promises the highest quality and depth. We are confident that our viewers will appreciate the rich and diverse content that we bring to their screens. Our commitment to excellence is unwavering, and we are excited to forge a long and successful partnership with Samsung TV Plus.”

     

    Added  Kunal Mehta, Head Business Development, Samsung TV Plus India: “We are excited to welcome ABP Network’s channels to our platform,” “Samsung TV Plus is committed to providing its viewers with a wide range of content choices, and this partnership with ABP Network is a testament to that commitment. We believe that our viewers will appreciate the quality and depth of ABP Network’s programming, and we look forward to a long and successful partnership with them.”

     

  • Has collaborated with FCB Interface

    KamaSutra unveils new campaign

    By Our Staff

     

    KamaSutra, from Raymond Consumer Care, has collaborated with FCB Interface to launch a campaign to promote the brand’s latest suite of innovative sexual products, spearheaded by the Longlast variant.

     

    Sharing her opinion on the campaign, Pooja Sahgal, CMO, Raymond Consumer Care, said: “Our strategy is to bring out a behavioural change in the Indian consumers about sexual wellness. The brand focus is not only focusing on promoting just sexual wellness, but to offer an elevated pleasurable sexual experience, giving consumers reasons to use a condom. We want India to be aware and to make the switch to safer choices without compromising on pleasure. That’s been our line of thinking even for the innovations and product line up we aspire to bring to the world soon.”

     

    Rakesh Menon, National Creative Director, FCB Interface, added: “Couples are more adventurous these days and are seeking newer experiences in bed. Through this ad, the brand wants to encourage them to explore new heights of pleasure and intimacy with its range of condoms.”

     

  • A serious Friday question, but should set each of us thinking on the road ahead. Here's Dr Bhaskar Das in the April 14 edition of Das ka Dum. Read on…

    Das ka Dum with Dr Bhaskar Das | You’ve written about the need to upskill on all things digital. So which one first: Metaverse or ChatGPT?

    Bhaskar DasA serious Friday question, but should set each of us thinking on the road ahead. Here’s Dr Bhaskar Das in the April 14 edition of Das ka Dum. Read on…

     

    If you wish to access the archives, please go to the Das Ka Dum tab on the website’s top navigation bar or click here: https://www.mxmindia.com/category/columns/das-ka-dum/

     

    Q. You’ve written about the need to upskill on all things digital. So which one first: Metaverse or ChatGPT?

     

    A. There is no ideal prescription for digital upskilling that would have market- (read employers or for becoming an entrepreneur) attractiveness. It can’t be which one is first one to be upskilled at.

     

    I can give an indicative list of skills that would accentuate the capabilities that the job market would prefer. I would hasten to add that digital upskilling has no full stop. Today’s upskilling may be tomorrow’s redundant expertise. So individuals have to be always in a beta state when it comes to upskilling as those skills have to be always at cutting edge to be in sync with anything that has repercussions on business outcomes and consumer experience.

     

    Here are the possible areas for upskilling:

    • Expertise in leveraging Social Media. ..

    • Search Engine Marketing (SEM) …

    • Data Analytics, actionable Insights generation

    • Engaging Content generation for Brand and corporate provenance

    • Marketing through email (permission marketing and not intrusive )

    • Mobile Marketing…

    • Strategy and Planning (future backwards) for business growth and its sustenance

    • Web3.0 that includes AR/VR, Blockchain and Metaverse

    • Leveraging ChatGPT for better engagement with various stakeholders (not to treat ChatGPT as an adversary but as a collaborative accelerator).

    • Social Selling and the art of social listening (important for earned media, reputation management in a post-truth ecosystem).

     

    Needless to say, this list may be outdated by next week. It may appear as an exaggeration but, as they say, only the paranoid survive. It may be noted that ideally all of the above or at least a combination of some/many of them need attention in terms of upskilling.

     

  • There is a whole tranche of journalists – and this is not new – who are so full of blood lust that they revel in vigilante actions and apply their twisted codes to pretend that they are indeed more moral than most, writes Ranjona Banerji

    Ranjona Banerji: Working hard to increase divisions?

    By Ranjona Banerji

    Ranjona BanerjiIndian TV channels have worked extremely hard over the past few years to increase social divisions and increase Hindu-Muslim hatred and violence.

