Cera has attempted to touch the emotions of oneness in its new campaign ‘Kuch Pal Ghar Ke Naam’ that captures the essence of happy home moments. The 10-seconder ad campaign features a small family enjoying every bit of their moments in their home which has Cera products for happy yet comfort lifestyle.
Said Atul Sanghvi, Executive Director, Cera: “The objective of this campaign was to break away from the clutter of product+celebrity ads and connect emotionally with our customers, bringing their beloved home and its inmates to the forefront. Also, since Cera offers almost all product categories—sanitaryware, faucets, tiles, wellness, kitchen sinks, water heaters, mirrors—that go into making one’s once-in-a-life time home, it is appropriate to bring the home as centre of one’s life. This campaign delivers on the objective that Cera offers tiles, faucets and Sanitaryware, beautifully.”
Snapdeal has launched a festive season brand campaign that showcases the diversity and depth of products available on its platform. The campaign comprises multiple short films each highlighting the undiscovered stars of online shopping – products for everyday living at great prices.
According to a Snapdeal spokesperson: “E-commerce in India is now beyond just brands and discounts. It is about accessing products that add value and help upgrade the daily lives of the users in multiple, small yet meaningful ways. The purpose of the “Snap-Diwali” campaign is to showcase the vast selection of unique and functional products that are available online.”
According to Mohit Dhar Jayal, co-founder of Motherland Joint Ventures, which is Snapdeal’s strategic advisor on various aspects of customer experience: “Snapdeal is in a category of its own. It offers customers a kaleidoscopic, non-stop mix of shopping and entertainment – all wrapped up in fun, accessible user experience, and super-affordable pricing. And there’s a pipeline full of exciting innovations on the way from the Snapdeal lab!”
The films have been made by Italy-based illo.tv, a design studio which has worked on iconic projects for brands like Airbnb, UEFA, Snapchat, Bloomberg and various other innovative international startups. Added Ilenia Notarangelo, Creative Director, illo: “Snapdeal was one of the most fun and challenging projects in terms of production for our studio, this year. We tried to come up with some quirky, not stereotypical 15 second plots that could match the different and unusual products that Snapdeal offers. From a stylistic point of view, we tried to match our visually synthetic set design approach with the Indian Diwali mood. I think that the result is a pretty refreshing mix, with a little reference to the Memphis style.”
Brave New World will now lead the integrated communications mandate for retail clothing brand, Indian Terrain. The agency has been entrusted with creating an integrated brand presence across its mainline advertising, store communication, online presence and social media.
Said Charath Narasimhan, CEO & MD, Indian Terrain: “With the company at its 20-year mark, we were on the lookout for a partner who could help us grow our foothold in the mens and boys segment while creating an engaged audience base on our social platforms. With rife competition from aggressive new players, the opportunity at hand is to keep our strong base of loyalists close while growing the demand from a new generation of people entering the workforce. The integrated team at Brave New World came across just as passionate about results as they did about creativity. We look forward to having their fresh thinking help us craft a refreshed go-to-market playbook for the brand.”
Added Joono Simon – Founder and Chief Creative Officer of Brave New World: “The current e-comm clutter is causing a certain degree of commoditization of retail fashion, leaving many brands to look faceless and obtuse. As a result, most discerning customers are seeking out brands that are more meaningful and substantive. Indian terrain is a brand that has its feet rooted firmly on the ground and has nurtured a very loyal fanbase over the years. The name ‘Indian Terrain’ itself alludes to something bigger and intrinsic. We’re excited about unlocking the inherent potential it holds from a communication standpoint.”
The BrandZ study, which is the only brand valuation ranking to combine companies’ financial data with consumer insight and opinion, shows that trust is key to develop the stability required for long-term success; highly trusted brands in the Top 75 are worth 129% more than less trusted ones.
