MxMIndia

Category: MARKETING

  • The transaction will involve transfer of all key assets, including intellectual property rights, supply agreements and third-party manufacturing agreements

    Marico picks up Paras personal care brands from Reckitt Benckiser

    By A Correspondent

     

    Marico has bought the personal care business of Paras Pharmaceuticals from UK consumer goods giant Reckitt Benckiser, edging out Emami. While announcing the deal, both Marico and Reckitt Benckiser declined to disclose the financial details.

     

    But two industry officials familiar with the negotiations said the maker of Parachute Hair Oil has paid Rs600-650 crore for the privately-held Paras Pharma’s personal care brands such as Zatak deodorant, Set Wet hair gel and Livon hair serum. This is much lower than Reckitt Benckiser’s original demand of Rs900 crore, they said.

     

    Morgan Stanley was the exclusive financial advisor to Reckitt Benckiser on the deal.

     

    Marico CMD Harsh Mariwala said the deal will help the company target the youth who now drives demand in the country’s consumer space. “All these brands are youth-oriented, fast growing and have low penetration,” said Mr Mariwala

     

    The transaction will involve demerging the personal care business of Paras Pharma into a separate company, Halite Personal Care India, in which Marico will acquire 100 per cent stake. This will involve transfer of all key assets, including intellectual property rights, supply agreements and third-party manufacturing agreements.

     

    Marico will fund the acquisition through a mix of internal accruals, equity and debt.

     

    Reckitt Benckiser acquired Paras Pharma in December 2010 for Rs3,260 crore, in one of the biggest acquisitions in the Indian consumer goods sector.

     

    The maker of Dettol Anti-septic and Disprin pain killer was more interested in Paras’ healthcare products such as Moov pain-relief ointment and Krack heel care lotion, and decided to sell the personal care business. Financial analysts say it is a good buy for Marico.

     

    “The acquisition will help Marico to move from a dominant hair-care portfolio to skin-care and personal care, which is a bigger opportunity,” said Shirish Pardeshi, executive director and research co-head at Anand Rathi Securities. Marico’s key products in India include hair oil Parachute and edible oil Saffola.

     

    With the new deal, it will get six brands – Set Wet, Livon, Zatak, Eclipse, Recova and Dr Lips – expected to have a turnover of more than Rs 150 crore in FY12. Paras brands are among the top three in the hair gel, male deodorant and hair serum categories.

     

    According to industry estimates, the deodorant category is growing at a rate of 40 per cent a year, hair styling gel at 25 per cent and hair serum at 30 per cent.

     

    Marico CEO (consumer products business) Saugata Gupta said the integration will be easy since the company has domain knowledge in the acquired categories through its operations in Vietnam and the Middle East.

     

    Source:The Economic Times

    Copyright © 2012, Bennett, Coleman & Co. Ltd. All Rights Reserved

  • Contribution of premium items is growing in most FMCG categories, giving a breather to marketers fighting rising input costs and slowing overall demand

    Young urban users and modern trade boost demand for premium FMCG products

    By A Correspondent

     

    Makers of packaged food and personal care products are increasingly focusing on premium products as rising aspirations of young urban consumers and widening reach of modern trade help boost demand for high-value, high-margin products.

    Contribution of premium items is growing in most FMCG categories, giving a breather to marketers fighting rising input costs and slowing overall demand, particularly in rural areas.

    “Consumers are moving from value-added products to products that offer value benefits,” said Shirish Pardeshi, executive director and co-head, research, at Anand Rathi Securities.

    Big retailers play a key role in increasing demand for premium products within a category, by helping companies directly engage with consumers.

    Future Group, the country’s largest retailer, has reported premiumisation in the last several quarters. “Consumers are upgrading and there is not much impact of the external economic scenario,” said Devendra Chawla, president, Future group food and FMCG businesses.

    Mr Chawla said the trend of premiumisation is high in categories like soaps – the premium variants (priced above Rs 35 per soap bar) accounts for 40 per cent of sales at Big Bazaar – biscuits and detergents.

    Premium cream biscuits and cookies are growing 20-25 per cent a year, double the pace of mass variety Glucose and Marie biscuits, according to Parle Products, the country’s largest biscuit maker.

    Contribution of Glucose and Marie to the biscuit market has slipped to around 55 per cent from 65 per cent in the past one year, according to B Krishna Rao, group product manager of Parle Products.

