Tanishq has launched its new campaign for its Ahalya collection. Speaking about the film, Deepika Tewari, Associate Vice President– Marketing, Jewellery Division at Titan Company Limited said: “I believe that every Indian woman has an inner radiance that shines through whatever she does. At Tanishq, we’re launching this exceptional diamond jewellery collection because it reflects the inner fire emanating from the woman who adorns it. The TVC captures the brilliance, scintillation and fire in the diamonds of this collection and is an ode to the beauty of the woman who is her own muse. We hope women enjoy experiencing this collection as much as we enjoyed bringing it to them.”
Added Sagar Kapoor, National Creative Director at Lowe Lintas: “The intent for the high value diamond collection Ahalya was to push both the style and substance elements. Hence the idea of Tej. The inner radiance present both in a diamond and a woman. We have tried to bring alive the idea of Tej in aesthetics and philosophy.”
Tasty Treat from Future Consumer Limited has indulged in celebrations to engage cricket lovers with numerous fun-filled campaigns.The brand has taken a holistic approach to cheer India’s victory through in-store activities in 200 plus Big Bazaar stores, online gamification and an influencer-led association with Inox cinemas.
Speaking about the campaign, Sadashiv Nayak, CEO – Food Business, Future Group said: “As the entire country is geared up the World Cup Finals, Tasty Treat is set to be a part of this celebration and provide an ideal experience to all the fans. Tasty Treat provides a widest assortment of munching products that is sure to add the entertainment quotient with family and friends.”
Navneet Education has launched its inaugural TVC in Hinglish and Marathi #ConfidentHarDum and #ConfidentNehmi empowering students to become confident in their daily studies.
Said Devish Gala, Head of Branding, Navneet Education: “Education is a vital aspect in developing an individual and the foundation of nation at large. At Navneet, we have always believed that education is concerned with development and as a result, it shouldn’t be looked upon as a burden. Integrating this belief with our brand’s vision of providing highest quality of educational products and services to customers in the language/medium of their choice, our new campaign #ConfidentHarDum showcases the numerous issues faced by students today and how Navneet as a brand has been a trusted partner in such times. Analysing the overall marketing statistics and the importance of delivering timely communication, we decided to launch our first ever TV campaign considering it gives us the opportunity to connect with our consumers directly and is also a medium of effective communication.”
Added Akshay Samel, Creative Director, The Minimalist: “Instilling a message in the minds of audience becomes a lot easier when they feel connected. Re-establishing quality education, that is slowly becoming by-gone, is the need of the hour. Keeping these things in mind, we developed this insight that is pivotal in enlightening the audience about the role of confidence as well as right study material for students,”
Syska LED has launched its latest ad campaign starring actor Irrfan Khan. Commenting on the launch, Amit Sethiya, Chief Marketing Officer, SYSKA Group said: “Our latest TVC has been conceptualised keeping in mind Syska’s technology leadership in the LED lighting segment. Through our brand ambassador Irrfan Khan, we are trying to reinforce the message of Syska having the first-mover advantage in the LED lighting category. Additionally, we are driving home the message about how Syska as a brand is enabling consumers to shift from traditional CFL bulbs and embrace LEDs.”
Said Rahul Gupta, Chief Creative Officer, IBD India: “Irrfan has been Syska’s brand ambassador and voice of the company since its inception. His honest-to-goodness persona and matter-of-fact demeanor are qualities that resonate with Syska’s own belief of offering genuine high-quality products which are reliable and affordable.”
L’Oréal Paris has announced the launch of its Total Repair 5 #WinOverDamage campaign featuring global ambassador Aishwarya Rai Bachchan and Sobhita Dhulipala as the new face in the campaign.
Speaking on the announcement, Pau Gruart, General Manager L’Oréal Paris, said: “We are elated to announce the release of our Total Repair 5 #WinOverDamage campaign with the gorgeous Aishwarya Rai Bachchan and Sobhita Dhulipala. Harnessing the latest in scientific innovations tailored to specific haircare needs, the campaign aims to highlight the proposition of our Total Repair 5 hair care range that helps repair hair damage because we believe every woman deserves the extra care and she truly is worth it!”
Sony Pictures Sports Network (SPSN) launched its campaign, #MoreCricket, for the upcoming India tour of West Indies and the Ashes. With over 275 days of live cricket this financial year, the sports network will serve offer cricket across three channels. The India-WI series in the Caribbean islands and the US starts August 3 to September 3, 2019 and the England and Australia rivalry will be revived from August 1 to September 16, 2019.
Said Rajesh Kaul, Chief Revenue Officer, Distribution and Head – Sports Business, Sony Pictures Networks India: “Our campaign, #MoreCricket captures the sentiments of every Indian this monsoon. India has an insatiable appetite for cricket and starting August this year, our viewers can catch the top teams and players in the world in two of the most exciting cricket series on Sony Pictures Sports Network. With over 275 days of live cricket on our network this financial year, we will deliver on our commitment to showcase the best of cricket from around the world starting with the exciting India tour of West Indies and the hard-fought Ashes. This will be followed by multiple series hosted by Cricket Australia, Sri Lanka Cricket, Pakistan Cricket Board and Cricket South Africa which includes amongst others the New Zealand tour of Australia, England tour of South Africa and Australia tour of South Africa.”
CavinKare has announced actor Sonakshi Sinha as the brand ambassador for its shampoo brand, Chik.
Commenting on this, Venkatesh Vijayaraghavan, Group Director & CEO – Personal Care & Alliances said: “Chik has been growing healthily over the years and bringing in Sonakshi on the brand is a step towards accelerating this growth further. Sonakshi’s huge fan following and strong connect with her fans will help Chik build a stronger connect with the existing CHIK consumers and will also be pivotal in bringing in new consumers for the brand. The brand, Chik, represents today’s new-age women, who are aware and confident of their choices especially when it comes to personal care products. Sonakshi is the ideal embodiment of this personality.”
Manyavar has launched its first film featuring actor Kartik Aaryan. The film revolves around Manyavar’s new concept of coordinated dressing at weddings where close friends of the groom are dressed in similar attire.
Said Avijit Dhar, AVP Marketing, Manyavar: “The concept is the hero in this film! Weddings are full of picture-perfect moments, and even more so if it’s a close friend’s wedding. The idea of the groom’s close friends coordinating their outfits is interesting because it helps people to know who all are really close to the groom. And of course, it makes for some really fun memories and some real selfie-worthy frames!”
Added Shreyansh Baid, Creative Director, SIPL, the agency that worked on the film: “Yaar ki shaadi calls for yaari and masti – we married both with synchronized dressing and a song. The Groomsquad lead by Kartik Aryaan topped it off with their dulhe ke yaar attitude.”
Madison BMB has announced the release of its latest commercial for modern kitchens brand Sleek. The agency evolved the concept of the campaign, including its tagline ‘Modern Kitchens for Modern Minds’, from an extensive consumer research where respondents equated modular kitchens with openness and modernity.
Said Pragyan Kumar, Vice President, Home Improvement, Asian Paints: “At Sleek Kitchens, we strongly believe in being in sync with the times, and that design can play a vital role in supporting the demands of our new lifestyles. The ethos of ‘Modern Kitchens, Modern Minds’ drives our innovation effort, and that’s the value we bring to our consumers: well-designed kitchens that are not just beautiful, but also makes things simpler and easy to use for all. Right from the concealed step ladder that provides easy access to those difficult to reach areas, smart chimneys and other appliances that make cooking a breeze or the overall kitchen design itself, every aspect and detail is thought through to ensure you get your dream kitchen. The joys of the modern family enhanced by a modern thoughtfully designed kitchen – that’s been the essence of Sleek and this TVC.”
Added Amit Syngle, Chief Operating Officer, Asian Paints: “Asian Paints’ foray into home improvement segment has been able to help us strengthen our vision of partnering people in creating beautiful homes. The kitchen as a space has transformed from a purely functional area to a place showcased with pride. Sleek’s ability to understand each customer’s requirement and build their dream kitchens fits in well with the overall Asian Paints vision.”
Said Raj Nair, CEO and Chief Creative Officer, Madison BMB: “This is the relaunch of Sleek Kitchens, India’s most well-known Modular Kitchens brand, since becoming part of Asian Paints. The modernity in the design, the openness of the layout of the kitchen, the contemporariness in the aesthetics, the attention to detail, all thoughtfully combine to create a truly distinctive offering. Take for instance the mid-way organiser that makes for convenient stacking at arm’s length. Or indeed the extremely convenient and unobtrusive step ladder. Just a couple of ultra – thoughtful features designed to dazzle. Matched with the most modern appliances like the hobs, the exhaust, the oven, even a concealed fridge! When presented by a leader like Asian Paints, the modernity of design transfers to modernity of thought that appeals to the modern minds of today. Therefore, very simply, who says a man cannot rule a kitchen? And along the way impart a few important life lessons to his son? We look forward to the communication involving film/print/outdoor/point of sale material cooking up very positive feelings among consumers, considering the package was already a hit at the dealer launch.”
The increasing importance of e-commerce is two-fold: it shapes the behaviors of consumers and manufacturers and it also has a significant impact on the media industry because of the different ways advertising is used to support different kinds of e-commerce activity. Consequently, variations in growth between direct-to-consumer (D2C), first party online retail and third-party marketplaces are important to monitor.
Key takeaways: 1. E-Commerce is still growing but is decelerating in key markets and will decelerate globally by a couple of percentage points. 2. Marketplaces are dominating e-commerce and are growing faster than the overall industry. 3. E-commerce related spending on advertising is growing much faster than total digital advertising and holds implications for both marketers and media owners.
E-commerce is still growing fast, but it is also decelerating. E-commerce (usually defined as retail sales transacted primarily through internet-based devices, but not including online travel nor including offline sales completed after browsing online) is growing rapidly and transforming how consumers engage with brands around the world; however, the sector is decelerating overall:
• According to data from the U.S. Census Bureau, e-commerce in the United States grew by +14% in 2018 following on a +16% growth rate in 2017. However, growth appears to be decelerating further in 2019 as the sector rose by +12% in the first quarter of this year.
• China’s official government statistics service indicated online retail sales of physical goods were up +25% in 2018 versus +28% in 2017. Sales slowed further in the first quarter, rising +21%.
• Meanwhile, in Europe, trade association Ecommerce Europe estimates +12% growth there in 2018, down from +14% in 2017. While the most recent quarterly data is not yet available for all of Europe, the largest market in the region, the U.K. saw +16% growth in 2017, +14% growth in 2018 and, in the first quarter of 2019, experienced similar deceleration with only +12% growth.
These trends seem to indicate that global growth will also likely decelerate by a couple of percentage points over the course of 2019 as well. Within these averages, there will be different rates of growth for different types of e-commerce activity including:
• Conventional retail, where an entity takes possession of products made by other manufacturers
• Marketplaces, where an entity provides a platform for manufacturers to sell
• D2C, where a manufacturer sells products directly to consumers without an intermediary. There is also a dimension of “mass” vs. “niche” focus, and hybrids of each of these concepts can exist in every combination.
Marketplaces are dominating e-commerce. With annual spending on e-commerce around the world amounting to $2.9 trillion (on Internet Retailer’s estimates), marketplaces account for a majority of activity and are growing faster than the overall industry. The top 100 marketplaces generated $1.7 trillion in sales in 2018, up +20% year-over-year, which followed on 34% growth during 2017 for a similar group of entities. Within this segment of the industry, niche marketplaces have generally grown faster than the overall average in both years as well.
By contrast, D2C, while harder to define narrowly let alone quantify with much precision, is likely growing much slower. A subset of companies among the U.S. Interactive Advertising Bureau list of 250 direct-to-consumer (D2C) companies, or direct brands, which we have identified as having more than 100 employees as of the end of 2016 indicates employment growth of +17% in 2017 and +9% in 2018. Growth for this group of companies through the end of June amounted to a similar +8%.
Growth rates deviate for individual direct brands, but also indicate a broader slowdown: the median growth rate for individual companies among this group was +17% during 2017, but only +2% during 2018. Year-over-year median growth for the group was a similarly tepid +4% through the end of June 2019. Of course, revenue growth, will not likely track as closely to LinkedIn data for companies in this sector as in others, such as ad tech or marketing tech, but the data is likely reflective of broader trends. Importantly, the concept of the direct brand is most likely growing faster than these levels indicate as larger marketers incorporate D2C business concepts into their overall strategies and invest more heavily into this sector.
E-commerce-related spending on advertising is growing much faster than total digital advertising. The U.S. Census Bureau has produced data indicating that electronic shopping retail companies allocated four percent of their gross revenue to their own advertising activities during 2017. This is similar to the percentage of gross merchandise value (GMV) that Amazon allocates to advertising as well as the advertising/gross merchandise volume ratio for a composite of five other scaled e-commerce pure-plays with explicit advertising spending disclosures including eBay, Wayfair, Stitch Fix, Etsy and Overstock.
While it is worth noting that smaller e-commerce companies allocate a significantly higher share of GMV to advertising, one could reasonably assume four percent of retail-related e-commerce activity is allocated to advertising in markets where these companies operate. In a country such as the United States, assuming most of the spending goes to digital media, this would translate to around 20% of total digital advertising activity for the industry’s media owners. Importantly, the four percent of e-commerce activity assumption does not appear hold up in China, the world’s largest e-commerce market, as the two biggest owners of e-commerce properties there allocate less than one percent of GMV to paid advertising.
Whatever the current share, it is likely rising and growth in ad spending by e-commerce companies is expanding by much more than GMVs. As we can see from e-commerce company financial statements:
• Amazon accelerated its spending on advertising during 2018 as well, with +30% growth last year vs. +26% growth in 2017, although the acquisition of Whole Foods and non-e-commerce initiatives undoubtedly contributed to their outcome.
• A composite of eBay, Wayfair, Stich Fix, Etsy and Overstock increased spending on advertising by +23% during 2018 after expanding by +19% in 2018. GMV for this group rose by +9% in 2018 and +7% in 2017.
• Looking only at Wayfair, Stich Fix, Etsy and Overstock, advertising growth was +45% in 2018 after growth of +38% in 2017 while GMV was up by only +29% in 2018 and +22% in 2017.
If overall growth in spending on advertising by e-commerce companies on digital media exceeded +30%, this would have far outpaced total digital advertising growth, which we estimate averaged +20% in 2017 and +19% in 2018 around the world.
Different types of e-commerce activities will impact digital media ad spending trends in different ways. Marketplaces are media owners themselves and can generate ad revenue from the manufacturers they work with. Individual participants in the marketplace – especially smaller ones – compete to drive incremental sales, and may increase their spending on advertising at a pace that exceeds revenue growth as they compete with other marketplace participants. Conventional e-commerce-related retail platforms also generate ad revenue but will mostly do so from larger manufacturer co-op budgets which are more likely to only grow in-line with sales. Both marketplaces and conventional e-commerce retail have opportunities to expand their roles as sellers by investing more heavily in search related capabilities for their properties.
And yet, at the same time, growth in these types of e-commerce platforms can help traditional sellers of search advertising because the e-commerce platforms need to spend money to drive traffic to their properties, and search can be a particularly effective way to do this. Faster growth for marketplaces, especially including niche ones, will probably help sustain this trend.
By contrast, direct brands typically spend much more heavily on social platforms and with influencers, especially as they first emerge. A slowdown in D2C revenue growth could have a decelerating effect on the preferred media channels of direct brands, offset by increases in spending as a percentage of revenue. As social commerce takes on greater importance for all participants in e-commerce, social media platforms could benefit from this trend as well.
As e-commerce takes on greater importance, implications for media owners follow. When it comes to e-commerce, business strategy is still paramount. As our colleagues at Wavemaker have conveyed, marketers need to begin by focusing on retail planning, the role of each channel, designs of internal structures, catalog strategies and product setups, and retail optimization, operational excellence, commercial excellence, retail analytics and business intelligence as well as promotions and events. Retail amplification – including paid media as well as reviews – is critical, but it depends heavily on planning and optimization as a starting point. Understanding growth trends underlying e-commerce-related advertising can help to support this latter objective by identifying which media are likely to fare relatively better or relatively worse into the future.
Brian Wieser is Global President, Business Intelligence at GroupM. This article was published at
Mirum and Salesforce conducted the 5th edition of ‘Future of Digital Marketing’ in New Delhi. This is an ongoing event series where latest Salesforce Marketing Cloud innovations are showcased; as well emerging trends that influence digital marketing are discussed and debated.
Salesforce showcased how a seamless 360 customer view can be created using Journey Builder, DMP, Datorama and Einstein resulting in better engagement and conversions.
This presentation was followed by a panel discussion among eminent business leaders on emerging digital trends and their predictions for the future. The panel consisted of esteemed industry professionals: Ashok Venkatramani (Managing Director, Zee Media), Jaibeer Ahmad (Senior Vice President & Head – Cheil 2, Cheil Worldwide), Nitin Singhal (Area Vice President, Salesforce), Biswadeep Sahoo (Head of IT, Hero FinCorp) & Sanjay Mehta (Jt. CEO, Mirum). The panel debated and discussed issues such as importance of creativity in digital age; advent of AR/VR; impact of voice search on businesses and brands; single view of customer using marketing automation. The panel discussion was moderated by Hareesh Tibrewala, Joint CEO, Mirum.
CenturyPly has now adapted a humourous take on both retailers and consumers; highlighting the importance of doors in our daily life by launching a web-video on CenturyDoors.
Said Nikita Bansal, Executive Directors, Doors, CenturyPly: “We at CenturyPly, believe in providing quality products to our consumers and their trust is paramount to us. With the launch of this video, we are extremely excited to witness the expected brand connect and hope to educate them on the importance of quality, in a product category like doors. CenturyPly has always been the front-runner in the Indian plywood industry, and being a part of it, CenturyDoors also resonate similar trust and unwavering quality assurance of the mother brand.”
Tasty Treat from Future Consumer Limited has indulged in celebrations to engage cricket lovers with numerous fun-filled campaigns. The brand has taken a holistic approach to cheer India’s victory through in-store activities in 200 plus Big Bazaar stores, online gamification and an influencer-led association with Inox cinemas.