BrandZ Top 10 Most Valuable Indian Brands 2019
Rank 2019
Brand
Category
Brand Value 2019 ($M USD)
Brand Value Change
1
HDFC Bank
Banks
22,705
+5%
2
LIC
Insurance
20,134
+2%
3
Tata Consultancy Services
Technology
18,161
+21%
4
Airtel
Telecom providers
10,286
-10%
5
State Bank of India
Banks
8,408
+7%
6
Kotak Mahindra Bank
Banks
7,637
+15%
7
Asian Paints
Paints
6,988
+14%
8
Maruti Suzuki
Automobiles
5,934
-14%
9
Jio
Telecom providers
5,472
+34%
10
ICICI Bank
Banks
5,403
+11%
Notable brands include ecommerce site Flipkart (No. 12), which increased its brand value 14% to $4.7 billion, while unicorn brands hotel booking site Oyo ($2.0 billion), online food ordering service Swiggy ($1.6 billion) and online restaurant marketplace Zomato ($1.0 billion) are newcomers to the ranking at No. 30, No. 39 and No. 61 respectively.
The fastest riser in the 2019 ranking is telecom provider, Jio, which climbed one place to No. 9 with a 34% increase in brand value to $5.5 billion. Its disruptive business model has made internet access available to many Indians who were previously unable to afford it, thereby opening up access to digital platforms and services. Vodafone ($2.5 billion) meanwhile was the top-ranked newcomer at No. 24.
Both digital and offline brands such as D-Mart (No. 25, $2.4 billion) have found success as a result of the rise of ‘middle India’; the growing number of people in the country’s second, third and fourth-tier cities and towns that are changing India’s traditional urban-rural divide. These previously poorly-served segments increasingly have access to a variety of online services, with Swiggy and Zomato building much of their growth on this shift.
Said David Roth, CEO of The Store WPP EMEA and Asia and Chairman of BrandZ: “As India flexes its muscles on the world stage, it faces increased macroeconomic headwinds which have combined with a rise in global trade tensions to create a challenging environment. Successful Indian brands are adapting to these challenges and recognising that longevity requires them to do more than just disrupt the status quo; long-term brand building requires new strategies that major on stability.”
Added Preeti Reddy, CEO South Asia, Insights Division, Kantar: “Consumer trust is a common thread among successful brands. However, it is concerning that only a few have succeeded in growing trust over the last five years. Those who done so, have done it through open and honest conversations with their customers. Brands would do well to consciously work at building consumer trust – it is the shield that gives a brand the resilience to face headwinds in uncertain times.”
Said Vishikh Talwar, Chief Client Officer, Kantar Insights Division: “The rise of ‘middle India’ combined with rapid growth of the mobile internet is providing unprecedented opportunities for brands. But, with an almost overwhelming choice of products and services to buy, consumers are increasingly discerning; the Indian psyche requires that brands cater for local needs with offerings that genuinely improve daily life. Today that’s as much about providing comfort and reliability as it is about generating new experiences.”
Key trends highlighted in the BrandZ Indian Top 75 study include:
:: Mobile internet access:Smartphone user numbers in India increased by 18% in 2018 (the fastest rate of growth in the world), mainly due to a combination of Jio’s own low tariffs and the renewed competition causing other telecom providers to reduce their rates.
:: Buying power:Retail is the second fastest growing category, with online and offline both growing strongly. New entrant Reliance Retail (No. 55, $1.1 billion) opened nearly 500 new stores and used Jio’s service to connect retail shops with grocery deliveries, while D-Mart ($2.4 billion) focused predominantly on offline, rising two places to No. 25.
:: The Amazon effect: Amazon and Flipkart compete with many Indian brands across several sectors, with Amazon also opening its largest campus yet in India. This has increased competition and driven brands to step up their operations to ensure they are meeting customers’ needs.
:: A confident country: The success of unicorn brands such as Swiggy, Zomato and Oyo is fostering a new-found confidence in India. This is augmented with the increasingly global outlook of these new brands as they actively seek to expand their operations outside India.
In all likelihood, over the next few days, you will buy some item on the ‘Amazon Great Indian Festival Sale’ or the ‘Flipkart Billion Days Sale’. And at the end of the sale period, one of them will claim some astronomical figure of realised sales.
Through the years, Amazon and Flipkart have successfully redefined ‘the biggest sale’ in Indian festival calendar. It is now nearer to Dassera than Diwali, an attempt to sweep the market before the traditional sale period.
Sales in India on a single day are nowhere close to the eye-popping record $30.8 Billion ‘Single’s day’ sale of Alibaba, which was more than the ‘Black Friday’ and ‘Cyber Monday’ sales combined. But we are getting there with growing e-commerce, better logistics, infrastructure and some help the banks and payment gateways.