    What a sweeping statement, you might say.

    But is it?

    Primetime “debates” regularly take up topics like “Are Hindus in danger?”, shout about socially regressive practices in non-Hindu communities, especially amongst Muslims, deny the existence of caste discrimination. All this does is to inflame and instigate.

    This level of open majoritarian – in this case Hindu – sentiment since 2014 is unprecedented, and I include the Ram Janmabhoomi movement here.

    It is not just confined to RSS/BJP propaganda channels and websites but to what constitutes the “mainstream media”.

    So out of curiosity, I checked the websites of three channels, known for their Islamophobia, to see how they had covered the news that members of the Hindu Mahasabha had been arrested by the UP Police for slaughtering a cow and trying to implicate Muslims during Ram Navami.

    News18 had nothing.

    India Today and Times Now both had reports. But they were so garbled and so full of ensuring that we knew that Muslims had also been arrested that it was hard to pin down what had actually happened.

    https://www.indiatoday.in/india/story/hindu-mahasabha-workers-slaughtered-cows-themselves-to-cause-communal-violence-up-police-2357323-2023-04-08

     

    https://www.timesnownews.com/india/how-cow-slaughter-case-in-agra-turns-out-to-be-handiwork-of-hindu-mahasabha-leaders-four-arrested-article-99467999

     

    The Wire explained it better than most:

    https://thewire.in/communalism/agra-cow-slaughter-hindu-mahasabha-arrests

    Obviously, a right-wing Hindu group with close ties to the RSS which tried to provoke sectarian violence during a sensitive time does not lead to a prime-time debate titled “Are Muslims in India in danger”. Most bluster and flying spit was spent on some Indian student being disqualified for Islamophobia from some internal election at the London School of Economics. Immediately, Hindus were in danger. But Hindus provoking riots in India? Don’t be silly.

    Instead, we have the spectacle of the Indian mainstream media celebrating extrajudicial encounter killings in UP. As they celebrated the illegal bulldozing of Muslim homes and properties in UP, even going to the extent of gleefully posing with the earthmovers used by the authorities.

    Have we as a community failed to educate ourselves on the importance of rule of law and jurisprudence? Or have we just been lax and celebrated the uniform as unquestionable, rather than hold to account those in uniform who do not follow procedures and laws?

    There is a whole tranche of journalists – and this is not new – who are so full of blood lust that they revel in vigilante actions and apply their twisted codes to pretend that they are indeed more moral than most.

    The entire concept of presumption of innocence is anathema to them. And thus, as we have seen most shamefully since 2014, so is democracy. It is one thing when stray individuals think like this. Internal checks and balances then apply. But when entire newsrooms behave in this manner?

    And thus from the coverage of the police chase for a UP gangster to the “encounter death” of his son, we have been trapped in one more travesty of basic journalism.

    Here are “live updates”, to add sensational masala to the “story”:

    https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/umesh-pal-murder-case-live-updates-atiq-ahmad-son-asad-killed-in-encounter-in-jhansi/liveblog/99458491.cms

    Like everything else which the mainstream media does, this is carefully calibrated to raise the UP chief minister to a higher pedestal rather than to hold him to account.

    You fool yourself if you think otherwise.

     

    Ranjona Banerji is a senior journalist and commentator. She writes on MxMIndia on Tuesdays and Fridays. Her views here are personal.

     

  • Retail media is set to draw over a quarter ($93.8bn) of all search adspend this year, notes Warc

    Search is King!

     

     

    Search marketing is on the cusp of its most consequential transformation since Google first introduced its sponsored keyword search auction over 20 years ago, and the more recent introduction of the use of data and algorithms to provide greater personalisation in search results.

    Now a third era of search beckons – one defined as much by image or video as text, and by artificial intelligence and natural language processing, in which marketers shift from targeting keywords to targeting intent and context.

    WARC Media’s latest Global Advertising Trends report, Search 3.0, explores the impact of retail media on advertisers’ paid search investments, the growing role of social platforms on search journeys, and the rise of generative AI search.

    Author of the report, Alex Brownsell, Head of Content, WARC Media, says: “The search market is on the cusp of an era of innovation. Google’s long-standing market dominance is set to come under unprecedented pressure as consumers pivot away from text-based search towards discovery on social, generative AI reinvents the search experience, and the explosive growth of retail media, the majority of which is search-orientated, continues.”