     

    SUPERMARKET DRIVE

    Modern retail has been the saving grace for FMCG companies that had warned of slower growth this fiscal, more so after they had to resort to multiple price hikes of up to 15 per cent due to increases in commodity costs and pressures on margins.

    Retailers such as Future Group and Spencer’s Retail have reported rise in average purchase size of most product segments, confirming the premium drive.

    Anand Mour and Shariq Merchant, analysts with financial services firm Ambit Capital, wrote in a report in January that growth is moderating in rural India, but aspirational consumption of young urbanites is driving premiumisation. Expansion of modern retail, which accounts for less than 10 per cent of the country’s Rs2 lakh crore retail market, will facilitate this premium drive.

    A recent Nielsen study expects Indian shoppers to increase spending on FMCG at modern retail to $5 billion, or about Rs24,700 crore, by 2015 from $1.8 billion, or Rs8,900, in 2011.

     

    NEW PRODUCTS

    “Absolute price is no longer the only consideration, the price benefit equation is what needs to be managed,” says Jayant Kapre, president of McVitie’s India, a subsidiary of British confectionery firm United Biscuits. The firm has rolled out a premium range of McVitie’s Hob Nobs biscuits.

    Now Nestle is expected to launch a chocolate dessert called Fudge priced at Rs200, according to industry insiders. GSK has launched Horlicks Gold at a 30 per cent premium and within six months it has generated sales equal to 3 per cent of the more than Rs1,500-crore flagship brand. Marico, Dabur and ITC are all gung-ho about such products.

     

    Source:The Economic Times

    Copyright © 2012, Bennett, Coleman & Co. Ltd. All Rights Reserved

     

  • E-shopping could get a major boost as familiar & friendly grocery stores come online

    Networking the neighbourhood kirana @ AaramShop

     

     

    Aaramshop, a venture that makes shopping for essentials in FMCG and CPG (Consumer Packaged Goods) easy with just a click of the mouse, may be just about seven months old but has been making steady progress. As the name suggests, it is about shopping aaram se, the difference being that it has brought the local kiranas/ banias/ mom-n-pop store on its platform thus making possible for consumers to purchase their daily needs online and what better than it is delivered by your trusted neighbourhood shop that you have been visiting all this while. Aaramshop.com has partnered with1400 independent retailers across the country and plans to grow this number significantly by the end of the year.

    A concept that has not been tried before especially in the e-commerce where its largely dominated by players catering to travel, gifts and apparels and even when there are few who have ventured into selling grocery, fruits and vegetables, the AaramShop model is different as it is bringing into its fold the existing local shops into its domain. Vijay Singh, CEO & Managing Director, AaramShop, talks to MxMIndia’s Tuhina Anand in an exclusive interview and explains the concept behind his venture and the dynamics behind the ever-changing face of e-commerce in India.

     

    In the last few months that you have been running AaramShop, what has been some of the key learnings?

    It is always fantastic to see raw thoughts and ideas turning into reality – and that’s what being happening at AaramShop over the last 7 months. We launched the site in mid-June last year and it was the one of its kind of venture, anywhere in the world, so we did not really have clear benchmarks to follow.

     

    So far, almost all our thoughts and ideas have been reinforced and we are very positive about the future of what we have created. Every member of the brand marketing & retailing eco-system has embraced the idea of AaramShop with enthusiasm.

     

    How do you see the venture going further?

    Today, we are the commerce partner to over 1,400 independent retailers across the country and we will grow this number multi-fold by the end of the year to ensure that every household in the top 10 cities can order their preferred FMCG brands via their trusted independent neighbourhood retailer (AaramShops as we call them) and get it at their doorstep in a matter of a few hours. We intend to scale to approx 20,000 AaramShops.

     

    We are starting to see brands integrating the advantages of the AaramShop platform within their digital marketing assets. This will extend the integration to all marketing initiatives by brands, including print ads, social media, campaign sites, and so on, as it will enable to them to ensure a critical last mile connect.

     

    In a move to make the online shopping experience exciting, AaramShop has introduced its unique product listing option that envelops the shopper in a complete brand experience. The innovation would enable marketers across FMCG / CPG categories to take advantage of the proliferation of online videos and all other digital content and consumers’ increasing engagement with that content.

     

    You have said that AaramShop is just a platform and your revenue model is not dependent on it. Can you elaborate on the revenue model?