STRAIGHT FIGHT BETWEEN AMAZON AND FLIPKART.
Ladies and Gentleman, the man/woman with a high-end mobile and slow connection and the laptop babu with a fast connection. The fight is opening soon. Guaranteed you will benefit in this ‘diwalia hone ko tayyar‘ (Ready to get bankrupt) sentiment associated with such sales.
In the red corner of this ring of festival annual sale fight is the Amazon Great Indian Festival Sale with its very cultural centric motif that is scheduled for September 29 to October 4. Amazon Prime members can try it out from September 28 itself.
In the blue corner is Flipkart, which has mastered the art of sale throughout the year. Its Big Billion Days Sale will start on September and 29 and end on October 4.
This is a straight fight no consumer worth his or her last spending INR wants to miss.
The banks are joining the fun with further cash backs and easy EMIs. Somewhere there is a hint of cashback within 72 hours of sale! Additionally, to keep the excitement, there is a promise of new additions on hourly sale, which is expected to boost repeat logins. And the exchange offers are not missing from the sale. Don’t have money, well, there is some 1,00,000 credit possibility with Flipkart.
Both Amazon and Flipkart want you to keep your wishlist ready. No doubt this is the best sale one can aim at. But as per the earlier pattern, one can see additional Dassera sale, Electronic sales, Diwali sale online and offline. Maybe the only issue is too much option for the consumer that may delay decision-making.
CONNECTING WITH THE CONSUMER.
Now both the e-commerce sites have upgraded their systems and made arrangement to smoothen the consumer experience. But the campaigns by Flipkart seem heavy and lacking conviction. There has been a Billion Day Sale for production and media. It is overloaded.
Deviating from ‘children acting like adults (adult kid)’ theme that predominates Flipkart as a brand, it seems to have gone back to the safety of celebrity advertising. Flipkart has cornered and employed every possible top celebrity interested in selling the idea of getting ready for the sale. Virat as a Cop and Deepika as a Lawyer, Amitabh as a Godown owner and Alia as a newsreader. Regional skew and for every region worth as a priority market, they have a regional star selling the Big Billion Day sale. Don’t know if the celebrities came in some sale.
Meanwhile, Flipkart continued with the strongly associated Adult Kid format borrowing the characters of Circuit and Munnabhai for its Rewards Programme.
Amazon is playing on the brand pull and the past experience of the family as the purchasing unit. And whoever I have spoken with, seems to have a strong perception that the discounts- delivery- experience at Amazon is far better than at Flipkart.
This, in fact, will be a more significant factor in deciding which way the match swings. Because, people know in India that sale and discount is one thing, delivery, service and protection is something totally different.
THE COMMUNICATIONS.
AMAZON GREAT INDIAN FESTIVAL SALE
FLIPKART BIG BILLION DAY SALE.
In the past, Flipkart has used their strong Adult Kid format for the Big Billion Day Sale.. But for some reason, most likely it not giving then enough ROI, they have opted for the celebrity safety net.
Dentsu Webchutney has bagged the digital creative and media duties for Logitech India. The agency won the account following a multi-agency pitch and will service it from its Gurugram office.
As part of the mandate, the agency will handle all digital communication solutions for Logitech brands, which includes the computer and peripherals business, Logitech G which offers gaming solutions and Ultimate Ears that has a range of wireless speaker solutions.
Ashit Chakravarty
Commenting on the win, Ashit Chakravarty, Vice President, Dentsu Webchutney said: “This is a big win for us, and we are excited on a mandate that lets us marry media and creativity. It is a privilege to be partnering a lighthouse brand like Logitech and we see a great opportunity to do some effective and high quality work that has a lasting impact on business.”
There is a changing landscape in the way consumers are buying into these categories. Nonlinear buying journeys are presenting new and exciting challenges to engage with consumers.
Celebrating a decade of Dark is Beautiful, the Jindal Foundation has unveiled a new campaign titled ‘India’s Got Colour’. A call for action is captured in the music video that intends to continue and amplify the conversation around inclusiveness and colour bias, specifically within the Indian context. Continuing to lend her name to the campaign against anti-colourism in India, Nandita Das joins hands with Mahesh Mathai, Ankur Tiwari and a slew of Indian actors to celebrate India’s Got Colour.