     

    Steady growth for search, even in tough times

    Amidst an ongoing digital ad market slowdown, traditional search spend (excluding retail media) is proving to be resilient. While global advertising investment is forecast to grow just 2.9% to $907.2bn this year, paid search, the largest media channel by ad spend globally, is set to increase 6.2% according to WARC Media.

    40% of the global search market is in the US, where WARC Media forecasts a robust 12% growth rate this year, taking its value to nearly $100bn.

    In APAC, where social commerce is far more established, paid search’s share of advertising budgets falls to 17%. Japan, the APAC market outside of China with the biggest search spend, is forecast to see search investment expand to $7.4bn in 2023. In China search spend is expected to grow to ¥131bn ($19bn).

     

     

    The search market, including retail media, is forecast to reach $350.4bn in 2023

    Retail media has transformed the search advertising market over the last few years. According to WARC Media and GroupM forecasts, total search advertising spend, is set to be worth $350.4bn this year, of which just over a quarter (26.8%) will come from retail media, valued at $93.8bn.

     

     

    As brands commit more budget towards retail media, and the number of platforms increase, marketers may be forced to make trade offs where their ad spend goes. Advertisers will also need to rethink their approach to paid search and SEO, and particularly how their brands show up towards the bottom of the purchase funnel.

     

    Search experiences are fragmenting across platforms

    Younger audiences increasingly favour searching for information and inspiration on visual platforms such as TikTok, Instagram, Pinterest and YouTube or RED, Douyin and Zhihu in China. According to data from GWI, in 2020, 19.2% of internet users turned to TikTok to search, rising to 27.5% last year.

    As search evolves into a “system for exploration” and search strategies diverge depending on category and demographic, Google’s dominance of the global search advertising market is being challenged.

    According to WARC Media, whilst Google remains the dominant force in search and is forecast to earn $176.4bn in advertising revenue in 2023, its share of total search, which includes retail media, is set to drop from 51.0% in 2021 to 50.4% in 2023.

    Over half (53%) of global advertisers surveyed by WARC for The Marketer’s Toolkit 2023 report said they plan to increase ad investment with Google this year, down from 59% the previous year.

     

    Generative AI threatens to disrupt search behaviour

    A race has begun to develop the most compelling AI chatbot search product. Microsoft plans to incorporate OpenAI’s ChatGPT – estimated to have become the fastest-growing app in history, reaching 100 million monthly active users in only two months – into Bing.

    However, as it stands, Bing is only forecast to earn a 5.2% share of the global search market in 2023, per WARC Media. Yet the news was deemed a “code red” situation for Google, which has subsequently rushed to launch Bard, its conversation technology.

    The arrival of generative AI will cause major considerations for brands, such as how paid ads will fit into the conversational nature of the content, the partiality of chatbot responses, risk of content misinformation and misalignment with brand guidelines.

     

    Download a complimentary sample report of WARC Global Ad Trends: Search 3.0 here.

     

    Global Ad Trends, is a quarterly report which draws on WARC’s dataset of advertising and media intelligence to take a holistic view on current industry developments. It is part of WARC Media, which provides rigorous and accurate benchmarks aggregated and verified from over 100 reputable sources, empowering media decision makers to plan strategies with precision. WARC Media is available by subscription.

  • At the Abby One Show Awards 2023

    Avinash Pandey to chair Abby Broadcaster Jury

    By Our Staff

     

    Avinash Pandey
    Avinash Pandey

    Avinash Pandey, CEO of ABP Network, will chair the Broadcaster Jury at the Abby One Show Awards 2023. The Abby Awards will be held on May 24-26 at Goafest 2023.

    Pandey is President of the News Broadcasters & Digital Association (NBDA) and also the President of the International Advertising Association (IAA) India Chapter. He is also the Director of the Digital News Publishers Association (DNPA) and a former Director of the Indian Broadcasting Foundation (IBF).

    Said Pandey on his appointment: “Being part of the Broadcaster jury for ‘Abby One Show Awards’ gives me an opportunity to reflect on the state of the media, the only business perhaps where truth is tested every minute, every day, every year.”