MxMIndia

Author: mxmadmin

  • To boost morale for the 19th Asian Games

    Sony unites sports journalists in campaign for 2022 Asian Games

    By Our Staff

     

    Sony Sports Network unveils a campaign for the 2022 Asian Games. With an extraordinary lineup of luminaries, including esteemed personalities like Chief of Defence Staff, General Anil Chauhan, Sudha Murty, Amitabh Bachchan and Kapil Sharma, the campaign aims to ignite the nation’s fervour for this multisport extravaganza.

     

    The film also has a lineup of sports journalists from publications such as Dainik Jagran, Dainik Bhaskar, Rajasthan Patrika, The Telegraph, Deccan Chronicle, and regional newspapers including Dinakaran, Lokmat, Eenadu, Gujarat Samachar, Sandesh, and Asomya Pratidin. Additionally, it features RJs from popular radio channels like Radio City and Radio One, along with representatives from leading news channels Aaj Tak and NDTV 24X7.

     

    With ‘Iss Baar Sau Paar,’ Sony Sports Network aims to rally the entire nation, uniting millions of hearts, and minds, to stand beside our athletes as they strive for excellence and glory. This campaign is a resounding call to break barriers, inspire champions, and witness the remarkable journey of India’s sporting triumphs at the 2022 Asian Games.

     

  • Features Varun Dhawan and Mahesh Babu

    Laqshya Media Group unveils campaign for Santoor soap

    By Our Staff

     

    Laqshya Media Group unveils an OOH campaign for Santoor, the flagship soap brand of Wipro Consumer Care and Lighting. The campaign, featuring  Varun Dhawan and Mahesh Babu, aims to maximise sales by leveraging product offers and strategic pricing strategies.

     

    Said Prasanna Rai, CMO and Head of E-commerce Business, Wipro Consumer Care and Lighting: “Outdoor is a key component in our media mix as it enables us to precisely target clusters of interest and deliver the intended message. In Laqshya, we found an ideal partner who executes campaigns fast and at scale and makes our executions more impactful. Their creative inputs are invaluable as they understand how to use the medium best. Our partnership with Laqshya is now a long-term one.”

     

    Amarjeet Hudda, COO, Laqshya Solutions, added: “At Laqshya Media Group, we are committed to establishing strong partnerships with brands that embody innovation and excellence. The collaboration with Wipro is a true honour for us, and we take great pride in delivering our dynamic and contextually relevant regional content to empower the brand Santoor. Leveraging our exceptional creative capabilities, we are executing a highly impactful multilingual campaign across eight states, amplifying Santoor’s unique selling proposition. With an extensive reach spanning 100+ towns and massive urban and semi-urban areas coverage, we strive to deliver exceptional results exceeding every campaign’s expectation.”

     

  • To drive the company's advertising and marketing campaigns

    Carlsberg Group selects iProspect as new media agency

    By Our Staff

     

    The Carlsberg Group appoints iProspect  as the new media agency to drive the company’s advertising and marketing campaigns across all markets.

     

    With iProspect’s support, Carlsberg aims to establish an integrated media strategy and execute impactful campaigns that resonate with consumers, ensuring its brands remain relevant and influential across all the Groups markets.

     

    Said Søren Brinck, Chief Commercial Officer at Carlsberg Group: “We are thrilled to have selected iProspect as our global media partner. Their comprehensive, creative, and innovative approach, combined with their range of cutting-edge tools and strategies, convinced us that they are the ideal choice to drive our marketing and our brands’ to new heights. We are eager to collaborate closely with iProspect and leverage their expertise to achieve our objectives.”

     

    Added Amanda Morrissey, Global Client & Brand President, iProspect: “Sometimes things just feel right and ‘click’. For us, this was an immediate reaction from our entire international team, across all markets, when we started this pitch process with Carlsberg and, we understood straightaway what needed to be done. With a shared passion for the brands and their success, an ambition to create new opportunities to create meaningful connections with the consumer and a cultural connection that united us, we felt the spirit of partnership throughout. We can’t wait to get started and work together to create some of the best media work in the industry.”