Commenting on the campaign, Nandita Das said: “I have been supporting the Dark Is Beautiful Campaign since 2013 and while we must combat the various forms of discrimination based on caste, religion, gender and sexual preference, the least we can do is to end the bias bases on skin colour. I felt it was time to reinvent the campaign and create a PSA that would be catchy and youth-friendly. It is our young minds who will change the public discourse around this issue and can make a tangible difference. The PSA intends to change the narrative to a more holistic celebration of the diversity. After all, we are more than 1.3 billion people and have that many shades of skin tones.”
Added Sangita Jindal, Chairperson – JSW Foundation said, “As countries, economies and organisations progress, many Indian women are taking roles of leadership & significant prominence across the globe. She is confident in her shade of colour and wears it with pride. This confidence stems from what they know, and how they feel about themselves as women. Through our association with Nandita Das and India’s Got Colour, we celebrate diversity as a critical need for progress and development.”
Home interiors brand Livspace has appointed Performics to handle its digital duties. Thee mandate is to bring in cross platform data analysis and digital capabilities for Livspace; merge it with creative thinking to result in innovative performance marketing solutions across various online channels for the brand.
On the appointment of the agency, Kartikeya Bhandari, Chief Marketing Officer at Livspace said – “Livspace is the beginning of a new paradigm in home interiors in the country. Our technology and design capabilities seek to transform user journey from being fragmented offline to seamless and experiential online. At this pivotal juncture of exponential growth, we needed to bring on board best in class players who can complement our vision.
In Performics, we found a passionate team with a thorough understanding of not only digital platforms but also curiosity to deep dive into our business challenges and connect them with performance marketing strategies. We believe this partnership will bring in a thinking team capable of innovations and together we hope to positively impact the ‘design to installation’ journey for our Livspace consumers”.
Announcing the win, Pallav Jain, Co-CEO, Performics India said:
“We are excited to work with Livspace, India and South East Asia’s leading home interior design and renovation platform, a future-facing, consumer-centric brand. Performics continues to redefine the digital space, through superior play in performance, search, data & analytics and we look forward to driving significant business outcomes for Livspace.”
Canon has launched a new campaign with the tagline, ‘Do Great with Canon’, to promote its range of EOS DSLRs. The campaign story revolves around a young protagonist on his quest to make great shots from the ordinary everyday moments.
On occasion of launch, C Sukumaran, Director, Image Communication Products and Consumer Systems Products Division said: “At Canon, it has always been our endeavour to empower consumers to excel in the art of photography. Through our ‘Do Great with Canon campaign’, we want consumers to explore the possibility of taking great images out of ordinary everyday moments with Canon DSLRs. The team at Dentsu One has conceptualized a great campaign to drive this message to our consumers.”
Speaking about the campaign, Auryndom Bose, Group Creative Director, Dentsu One added: “We live in an age of cool gadgets. And a DSLR that feels like anything less than that – won’t reach out to this new crop of photographers, who are beginning to find their feet and fame on Instagram. The idea that life around you could be pushed to greatness by simply looking at it through a DSLR became both the story and the strategy of the creative.”
International Coffee Day is celebrated every year on October 1. Tata Coffee has focussed this year on alleviating some of the social ills that beset coffee plantation workers. A major focus area has been the prevention of sexual harassment of women at the workplace.
The company has brought on board Be.artsy, a social awareness enterprise, to focus the employees in the corporate office and at the plantations on prevention of sexual harassment, and to explain the avenues for redressal in a simple and practical fashion.
Said Tata Coffee’s CHRO Priyanka Gidwani: “The collaboration has been highly engaging and impactful for us at Tata Coffee at the corporate office. Our employees have received the interventions well and have now opened up much more. It has helped us build transparency and encouraged our employees to speak their point of view on various topics. We have also just completed batches for our blue collar workers in the estates in local language and the awareness has received extremely positive feedback. We have used this opportunity to refresh and inform them of our reporting channels including providing my contact details for reporting concerns. The partnership with Be.artsy is truly valued by us.”