    We don’t believe that the typical e-commerce models would work for the FMCG/CPG brands, predominantly on account of absence of deep discounting by brands and the fact that FMCG brands are extremely well distributed across the country and widely available across 12 million plus stores across the country.

     

    At AaramShop, we believe there is no need for more shops (on-ground or online) – the opportunity, however, is in making the existing shops available on the web so that the consumers can do their shopping with added ease, without needing to trudge down to the market.

     

    AaramShop, therefore, has been created as a hybrid retail platform for sales and marketing of FMCG/CPG brands to busy urban consumers. The platform offers the consumers the convenience of selecting from thousands of FMCG brands and then leverages the strengths of neighbourhood retailers to ensure last mile fulfillment of the orders.

     

    AaramShop is a free-to-use platform, not just for the consumers, but also for the retailers and, therefore, it does not disrupt the financial arrangements that the brands have already put in place.

     

    We have created a number of premium opt-in services for brands to use to connect in a more meaningful manner with consumers. These premium services are predominantly built around analytics-driven marketing, advertising options online and offline, AaramShop centric opportunities, and so on. Our revenue model is centred on premium services and brands have started to use some of these services.

     

    Buying grocery online, what are some of the logistics nightmare that you have faced in the last few months?

    Since the last mile of our model is completely managed by independent retailer partners who undertake the warehousing and the fulfillment of orders within their stores’ normal footprint – we do not face any logistics related nightmares. This is the core strength of the retailers within their geographical footprint.

     

    How open have the local kiranas been of joining this platform?

    The ‘kirana’ (independent retailers) are extremely keen to join the platform. They see it as an opportunity to become more relevant to the modern consumers. AaramShop, as a free to use platform, is open not only to ‘kiranawalas’ but also to neighbourhood “pharmacies” as they tend to stock and sell a lot of personal & beauty products.

     

    The independent retailers realize that they are unable to ensure a great “shopper experience” within their small stores and hence tend to lose out on larger orders. However, when they merge the online convenience of AaramShop with its access to thousands of brands with the local distribution and delivery capabilities that they already have, they realize that the combo could be a possible winner.

     

    The digital readiness of a lot of these retailers is still low, but I believe these are quite easily addressable with some technology innovations – and that is when the number of partner retailers would shoot up.

     

    You have been venturing into new and innovative arenas. So what is it that an entrepreneur should keep in mind when going alone especially looking at long term sustainability solutions?

    I don’t believe there is any fun in trending a path that is well-walked.

     

    The environment around us has changed completely in the last five years and consumer behaviour has transformed, however we tend to keep throwing the same set of solutions for the marketing challenges that the brands face. It is important to reboot.

     

    My religion is still marketing; it is the rituals that have changed. This change is dictated by what I see as incredible changes that are happening all around us and, to stay relevant, one needs to change.

     

    We have created a solution which integrates Local + Social +Mobiletrends of the days and it enables the interlinking of the Zero Moment of Truth of brands with their First Moment of Truth.

     

    So long as we can continue to provide an important connect for the brands, consumers and retailers and creating value across the eco-system, we believe that our premium services would be much sort after.

     

    How have you been promoting AaramShop?

    We have not aggressively started to promote AaramShop yet, as the focus is still on building the channel and ensuring we get the technology right. However, in the past and also going forward, our promotion strategies are based on:

    • Extensive use of social media – for example we were the first grocery store on Facebook.
    • Micro-geographic marketing, using the excellent footprint of AaramShops.
    • High quality CRM – grocery buying is a done 20 times a year by an average household, and we want to reach out in a meaningful manner and based on past purchase behaviour to ensure repeat usage.

     

    What are two key goals for your venture this year?

    While we have already released our mobile apps for all platforms, our focus would stay on making AaramShop more easy to use on mobile devices. We believe that mobile is the future and we will release a number of apps that will address different needs of different users in the year ahead.

     

    The other big focus area is going to be the BrandEngagementCenter. The BEC (www.brandengagementcenter.com) enables brand owners and their agencies to seamlessly manage and monitor their brand/products performance on the AaramShop platform. It is also our ad & analytical centre and we would like to ensure more users to start trying their hands on it.

     

    Having said that, I think the list of priorities is very long and we will be fighting on a number of fronts.

     

  • The latest TV commercial for Discover 125 takes a veiled dig at Hero's flagship brands Passion and Splendor as the old bonhomie between two industrial giants gives way to no-holds-barred marketing strategy

    Bajaj takes a dig at Hero’s Passion & Splendor in its latest Discover 125 ad

    By Rajiv Singh & Bhanu Pande

     

    “We have not yet beaten Bajaj, they’ve just been overtaken by us,” said Brijmohan Lall Munjal in 2001, when the reticent Munjal family patriarch and chairman of Hero Honda understated the fact that his company sold more two-wheelers than Bajaj Auto.

     

    Fast forward to 2012.

    The latest TV commercial for Discover 125 takes a veiled dig at Hero’s flagship brands Passion and Splendor as the old bonhomie between two industrial giants gives way to no-holds-barred marketing strategy in a fiercely competitive market.

     

    Bajaj Auto MD Rajiv Bajaj said the advertisement reflects a strategic repositioning and it’s not about Hero: “Our campaign is based on a consumer research interpretation and has nothing to do with taking on Hero”.

     

    That’s the official line. But most people who have watched the commercial feel it’s unmistakably targeted at Hero MotoCorp, the new entity formed after the Munjal family-owned Hero bought out its 27-year long partner Honda last year.

     

    Industry watchers say the breakup with Honda has weakened the market leader in the world’s second-largest two-wheeler market and Bajaj Auto wants to make the most of it.

    “Now Hero is without the safety helmet of Honda, so it is the best time for Bajaj to inflict maximum damage on the leader that is weak and vulnerable,” ,” said Prathap Suthan, chief creative officer of iYogi, a global remote tech support company and the man who created the government’s ‘India Shining’ and ‘Incredible India’ campaigns.

     

    KYUN, HERO?

    The advertisement shows three men owning different commuter bikes (seen in the background) say they always desired Discover 125, but settled for something lesser to satisfy father or wife, or to avoid annoying boss.

     

    They sound apologetic and wistful about their bikes. When they name them, a bleep sinks their voice, but it leaves enough for viewers to guess they are referring to Hero’s Splendor or Passion. “Discover nahin hai, par chalta hai,” each of them says. And the commercial, created by Ogilvy & Mather, ends with voice over, “Discover 125, ye chalta nahin, daudta hai.”

     

    The only previous time a Bajaj commercial took on Hero Honda was back in the early 1990s when a campaign for its 4s Champion teased Hero Honda with a tagline, “Kyun Hero?”

     

    Bajaj Auto President, Motorcycles, K Srinivas said that the advertisement does not take a dig at any rival, but wouldn’t comment on the bleep sound.

     

    DOING A BMW

    Rajiv Bajaj says his company wants to do what luxury carmaker BMW did when it entered the US 30 years ago – reposition the leader: “Mercedes was already an established player. So BMW said that Mercedes is the ultimate sitting machine, while BMW is the ultimate driving machine.”

     

    Now Bajaj wants to do something similar. “As part of an internal discussion, we felt that if you are not a leader, position yourself and re-position the leader by projecting yourself as the opposite of a leader… that’s what we are doing,” said Mr Bajaj.

     

    With Discover 125, Bajaj seeks a large chunk in the biggest segment of the two-wheeler market. Discover competes in the executive commuter segment – or bikes in Rs40,000-50,000 price range – that accounts for two-thirds of the two-wheeler market that sells more than a million units a year. This segment is dominated by Splendor and Passion. But that may soon change.

     

    BATTLE ROYALE

    “Splendor and Passion have not changed at all over the last few years, except maybe a tweak in graphics. They are heading the way Bajaj Chetak did,” said Adil Jal Darukhanawala, Editor, Zigwheels. One of the most popular scooters in the country, Chetak was discontinued in 2009.

     

    Analysts say Hero is grappling on technology front after the exit of Honda and this opens up the largest segment to competitors like Bajaj Auto and Honda Motorcycle & Scooter India that have planned aggressive model refurbishment and new launches.

     

    “For the first time in a decade, Bajaj is sniffing an opportunity to challenge the numero uno,” said Saurabh Uboweja, director of brand consulting firm Brands of Desire.

     

    He said that Bajaj’s take on Hero MotoCorp is deliberate and well timed: “By projecting buyers of Hero bikes as meek and compromising, Bajaj is also highlighting the weaknesses of Hero MotoCorp-withdrawal of Honda and its tech platform.” Without Honda, Hero might struggle to launch path-breaking products like it did in the past.

     

    “Hero has money but no technology. This is something that Bajaj is going to take advantage of with its slew of new models blitzkrieg that it has lined up this year,” said Mr Darukhanawala. The Discover ad is in line with Bajaj Auto’s aggressive stance in the market. Last year, one of its TVCs proclaimed that ‘Pulsar sells five times more than any Japanese sports bike in India’. With inputs from Lijee Philip

     

    Source:The Economic Times

    Copyright © 2012, Bennett, Coleman & Co. Ltd. All Rights Reserved

     

  • Kapil Dev & Romi Dev will inaugurate the www.millionweddingpics.com website and upload the first picture

    Bharat Matrimony to create the world’s largest wedding photo album

    By A Correspondent

     

    Kick-starting a two month long run-up to Matrimony Day (April 14), BharatMatrimony.com has set the ball rolling on February 14th in an attempt to create two world records – attempt a Guinness World Record in putting together the world’s largest wedding photo album; set a world record with 1 million wedding pictures online at www.millionweddingpics.com to create the largest collection of wedding pictures online.

     

    During the event, the celebrity couple Kapil & Romi Dev uploaded the first wedding pictures onto the website to officially launch www.millionweddingpics.com.

     

    The website opens up an opportunity for all married couples to participate in this momentous occasion and create history. They can also drop into any of the over 150 BharatMatrimony retail outlets spread across the country to participate in this record attempt.

     

    Spread over a period of two months, the grand finale of this attempt to create a Guinness World Record with the world’s largest wedding album will be unveiled on April 14, which is celebrated as Matrimony Day across the globe. The final lap of events will begin on March 1 to mark Matrimony Day celebrations.

  • We found in M&C Saatchi a partner who has the strategy, market analysis, creative expression all figured out just right for W, says Anant Daga, CEO, TCNS Clothing Company Pvt. Ltd.

    M&C Saatchi bags creative mandate for W

    By A Correspondent

     

    The year has begun on an exciting note for W – the leading Indian contemporary ready-to-wear brand for women. The brand appointed M&C Saatchi to carry out their creative duties.

     

    Speaking on the creative association, Anant Daga, CEO, TCNS Clothing Company Pvt. Ltd. said: “We were impressed by M&C Saatchi’s in-depth understanding of the women’s apparel market and the target consumer. We found in M&C Saatchi a partner who has the strategy, market analysis, creative expression all figured out just right for W. Indian women’s wear market is large, unorganized and untapped. Being a leading women’s wear brand, W is well positioned to capitalize on this opportunity and with M&C Saatchi we look towards achieving greater successes for the brand.”

     

    The advancement was confirmed by Anjali Nayar, CEO, M&C Saatchi: “It was a great start to the year. And we are excited about having added W to our portfolio. With retail growing at this pace, we see a lot of scope to do some interesting work together.”

     

    Commenting on this advancement, Richa Sinha, Executive Creative Director, M&C Saatchi, said: “We are happy to have got W as it is a brand that’s close to our heart. What makes W so special is the fact that the brand truly embodies the true spirit of the modern Indian woman and doesn’t believe in slotting women in their clichéd roles.”

     

    Rupin Jayal, Head – Strategy & Planning, M& C Saatchi said: “W is a brand that is unique in representing the aspirations and identity of contemporary Indian women. With its blend of international influences framed within Indian silhouettes, W has the potential of becoming an iconic brand.”

     

    W, a part of TCNS Clothing Pvt. Ltd, designs, manufactures and retails fashionable garments for the Indian women. It is the pioneer in introducing the concept of ‘Mix-n-Match’ in retail and has long been known for its fits and exotic inspirations. W is present in 40 cities across the country with 100 exclusive stores.

     

    M&C Saatchi Communications is one of the world’s youngest and fastest growing global advertising agency networks, with offices in 22 cities across 15 countries. It is founded on the principle of Brutal Simplicity of Thought, with all offices grounded in an entrepreneurial spirit. With offices in Mumbai andDelhi, M&C SaatchiIndiais now an agency of choice for leading entrepreneurs.

     

  • Available in twenty languages, 'The Serenade' is designed to put love in the air and smiles on faces around the world

    Heineken lets you ‘serenade’ that special someone Live on YouTube

    By A Correspondent

     

    Heineken is helping ignite romance this Valentine’s Day with the launch of a fun new Facebook application called ‘The Serenade’. Based on the brand’s second global film ‘The Date,’ the new app enables Heineken consumers to send humorous personalized songs to potential partners, inviting them on a date.

     

    Available in twenty languages, ‘The Serenade’ is designed to put love in the air and smiles on faces around the world. Millions of adult consumers across the globe will be able to participate and create their own Serenade songs via Heineken’s Facebook page.

     

    ‘The Serenade’ is part of the brand’s ‘Open Your World’ global campaign which celebrates and encourages aspirational behaviours among adult consumers. It follows the recent launch of ‘The Date’, which celebrated a man taking a woman on a legendary date, set to the catchy 1960’s Bollywood track, Jaan Pehechaan Ho by Mohammed Rafi. Through the app the same band that appeared in the ad will create songs for Heineken fans.

     

    “The Serenade is designed to take some of the stress out of asking a partner to go on a date. It’s fun, interactive and guaranteed to make an impression” said Cyril Charzat, Senior Director, Global Heineken Brand. “We are committed to connecting with our adult consumers both on and offline. The Serenade is one more positive example of how we are doing this.”

     

    Co-developed with advertising agency Wieden+Kennedy Amsterdam, consumers can create their own fully personalized Serenade for a date in just 4 clicks. With a total of 640 different Serenades available, consumers should be able to find the legendary Serenade that will bring them romance. Mark Bernath, Executive Creative Director from W+K Amsterdam said: “In a way, we want people to be in the films we make. The idea of giving our drinkers the band from the spot to help them ask someone out is our way to make that happen for real. Let’s hope we make a load of offers that can’t be refused.”

     

    On February 9, Heineken will host “Serenade Live”, nine-hour YouTube event, during which individuals around the world will get the chance to serenade the object of their heart’s desire live online, which will hopefully lead to a host of many  successful dates.

     

    To watch The Date: [youtube width=”400″ height=”200″]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=57zo8O5pDXc[/youtube]

     

    The event will feature 50 live personalized Serenades. A select number of Heineken fans were selected to create a Serenade that was written specifically for each couple and will be performed by Paul “Kiss” Kissaun and The Serenades, the singer and band that will be immortalized in the popular Heineken commercial “The Date.” Each couple will tune into the live event via Skype and their reactions will be broadcast live to the public. (Timing forIndia: 11.30pm – 8.30am).

     

  • The agency won the business following a multi-agency pitch based on its understanding of the real-estate business

    DDB India bags creative duties of Nirmal Lifestyle

    By A Correspondent

     

    In the wake of a multi-agency pitch, DDB India, part of DDB Mudra Group has won the creative duties for Nirmal Lifestyle. It will be handled out of Mumbai office.

     

    The agency won the business following a multi-agency pitch based on its understanding of the real-estate business. The size of the business is said to be in the range of Rs25-30 crore.

     

    Elated with the win, Rajiv Sabnis, President, DDB India said: “Dharmesh Jain’s vision of a Fit India and creating a living environment where people can enjoy sports, is what really excited us about the business. For any sports lover and someone whose passion has been sport, this is an opportunity to pursue their passion. We look forward to partnering the team at Nirmal in creating a very distinct sports lifestyle brand in the realty space. This is a brand to watch out for in the long run.”

     

    Confirming the win, Rajeev Jain, Director, Nirmal Lifestyle, “We, at Nirmal Lifestyle, have a vision to be the largest real estate company by 2020. In the last ten years, Nirmal Lifestyle has successfully built state-of-the-art residential and commercial spaces. Our Nirmal Lifestyle mall is one of the largest open dome malls inIndia. We are focused on making sports and fitness a part of everyone’s life in the next 10 years. Keeping this growth plan in mind, we wanted an agency to understand our vision, translate it into a visual and make it more relatable for our audience. We have found just the right partner in DDB India. We are happy to welcome them in our family and looking forward to a great working relationship with them.”

     

    DDB India has started the creative duties for Nirmal Lifestyle from February 1.

     

  • The 10 millionth vehicle, a Red Swift Vxi, was dispatched toCoimbatoreon Thursday morning from the Company's Manesar plant

    Maruti Suzuki attains 10 mn domestic sales mark

    By A Correspondent

     

    Maruti Suzuki India Limited crossed the 10 million cumulative domestic sales mark here on Thursday. It is the only automobile company inIndiato cross this milestone. The company, which had rolled out its first car in December 1983, attained 5 million domestic sales in February 2006. The next 5 million domestic sales have been achieved in six years.

     

    The 10 millionth vehicle, a Red Swift Vxi, was dispatched toCoimbatoreon Thursday morning from the Company’s Manesar plant.

     

    While Maruti 800 and Omni powered sales for almost two decades, the Alto has beenIndia’s best-selling car for the last over seven years. In recent years, the success of WagonR and Swift, among others, has accelerated the company’s progress towards the 10 million mark.

     

    Dedicating this milestone to customers, Shinzo Nakanishi, Managing Director and CEO, Maruti Suzuki India Limited, said: “Maruti Suzuki’s success story is closely linked with the success story ofIndiain the last two decades. Even asIndiahas grown and transformed, Maruti Suzuki has evolved to meet changing demands. We will continue to drive the growth and evolution ofIndia’s car market. I thank employees, dealers and suppliers for their support and commitment.”

     

    To mark the occasion, Maruti Suzuki has unveiled a celebration edition of its SX4 sedan. The exclusive special White SX4 carries the celebration dome decal and body graphics.

     

  • In its seventh edition, the event continues with its focus on in-store environment, but with a delivery strategy that ensures that all content needs are addressed

    Build shopper equity with In-Store Asia 2012

    By A Correspondent

     

    Inflationary trends, recessionary portents, policy paralyses and cautioned consumer sentiments were some of the phrases that defined the overall business outlook for almost every industry inIndia over the past year and retail was no exception.

     

    But going into the new-year, Indian retailers and brands are expected to focus on managing overall profitability without any significant scaling down of expansion plans. If managing profitability is the key to the success of retailing in these uncertain times, then there never was a better incentive to invest in productive store environments, in-store practices and shopper marketing programs.

     

    And any investment made to understand and make most of the current shopper zeitgeist is not only an investment that will help harness mid-term profitability but an initiative that will ensure long-term profitable shopper equity.

     

    Thus helping build shopper equity this February is In-Store Asia 2012, slated to take place from February 16, 2012 to February 18, 2012.  In its seventh edition, the event continues with its focus on the in-store environment, but with a finely honed delivery strategy that ensures that all content needs across a range of formats and practices are addressed.

     

    Talking about the change in the delivery strategy, Sachin Jante, Chief Content Planner & Marketing Strategist, VJ Media Works, said: “The transformation in approach will be evident on various levels. At the primary level, existing modules have been tweaked to enhance effectiveness like, for example, the convention has been bifurcated along product service categories, further on the creation of an exclusive designer pavilion at the Expo. Then there is the addition of new modules and programs that enhance, recognize the varied aspects of in-store environment and people, like the Material Lounge, POPAI OMA Awards, a live VM challenge module and an exclusive VM workshop for students.”

     

    There is lot more to look forward to at In-Store Asia 2012; the three days are all set to offer everything from wisdom to solutions to help build shopper equity. Standing true to its essence In-Store Asia’s seventh edition promises to be a platform for leveraging and cultivating effective sophistication in retail endeavours.

     

  • Inorbit Malls have created an online forum on Twitter and launched a dedicated 24 hour customer SMS service

    Inorbit Malls’ interactive feedback mechanism on Twitter & SMS

    By A Correspondent

     

    Inorbit Malls, the pioneers in mall culture in India, now brings to its shoppers an interactive feedback mechanism that will enable them to connect with their consumers in real time as well as provide a forum for consumer interaction and response. Inorbit Malls have created an online forum on micro blogging site, Twitter as well as launched a dedicated 24 hour GSM customer short messaging services (SMS).

     

    The feedback mechanism will enable an expeditious and inexpensive forum to shoppers for resolution of complaints relating to certain services rendered by the mall. All that the consumers, who are active on Twitter, have to do is #InorbitMall on twitter while posting their queries or complaints and Inorbit Malls will respond immediately. A dedicated digital and social media team has been set up, which will monitor these posts and respond to shoppers in real time.

     

    Similarly, people who are not active online can send an SMS with key word ‘FEEDBACK’ on 9619792233. The query will be stored after the mechanism captures the key words, which will thereafter send an alert to the response team for further action. The response team will respond to all the queries within 24 hours.

     

    Talking about this initiative Kishore Bhatija, Chief Executive Officer, Inorbit Malls Pvt Ltd, said: “Consumer engagement and feedback is an integral part of brand awareness and commitment. As a brand, it is extremely critical to understand and connect with consumer on a personal level, as these help us in improving and furthering brand experiences. With this feedback mechanism, we will able to communicate with our shoppers in real time and build trust in the brand.”