     

    Vinod Thadani, Chief Digital Growth Officer, Media, Dentsu India & CEO, iProspect India said: “We are proud to have the Carlsberg Group as a client. The strategies presented are deeply rooted in the agency’s vision blended with a future-centric approach. We are excited to produce some fantastic innovation-led, tech-enabled media campaigns that will provide a huge thrust to the brand to reach its business objectives. Congratulations to the entire team for their tireless work on the pitch.”

     

  • It allows brands to engage with the aspirational customer to upgrade through the brand ladder, writes Avik Chattopadhyay

    Democratising luxury

     

     

    By Avik Chattopadhyay

     

    On July 3, Harley-Davidson launched the x440 motorcycle in India at a starting price of Rs.2.27 lakh, in partnership with Hero MotoCorp. Two days later, in partnership with Bajaj Auto, Triumph, yet another luxury motorcycle badge, launched the Speed 400 at a starting special offer of Rs.2.23 lakh.

     

    While the auto-journalist fraternity had been expecting competitive offers by both luxury brands on their measured re-entry into the Indian market, they were sure taken aback by the price points. This was in Royal Enfield territory, they unanimously exclaimed. For a moment, the RE stock price also dipped, the boffins at Dalal Street taken aback by the aggressive posture two traditionally legendary luxury brands had taken.

     

    Two quintessentially exclusive brands had taken the decision to ‘democratise luxury’!

    It was almost as if they were paying a tribute to a man who had disrupted the haute couture world a few decades ago by democratising fashion and making his label affordable to millions of aspirants. Pierre Cardin’s birth anniversary was on the July 2.

     

    A flurry of questions come to mind.

     

    What makes a traditional luxury brand go democratic?

    Is it driven by the left or the right brain? Is it to primarily increase market share or to endear oneself to a larger base of customers?

     

    In the implementation of the decision to democratise, does the brand remain the same or a new one is created? If the brand is retained, does the promise and experience remain the same? If a new brand is created, does it operate independently of the mother brand, or is there an umbilical cord?

     

    Lastly, has it worked?

     

    First and foremost, one must be clear about the ethos of the word “luxury” before we even make an attempt at finding answers. Does luxury mean the experience or the exclusivity or the price point? Or is it a combination of all? Or does being luxurious not necessarily mean it is only meant for a few and comes at a commensurate price point to ensure exclusivity? I remember an interaction I had with my boss Frederic Fabre in Peugeot. We were working on a new car for India, way back in 2011, against a very competitive price point. When the prototype was shown I was taken aback by its styling and luxurious interiors. Frederic smiled and said, “Whatever is cheap does not need to look and feel cheap!”

     

    Luxury, according to me is a state of mind, at any price point. For, the benchmarks are different for different socio-economic strata. If a brand decides to address only one stratum, so be it. If it wishes to address multiple strata, it is most welcome.

     

    Mercedes-Benz offers the A-class alongside the S-class, at two different price points, with different performance characteristics and creature comfort features, but with the core luxurious experience remaining intact in both. The A-class offers an experience unmatched by others in the same price band. The experience keeps getting enhanced as one goes up the ladder. The moment Mercedes-Benz took the strategic call to explore a segment at a lower price point than the A-class, it realised it had to compromise with its experiential promise. Hence it created a new brand called “Smart”.

     

    BMW and Audi too stretched the brand downwards with their X1 and A1 respectively.

     

    Similarly, when Louis Vuitton decided to experiment with a new consumer segment of the young and the restless which was not an advocate of traditional luxury, it created a separate brand called ‘Trash & Soul’. Though the brand did not last for long, it was surely a bold step of a talismanic luxury brand to think outside the box, literally.

     

    Pierre Cardin tried the same with mixed results. He wanted to make his label accessible to people down the socio-economic chain. For this, he franchised his name across product categories, right from perfumes to ballpoint pens and even keyrings. His logic was that millions across the world wanted a piece of his creation, so what if they could not afford his couture. They could certainly belong to the global Pierre Cardin family by even owning a keyring.

     

    Does it always work? For Mercedes-Benz it did. For Pierre Cardin, it did not. For the simple reason that the former was intent on not compromising with the ownership experience while the latter, sadly, lost the plot there. Cardin had a terrific idea terribly executed. I would want to definitely own a pen carrying his famous logo and signature at Rs 1000 but would not want to buy it from the local stationery store. I would aspire to walk into a Pierre Cardin store that houses all his creations and rub shoulders with someone buying a Rs.10,000 linen shirt, carrying the same logo. I become part of the same family and I walk out feeling as exalted as the other gentleman.

     

    Brands like Armani and TAG Heuer possibly learnt from this blunder and got the implementation right. The Formula 1 watch, though eight times cheaper than the Link, was available at the same store, as were the spectacle frames, rubbing chain-links.

     

    Democratising luxury allows the brand to engage with the aspirational customer into encouraging gradual upgrades through the brand ladder…from the Formula 1 to the Aquaracer after 5-7 years finally to the Link. The customer basks in the ownership journey while the brand grows in profits, without diluting the brand essence which Cardin ended up doing.

     

    This is exactly what both Harley-Davidson and Triumph are attempting in their re-entry into the world’s largest two-wheeler market. Earlier, they were way too exclusive. Now they are within the reach of thousands who wish to own a piece of motorcycling legend. The rider on the x440 will be rubbing shoulders with the rider on Softail and feel the same pride in being a HOG family member. The day the x440 customer is treated like a Hero customer because of the price point, thee shall be a re-exit soon.

     

    And yes, I simply hate the word “masstige”. Whoever has coined it has the same sense of warped humour as the one who coined the word ‘phygital’. What H-D or Triumph or M-B or TAG have done do not make them masstige brands. They remain iconic luxury brands. Just that they have democratised the luxurious experience to reach out to many more aspirants. And prove that Monsieur Cardin was conceptually right, after all!

     

  • A serious question for a Friday, but it was important that we asked. So here's Dr Bhaskar Das in the July 14 edition of Das ka Dum. Read on…

    Das ka Dum with Dr Bhaskar Das | There is a movement in the UK for advertisers, marketers, and PR professionals to cut ties with companies involved with fossil fuels. Do you see this happening in India?

    Bhaskar DasA serious question for a Friday, but it was important that we asked. So here’s Dr Bhaskar Das in the July 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. There is a growing movement in the UK for advertisers, marketers, and PR professionals to cut ties with companies involved with fossil fuels. Do you see this happening in India as well? And if it does, will the various players pay heed?

     

    A. I can’t argue against businesses and brands that have the responsibility to contribute to building a better world. And millennials and GenZs are pretty concerned about some such issues, as all public domain research suggest so.

     

    But, in many ways, we as human beings aren’t as sapient as we project our behaviour in a socially acceptable manner. My intention doesn’t purport to be pessimistic. I am observing all around me (not necessarily a representative sample) dominant behaviour patterns that are not necessarily always environmentally conscious. I am conscious that one can’t expect 100% of humanity would shift to a socially and environmentally behaviour overnight. In fact a snowball effect usually happens for any shift in behaviour when the new generation becomes the harbinger of an attitudinal metamorphosis.

     

    Coming to behaviour of Indians (both consumers and marketers), I don’t see any behavioural shift would happen in the near term. There are economic reasons of course. We have not seen such a big shift in case of the advanced economies who are allegedly responsible for a socially irresponsible behaviour for anything to do with climate change, poverty, war etc. I feel it would be a slow burn for any impactful behavioural shift , but as a beginning, I wish, such a shift towards responsible corporate behaviour starts forthwith.

     

  • The resilience of brand Bachchan cuts across not just the general audience but even the elite, said Gera Developments MD Rohit Gera

    Big B is Brand Ambassador of Gera Developments

    By Our Staff

     

    Pune-based Gera Developments has signed on actor Amitabh Bachchan as Brand Ambassador.

     

    Said Rohit Gera, Managing Director of Gera Developments:  “We are delighted to have legendary actor Mr Amitabh Bachchan as the face of Gera Developments. Mr Bachchan is the ultimate Outdoer and he embodies the Gera brand mantra to Outdo.  With a long and exemplary career, he has reinvented himself year after year and continues to be one of the most respected film personalities. This was important for us at Gera as stability and trust are our key brand attributes.  We saw an immediate resonance with brand Gera especially our trendsetting ChildCentric Homes. The resilience of brand Bachchan cuts across not just the general audience but even the elite.”

     

  • Jha was a part of the Meta India Leadership team

    Snehi Jha is Head of Mindshare Fulcrum – South Asia, joins from Meta

    By Our Staff

     

    Mindshare has announced the appointment of Snehi Jha as Head of Mindshare Fulcrum, South Asia.

     

    Jha’s career began at Mindshare Fulcrum in 2002, where she spearheaded strategic media planning for the skin care and oral care sectors. Most recently, she was a part of the Meta India Leadership team.

     

    Commenting on the appointment, Amin Lakhani, CEO – South Asia Mindshare, said, “I am delighted to welcome Snehi as Head of Mindshare Fulcrum. Snehi’s vast experience and exposure to Platforms, Brand and Media make her the ideal leader. I am confident in her deep industry knowledge and her passion for innovation and DEI which will undoubtedly accelerate good growth and deliver exceptional value to our esteemed client Unilever.” Jha will report directly to Lakhani.

     

    Added Jha: “I am thrilled to re-join Mindshare, a company that has always been close to my heart. I look forward to working with the talented team at Mindshare Fulcrum and leveraging our collective expertise to deliver outstanding results for Unilever. Together, we will unlock new opportunities, drive innovation, and create meaningful connections in an ever-evolving media landscape.”

     

  • The blitz is conceptualised by Lowe Lintas Delhi

    Lowe Lintas campaign for HP Chromebook

    By Our Staff

     

    Leading laptop brand HP India has launched its latest range of HP Chromebook laptops with a multi-film campaign conceptualised by Lowe Lintas Delhi.

     

    Said Prashant Jain, Chief Marketing Officer, HP India: “We are delighted to introduce this new campaign for HP Chromebook. This product is designed to empower learners by offering them the flexibility to collaborate, learn, and unleash their creativity on their own terms.”

     

    Speaking on the campaign, Vasudha Mishra, Regional Creative Office, Lowe Lintas Delhi said: “How to communicate the product benefits strongly and evocatively has been the core of this campaign. Mohit Pasricha and his team have clearly left no experience unturned in coming up with this delightful series.”

     

     

  • Cycle Pure Agarbathi has launched a new ad campaign to promote Cycle Naivedya Cup Sambrani

    Cycle Naivedya Sambrani unveils new ad film

    By Our Staff

     

    Speaking on the campaign, Arjun Ranga, Managing Director of Cycle Pure Agarbathi, said, “The Naivedya Cup sambrani is yet another progressive innovation from Cycle that aims to keep Indian tradition alive for the benefit of future generations. The films show a progressive portrayal of the older generation who introduces the younger generation to the convenience of lighting the cup sambrani. As a brand, we thrive on continuous innovation and have a legacy of 75 years of original product creation. The cup sambrani paved the way from the creation of a cup sambrani segment in the market. We feel humbled to be able to contribute creatively and meaningfully to india’s rich legacy and keep our time-honoured traditions alive”.

     

     

    View this post on Instagram

     

    A post shared by Cycle.in (@cycle.in_)

  • Disability takes a backseat as the media focuses on tribal vote bank politics in MP viral video case

    Shruti Pushkarna: Crime against a disabled tribal reduced to vote bank politics

    By Shruti Pushkarna

     

    Shruti PushkarnaThe increased discourse on diversity and inclusion has brought another term into common parlance, intersectionality. It refers to the interconnected relationship of social categorisations like gender, race, caste, colour, sexual orientation, disability and so on. Intersectionality is about the different aspects of a person’s identity that make him or her vulnerable to discrimination and oppression. For instance, within disability, women with disabilities are said to be doubly marginalized, because of their gender as well as physical and/or mental limitation.

     

    At the recent Nasscom Global Inclusion Summit in Bengaluru, this term was repeatedly referred to, by DEI (Diversity, Equity & Inclusion) experts, corporate honchos, inclusion advocates and activists. I was part of a workshop on Inclusion in Technology Products and Services, where groups of professionals engaged in an activity to understand day-to-day challenges faced by diverse identities. And quite a few participants found it hard to comprehend scenarios where more than one form of diversity added to the complexity of the problem and made it that much more complicated to solve. So, while people may find it easier to talk about transgender and disabled identities separately, their combination becomes convoluted. And the myriad perils in the daily life of a transgender with disability appear overwhelming.

     

    But why am I ranting about intersectionality and complex ostracised identities?

     

    Recently, I woke up to a rather disturbing video shared in multiple WhatsApp groups. It was the video of a man urinating on the face of another man, and the incident took place in Sidhi, Madhya Pradesh. As I scrolled through my messages and Twitter feed, I discovered that the victim was a person with mental illness and a member of a tribal community. He was also poor. This intersectionality certainly made him powerless in many ways, compared to the perpetrator.

     

    As one tweet indicated, the heinous act was carried out by a representative of the ruling party’s MLA in reaction to the tribal labourer’s demand for wages. Another layer of power politics in the societal hierarchy.

     

    https://twitter.com/KashifKakvi/status/1676211020522741760

     

    Thanks to social media, the viral video circulated at light speed, and several reactions poured in, condemning the monstrosity of Pravesh Shukla. Exasperated with the imagery of gross inhumanity, I eagerly awaited news reports highlighting the crime.

     

    News media couldn’t ignore the story. Several headlines cited the brutal act, labeling it shameful and outrageous. And Shukla was soon arrested. A crime was committed, someone recorded and released it to the public. A hue and cry ensued. The offender was caught.

     

    Seems right, doesn’t it? Except it isn’t. The media and political narrative around the incident stripped away the intersectional identity of the victim. What was emphasised in the reportage was his tribal identity juxtaposed with the political allegiance of the culprit. Apart from The Print which merely stated, ‘mentally ill tribal’, I didn’t find any reporting mentioning disability and the stigma experienced by lower caste poverty-stricken persons with disability. There was no mention of how disability often becomes the grounds for abuse because their existence is seen as a burden on the ableist society.

     

    It was far more sensational to focus on the tribal identity which ignited a debate between the ruling party, opposition, and activists. Especially with the Madhya Pradesh elections coming up later this year. The conversation shifted from the victim who is mentally ill and deprived in more ways than one, to vote bank politics and hypocritical hurls between power-hungry leaders.

     

    Congress Leader Kamal Nath hailed his party as the Scheduled Tribes’ messiah,

     

     

    Protesting activists rallied support for Schedules Castes (SCs) and Scheduled Tribes (STs), demanding action against the crime,

     

    मध्यप्रदेश में गरीब आदिवासी व्यक्ति पर पेशाब करने वाले भाजपा के युवा नेता प्रवेश शुक्ला की यह शरारत और उद्दंडता असहनीय है। आदिवासियों के प्रति बीजेपी का यह असली चेहरा है। मप्र प्रशासन प्रवेश शुक्ला के विरूद्ध एससी एसटी एक्ट के तहत कड़ी कार्यवाही करें। #ArrestPraveshShukla pic.twitter.com/Yd95jIak1i

    — Hansraj Meena (@HansrajMeena) July 4, 2023

     

    In response, Chief Minister Shivraj Chouhan invoked National Security Act against the accused and resorted to dramatic antics, washing the victim’s feet while making tall claims of respect for every citizen.

     

    यह वीडियो मैं आपके साथ इसलिए साझा कर रहा हूँ कि सब समझ लें कि मध्यप्रदेश में शिवराज सिंह चौहान है, तो जनता भगवान है।

    किसी के साथ भी अत्याचार बर्दाश्त नहीं किया जायेगा। राज्य के हर नागरिक का सम्मान मेरा सम्मान है। pic.twitter.com/vCuniVJyP0

    — Shivraj Singh Chouhan (@ChouhanShivraj) July 6, 2023

     

    Both national and international media accentuated caste politics in India, specifically underlining the 1.53 crore underserved tribals of Madhya Pradesh and the 82 odd assembly seats reserved for SCs and STs.

     

    While this is an equally pertinent issue which requires media and political attention, the layers of marginalisation didn’t seem to attract any prominent response from either group. Disability like always took a backseat, once again only confined to raging discussions among the disability rights advocates.

     

    I guess calling them ‘divyang’ absolves humanity of all crimes.

     

    So why are we publishing this column on an A&M site? Well, we strongly feel that the media can dramatically transform the world of persons with disabilities. And this series can help bring forth issues that the media must champion to create a truly inclusive and accessible India. To write this column, we invited Shruti Pushkarna, a former journalist who is now a disability inclusion advocate based in New Delhi. Her views here are personal. To access the archives of her 75-odd columns, please visit: https://www.mxmindia.com/category/ columns/shruti-pushkarna/

     

    If you have a view on the issues raise or would like to align with MxMIndia on this cause, write to us at editor [at] mxmindia.com.

     

  • What's your view on the issue? Read the response by Dr Bhaskar Das in the July 17 edition of Das ka Dum and decide for yourself. Read on…

    Das ka Dum with Dr Bhaskar Das | Former HUL boss Sanjiv Mehta has said his successor is going to face stiff competition from homegrown players. Would you say that hyper-competition will only improve life for us consumers? Or will it get more complicated?

    Bhaskar DasWhat’s your view on the issue? Read the response by Dr Bhaskar Das in the July 17 edition of Das ka Dum and decide for yourself. 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. Former Hindustan Unilever boss Sanjiv Mehta has said his successor is going to face stiff competition from homegrown players (Reliance, Adani and numerous smaller players). Would you say that hyper-competition will only improve life for us consumers? Or will it get more complicated?

     

    A. I agree with Mr Mehta’s observation. In fact it’s true for every FMCG category. One the one hand, there is intensification of regional players, both at price level and substitute/ alternative level. On the other, there is the entry of new players with deep pockets and staying power (read more and sustained ability to absorb loss and deeper understanding of Indian market).

     

    Coming to your second point, there are two possible ways of looking at it which you have included in your question ie yes too many options might demand/ compel a more calibrated engagement on the part of consumers. Note: the intensity of competition would compel organisations to focus on innovation, brand-building, leveraging technology to improve services and continuously engage with their stakeholders through both analytics and ethnographic insights.

     

  • Produced by Ogilvy

    Dove Men+Care is back with a film

    By Our Staff

     

    Dove Men+Care, men’s grooming brand, is back with a film that captures the transformation of the modern man.

     

    Commenting on the brand film, Harman Dhillon – Vice President – Skin Care, Colour Cosmetics and Dove Masterbrand said: “Our brand has been built with a spotlight on superior care. With the launch of Dove Men+ Care, our purpose is to inspire every man to experience the transformative effects of care on themselves and those around them. This philosophy is deeply ingrained in our products, which provide the care men need without sacrificing on performance. Our first launch is the 2-in-1 Shampoo+Conditioner that exemplifies our unwavering commitment to offering exceptional care. In our latest brand film, we deliberately chose a football match as the backdrop, to beautifully showcase the power of care even amidst fierce competition.”

     

    Added Zenobia Pithawalla – Senior Executive Creative Director & Mihir Chanchani – Executive Creative Director, Ogilvy: “Dove Men+Care is created for the new age man, who understands the power of care. In this communication, we show how modern men in the most competitive scenarios, won’t shy away from revealing their caring side. Dove Men+Care celebrates men who do not bow down to the stereotypes of masculinity – men who are comfortable showing their caring side and take great pride in self-care.”