In its latest interactive social media campaign, Aditya Birla Capital allows viewers to interact with two different futures simultaneously, enabling them to choose for themselves the future they most relate to, and plan it accordingly.
Speaking on the campaign, Ajay Kakar, Chief Marketing Officer – Aditya Birla Capital said: “Storytelling is the oldest and arguably the most popular way for brands to engage with their consumers by weaving a product proposition into the story. However, a story told through a 60-sec commercial is always one-sided, and can get extremely prescriptive, leaving no room in the narration for an alternate view. Therefore, advertising commercials often feel unauthentic. As a brand we do not want to ever push a product or a point of view to our customers. We want to share all perspectives on life and money with our customers so that they can make an informed decision for what’s right for them and their family. Therefore, this interactive video is not just innovation for the sake of innovation; it is an innovative opportunity for us to be able to walk the talk.”
The Interactive film has been conceptualised and implemented by Social Media agency Foxy Moron. The three storylines have been directed by Achyutanand and Sudhanshu of Four Line Films. The social media roll-out is being handled by Mindshare.
Said Achyutanand Dwivedi, Director, Four Line Films: “Cinematically, this was a really interesting challenge. Usually we work with scripts which have a single linear story. In this case, we had to work on three parallel stories which the viewer finds captivating and intriguing to interact with, while conveying the message across. It’s the first interactive brand film project we have worked on, and it is really exciting to see brands push the envelope. This kind of work is the ask of the hour.”
Added Pratik Gupta, Co-Founder – FoxyMoron: “Everybody stresses about retirement, but not many address retirement as a problem they must address ‘now’. Our intent with this campaign was to ensure that all the people who engage with it are able to visually switch between realities and see the possibilities that may ensue. The use of interactive video experience, married with creative tech allowed us to play up this experience on users’ timelines seamlessly. Phosphene, our creative technology wing, created an experience (good or bad) by simply holding or releasing a button on the screen. Having built this creative tech from the ground up, we are now confident of the message and its delivery having the right impact on the audience that interacts with it! We’re looking forward to the results that the campaign will throw up and taking this first-time-ever tech to multiple other clients.”
For more than three decades, Asian Paints Sharad Shamman has been an intrinsic part of Bengal’s Durga Puja. This year Asian Paints is presenting #ColoursOfPujo. Partnering Asian Paints in this musical journey are three renowned Bengali bands – Cactus, Lakkhichhara and Goshai Gang. Each of them presenting a pujo special song, set against the background of a colour that represents Sharodiya.
Said Jaideep Kanse, General Manager – Brands, Asian Paints Limited: “Asian Paints has always believed in celebrating creativity and art. It was with this intent that Asian Paints Sharad Shamman was initiated and now over 35 years of this, we feel the love and respect of the people every time we are in Kolkata during Pujo. Colours are native to both, Durga Pujo and Asian Paints and with this thought, we celebrate #ColoursofPujo this year. We are extremely proud to associate with three leading bands from Kolkata – Cactus, Lakkhichhara and Goshai Gang to bring to life the colours of pujo by highlighting the relevance and significance of key colours.”
Added Sujoy Roy, Managing Partner (Creative), Ogilvy: “Asian Paints has been an integral part of Durga Puja for several years. Every year we pick aunique aspect of the festival and bring it alive. This year we wanted to celebrate the colours of Durgotsav. Colours that evoke memories, represent tradition and find prominence during the festival. We picked three colours. And created three songs. Connecting colours to the key moments of celebration. Painting three vivid pictures of Durgotsav.”
In all likelihood, over the next few days, you will buy some item on the ‘Amazon Great Indian Festival Sale’ or the ‘Flipkart Billion Days Sale’. And at the end of the sale period, one of them will claim some astronomical figure of realised sales.
Celebrating a decade of Dark is Beautiful, the Jindal Foundation has unveiled a new campaign titled ‘India’s Got Colour’. A call for action is captured in the music video that intends to continue and amplify the conversation around inclusiveness and colour bias, specifically within the Indian context. Continuing to lend her name to the campaign against anti-colourism in India, Nandita Das joins hands with Mahesh Mathai, Ankur Tiwari and a slew of Indian actors to celebrate India’s Got Colour.
Announcing the win, Pallav Jain, Co-CEO, Performics India said: