MxMIndia

Category: MARKETING

  • After one and a half years, Keith Alphonso has quit UTV. He was business head of Bindass, the youth channel from the UTV stable

    Keith Alphonso quits UTV, joins OML as Revenue Head

    By Meghna Sharma

     

    Keith Alphonso

    After one and a half years, Keith Alphonso has left UTV. He was business head of Bindass, the youth channel from the UTV stable which was recently acquired by Walt Disney, and was in charge of rebranding the channel in a bid to keep pace with the ever-changing outlook of its core audience set.

     

    Confirming the news to MxMIndia, Mr Alphonso said, “Yes, I have quit UTV and joined OML as Head of Revenue.”

     

    In his new role at Only Much Louder (OML), a company which focuses on reaching the youth market in India through high quality entertainment properties including music festivals, television and web-based content, Mr Alphonso will be creating more branding properties. “I have mastered the art of creating ‘branded content’ from my previous work experiences. So, will be in-charge of handling similar profile at OML too. The only difference being that here it will be across platforms – television, live events, web etc.”

     

    Prior to UTV, Mr Alphonso has worked with Zoom Television, MTV and Times of India in a career spanning almost 17 years.

     

  • This year's campaign is being launched with the slogan 'Ganpati Bappa Morya, Dharti Mata Morya' in a crusade that protects planet earth while seeking the blessings of Lord Ganesha

    Big FM Launches Big Green Ganesha 2012

    By A Correspondent

     

    BIG FM has announced the launch of the ‘BIG Green Ganesha Campaign’ (BGGC), which is entering its fifth year, with the aim of nurturing a better environment while celebrating Ganesh Chaturthi. This year’s campaign is being launched with the slogan ‘Ganpati Bappa Morya, Dharti Mata Morya’ in a crusade that protects planet earth while seeking the blessings of Lord Ganesha. The initiative has found support from celebrities namely, Aamir Khan, Neha Dhupia and Ranveer Shorey among others, who have donated newspapers which will be used to make the papier mache idols during the festival. Donating newspapers may be a small but significant step in the right direction to spread the message on celebrating the festival in an eco-friendly fashion.

     

    Launched in 2006 before the Ganeshotsav, this initiative is aimed at creating social consciousness towards making one of India’s largest and most popular festivals better and more ecologically sound.

     

    Drawing attention to the fact that most commonly available idols are created from non-degradable material and the paints used contain a high amount of toxins, BGGC has helped generate awareness and gained steady momentum during the last four years by creating a sense of responsibility among communities and delivering significant value to its partners.

     

    The initiative has found support from leading celebrities including Aamir Khan, Neha Dhupia and Ranveer Shorey.

     

    The drive will culminate with the BIG Green Ganesha Awards, on September 19. Radio Jockeys accompanied by top celebrities will travel across cities and announce the names of winners based on measures they’ve taken to create ecologically sound Ganeshas.

     

    While 13 paper Ganesha statues were put up last year as part of the BGG campaign, this year will witness the erection of 30 Ganesha pandals (special temporary structures) across six major cities and a number of other smaller ones. Cities included in this campaign are Mumbai, Hyderabad, Bengaluru, Bhopal, Indore, Surat, Vizag, Baroda, Mangalore, Gwalior, Mysore, Sholapur and Goa. Tie-ups will also be initiated with popularpandals and malls to garner maximum awareness and participation. Supported with out-of-home media and print visibility, the campaign also aims to encourage close to 110 residential societies across the 13 cities to install eco-friendly Ganesha idols.

     

    The activities carried out last year saw more than 35,000 people donating paper by covering 15,000 households. With 14 lakh people visiting the pandals, it was no surprise when the Indian Radio Forum named the campaign the winner in the best On Ground Initiative 2012.

     

  • Dhingana has launched an advertising platform to reach its 11 million worldwide users, with Gokul Rajaram, creator of AdSense and current Facebook product director for advertising, on the advisory board

    Dhingana launches ad platform, Gokul Rajaram is advisor

    By A Correspondent

     

    Dhingana (www.dhingana.com), a leading streaming service for Indian music, has announced the launch of its immersive advertising platform to help brands reach a fast-growing and high-grossing demographic: the Indian population around the world. As part of this initiative, the company has named Gokul Rajaram, Facebook’s Product Director of Advertising and the creator of Google’s AdSense, to its advisory board.

     

    “Globally, over 11 million Indian music fans listen to their favourite music on Dhingana. We believe that this is a great motivation for brands looking at innovative avenues to reach out to them. This led us to develop a highly intuitive advertising platform,” said Snehal Shinde, CEO of Dhingana.

     

    “We’re thrilled to have Gokul on board,” said Swapnil Shinde, COO of Dhingana. “Gokul has extensive experience in creating user-friendly and highly profitable experiences for social and mobile platforms.” Shinde added, “Gokul’s experience will be invaluable as we expand the service to reach more users.”

     

    Prior to joining Facebook, Mr Rajaram spent 5 years as the Product Management Director of Google’s Adsense. He also ran a startup, Chai Labs, that was later bought out by Facebook.

     

    According to Mr Rajaram, “The streaming market in India is growing at an unprecedented rate, offering myriad opportunities to consumers and brands. With more than 7 million active users on iOS, Android, BlackBerry, and Nokia devices, Dhingana has also been quick in tapping the huge impact that mobile is making in India”.

     

    Dhingana expects the advertising platform to become a “must buy” for advertisers such as movie production studios, music labels, independent musicians, mobile carriers, and other brands that want to reach a young, engaged global audience. Dhingana is offering a number of ad formats and can help target ads based on factors like music genre, platform, geo-location, and audience demographics.

     

    As part of beta testing of the platform, Dhingana ran a campaign for the film Cocktail, driving 100,000 audio streams of the ad in the first 18 hours, and more than 1 million streams in the first five days.

     

  • Kevin Pietersen, the South-African born English cricketer, will be the ambassador for Citizen watches. He presently plays for England, Surrey and the Delhi Daredevils

    Citizen signs Kevin Pietersen as brand ambassador

    By A Correspondent

     

    Kevin Pietersen, the South-African born English cricketer, will be the ambassador for Citizen watches. He presently plays for England, Surrey and the Delhi Daredevils and has the distinction of being the second-highest run scorer from his first 25 Tests. He became the fastest batsman to reach both 1,000 and 2,000 runs in One Day International cricket.  He is the third English batsman to top the ICC One Day International rankings in March 2007.

     

    Katsusuke Tokura, MD, Citizen Watches India said, “We are delighted to have Kevin Pietersen as Citizen’s brand ambassador. Kevin Pietersen is one of the finest batsmen, his sophistication and style superbly personifies our brand.”

     

    Kevin Pietersen will also feature in the brand’s communication of the new Super Titanium watch collection. All models from the Super Titanium Collection feature a high-quality sapphire glass that helps resistance against scratches and always guarantees a perfect view on the time display. The watch is also water resistant to 10 Bar. Colour accents and changing design in minute division also revive the appearance of the dials, and Super Titanium watches are five times harder and 40 percent lighter than stainless steel watches.

     

  • Digital offers the most cost-effective way of communicating or advertising, says Chandrakanth B N, Co-Founder and Managing Director, Theorem India

    Digital, the efficient earner: B N Chandrakanth, Theorem

    By Robin Thomas

     

    Theorem, a technology company focused on digital marketing or online media operations, started at a mere number of four, and today has over 1000 people  with offices in the Americas, Asia Pacific, Europe and the Middle East. The company provides a broad suite of digital solutions in areas ranging from creative services and media operations to reporting and analytical services. In conversation with MxMIndia, Chandrakanth B N, Co-Founder and Managing Director, Theorem India, spoke at length about the company’s journey over the last ten years since its foundation in 2002. He also spoke about his India plans, specifically post Rs 100 crore investments in India, and much more.

     

    Q: From mere 4 people in the organisation, today Theorem is said to be more than a 1000 in just 10 years, over 150 clients… What are the key drivers that have led to this success?

    We are more of a technology player in this domain. One of the biggest growth drivers for Theorem has been the growth of the digital media over the last 10 years. Even in mature markets like the US, the overall ad spends going to digital was only 7 percent; the digital ad pie has of course doubled over the years. We set up our company with the vision to focus on the digital media operations domain. What we brought was the strength of the strong Indian IT service business ie efficiency and technical knowledge, while keeping the costs low for our clients. This became very attractive to our clients in the west, and so our team achieved better quality service delivery than their own teams based in New York or San Francisco etc. Hence, it was very attractive for companies in the digital media space whether it is an agency or publishers or technology companies to work with us because we brought in both domain expertise plus we brought in the scales of operations and very importantly the technical knowhow and skills required. These are some of the factors that I believe helped us grow in the last 10 years.

     

    Q: What would you say are some of the learnings so far in the last 10 years?

    Digital offers the most cost-effective way of communicating or advertising. Not just cost-effective, but it is very effective in terms of reach as well. When we started, display and email were two big key drivers for digital marketing. Right after we started, Google took off, which basically brought in search marketing and so search became a key element of the digital marketing eco-system. We adapted to these changes and then obviously social media came along and mobile came along. So we have seen an evolution of different media vehicles within the digital sphere. We also saw a lot of technological innovation happen within this domain. The evolution of this space has been very fast and there has been so much technology coming in, and there has been much more efficiency too.

     

    Q: So, has there been a change in the way the marketers have approached digital media over the years?

    Absolutely. Since we have largely worked with western markets, we have definitely seen that change wherein marketers or brands are adapting to digital a lot more. We can see that in the numbers ie doubling of the digital ad spends from 7 to 14 percent. There is a lot more awareness about the effectiveness of digital advertising in the western markets and marketers are also a lot more demanding as far as their requirements from the media are concerned. It is a fairly mature market today.

     

    India on the other hand is still an evolving market. Marketers here need a lot more education to understand the benefits of the digital media, its effectiveness in delivering better ROIs, how digital is going to be different from the traditional media, and so on… So, there is still a fair bit of education that is required. We are seeing changes and I believe a company like ours can play a huge role in educating the Indian marketer. I still believe that there is a lot to be done in the Indian market.

     

    Q: What are your India-specific plans? Theorem will be investing Rs 100 crore in India over the next 3-4 years… What is the nature of these investments?

    We have a large facility and teams based out of India, supporting our global clients right now and so we are looking at expanding on that. In Mysore we have our own campus and we are looking at expanding that. More importantly though we are looking at India as a market and how we can take our domain expertise and add value as opposed to being a large-scale IT support organization. We are also trying to be in the forefront of the marketing itself and help with more innovation. So, yes in the next four to five years we are looking to expand our operations from both facilities and team perspective which is potentially a Rs 100 crore investment.

     

    Q: You have two offices in India, Mysore and Bangalore… Any expansion plans within India?

    Yes, as the industry evolves further this is definitely a possibility. It is nevertheless early years for us, but we are definitely looking at probably newer cities, newer regions. The operation centers are in Bangalore and Mysore right now so that may continue to grow in these regions but, if we see the need we may even look at other regions.

     

    Traditionally US has always been a very large market for us, UK would be the next largest and then Europe but, where we are really seeing growth is in regions like Australia and Middle East. In India we have to do a lot of work in terms of creating solutions and that is what we are working on right now. India as a market is very interesting for us, and we are definitely seeing growth in some of the non traditional markets as well.

     

    Q: What is the business model you follow? Which of your services bring bigger share of revenue – creatives, media operations, analytics, consulting? Any newer services we would see you introduce this year or in the near future?

    Right now we are an IT services company supporting the digital marketing world. Largely we provide experienced or trained resources to support online media operations. So, this is really our business model, it is a traditional IT services model but, then we are obviously trying to move up the value chain and provide more high-end services for some of the local markets.

     

    Our revenues are spread evenly across our services, our media operations have been a big portion of our business and all the other services are also growing quickly as well. We are working on some new solutions and products, a couple of which we will launch soon. Some time later this year we will be launching another product and some time next year we aim to bring in some more innovative solutions to the market.

     

    Q: What rich media services does Theorem provide?

    Theorem provides end-to-end rich media services including creative development, trafficking and QA (quality assurance), across a range of media including mobile, email, banner ads, landing pages and micro sites. Furthermore, our expertise spans technologies including MediaMind, DoubleClick Studio, Eyewonder, PointRoll, and Flashtalking among others. Theorem strength and key differentiation lies in its depth of knowledge and breadth of services in providing rich media QA that’s extremely complex and highly evolved. In fact, we are one of the very few firms globally that offer this service to our clients.

     

    Q: And what do you think are the biggest concerns or challenges that Indian markets face, as far as rich media ads are concerned?

    Bandwidth issues in India are a big concern as the internet infrastructure needs to mature a lot more for the mobile rich media ads to become more popular. I believe it has to evolve, the infrastructure needs to get better and I think once we see our infrastructure improve rich media ads will also get more popular.

     

    Q: We have been witnessing some consolidations in the digital industry, with a lot of mergers and acquisitions lately… What is your take on these developments? Good signs for the industry?

     

    I believe it is a sign of maturation for the digital industry in India. I personally think it is a good sign; there is a lot of focus on India. So, as the market matures, our internet infrastructure gets better, and we are able to convince the marketers that digital is a more effective medium for them to start leveraging. We have a huge youth population and they are all going to get on the internet and the easier it gets to log onto the internet, obviously the larger the population you will have to market to. Therefore all our tier II and tier III cities need to get better bandwidth and internet infrastructure.

     

    Q: And are we going to see Theorem too acquire some agencies soon …?

    Potentially yes. There is always a possibility of this as we grow …

     

    Q: What kind of impact did the global economic conditions have on your international and India business? Did it have any impact on the industry?

    Interestingly, we never saw never saw a slowdown in the last 10 years. In fact 2008-09 were one of the biggest growth years for us. During the slowdown we have been hiring and giving raises. So digital provides a cost-effective means of communication and advertising. During the years of slowdown more people look at cost benefits of digital advertising. Although the overall spends may shrink, the piece of the pie is definitely going to increase for digital during these times.

     

    Q: What are your growth targets and goals over the next one or two years?

    We are looking to double by the end of 2015…

     

  • Affle, the digital media company, has announced the launch of Ripple – its rich media and video advertising network

    Affle unveils integrated ad network for all smart screens

    By A Correspondent

     

    Affle, the digital media company, has announced the launch of Ripple – its rich media and video advertising network. With the growing convergence of connected devices (PC, Mobile, Tablet & Smart TV), Ripple is an integrated ad network that will offer cutting edge advertising solutions across all smart screens. Developed in-house by Affle, which enable it to deliver advertising contextual to the kind of video content being consumed thus making it significantly more engaging for users and valuable for advertisers and publishers.

     

    A recent consumer research commissioned by Affle conducted by IMRB revealed that Online Video advertising is almost 3 times more likely to get users to search for the product vs. regular TV advertising and is 2.7 times more effective for enhancing purchase consideration vs. TV advertising. Affle has been very encouraged by these findings and believes that the overall user and usage growth in the video internet market coupled with greater ad effectiveness on this medium will help grow this market substantially in months to come.

     

    Calling the new technology as smart media for smarter screens, Anuj Khanna Sohum, Founder and Chairman, Affle Group, said, “Three major consumer and technology trends are leading the digital revolution in developing markets – increased consumption of video and rich media over internet, greater penetration of mobile internet on smart devices, cheaper and faster access to connected wireless networks. Ripple is designed to leverage these significant trends with the aim to accelerate the digital revolution globally. Given our successful history and extensive experience, we have a comprehensive understanding of the needs of the consumers, publishers and advertisers. Our innovation on the Ripple platform enhances the consumer experience and engagement with rich media and that we believe will add significant value to all key stakeholders in the digital media ecosystem.”

     

    Ripple differentiates itself significantly from other ad networks by having an integrated platform for delivering intelligent advertising across all smart screens and through its array of innovations which make advertising more contextual and richer in experience.

     

    Anuj Kumar, Co-founder and CEO, Affle, said, “We strongly believe that effective advertising is one which is engaging and relevant for consumers. Over the last one year we have been doing a lot of product level R&D and user research to create the Ripple platform such that advertising delivered through it will reach the most relevant consumer, on the most premium content and at the most relevant context across all smart screens. I am extremely happy that a lot of those efforts have made us build a solid product which has already attracted top partners like Samsung, P&G, Star, Business Standard, Dainik Bhaskar, Beoscope, Bolanews, Sambawa and many more across key Asian markets.”

     

    “We have built some exciting innovations in Ripple like our new ad engagement unit ‘Storm’ which utilises image search, voice recognition, face detection like technologies to identify the most relevant context in the content, to help deliver the most meaningful advertising. Our tests on some of these innovations have been hugely successful and we have observed significant increases in user engagement levels through such formats versus the regular digital advertising formats. I am confident that once commercially available these would get a lot more advertisers and publishers to work with us. We are also working on a lot of other next generation innovations currently, as we strongly believe that a solid technology backbone for Ripple could help us significantly enhance digital advertising effectiveness and the overall market size,” Charles Yong, Chief Technology Officer (CTO), Affle, said.

     

     

  • The Forum Mall Bangalore, part of Prestige Group, has awarded its creative duties to TBWA\India

    TBWA wins creative mandate for Forum Mall

    By A Correspondent

     

    The Forum Mall Bangalore, part of Prestige Group, has awarded its creative duties to TBWA\India.

     

    The Forum mall is one of Bangalore’s most prominent landmarks and a destination for shoppers in Bangalore. The business was awarded to TBWA following a multi-agency pitch.

     

    Rama Raju, General Manager, The Forum Mall, said, “What impressed us was TBWA\India’s ability to think out of the box, their disruptive approach and most importantly, brand ownership, which convinced us to partner with TBWA.”

     

    Commenting on the win, Nirmalya Sen, Managing Director at TBWA India said, “Only the most mature marketers pick their communications partner on the basis of their credentials. We are delighted to partner one such company in the Prestige Group and we are looking forward to co-creating The Forum brand with them.”

     

    Arindam Sengupta, Vice President-South, TBWA India, added, “We are delighted to work with a client who shares similar ideologies and understands our approach to communication. It is indeed a challenge and an honour for TBWA to build such an iconic brand. We look forward, in all enthusiasm, to create some unconventional and fresh advertising for them, with them.”

     

  • As part of his new profile Mr Chakravarthy, who has been associated with Reliance Broadcast Network right since its launch, will take on the mandate of the overall P&L and brand development for the joint venture's English channel portfolio.

    Anand Chakravarthy gets added role as Biz Head, BIG CBS

    By A Correspondent

     

    Anand Chakravarthy

    BIG CBS Networks has announced the appointment of Anand Chakravarthy as its Business Head. As part of his new profile Mr Chakravarthy, who has been associated with Reliance Broadcast Network right since its launch, will take on the mandate of the overall P&L and brand development for the joint venture’s English channel portfolio, that is, BIG CBS Prime, BIG CBS Love and BIG CBS Spark. Along with his new profile as Business Head for the BIG CBS JV, he will continue with his current designation as Chief Marketing Officer, Reliance Broadcast Network Ltd.

     

    Mr Chakravarthy has been with Reliance Broadcast Network since 2006 and has played an instrumental role in taking the company from a pure radio company to a multimedia conglomerate that it is today.

     

    Sharing his initial reactions on the elevation with MxM India, Mr Chakravarthy said: “CBS is a brand that was launched two years ago, and I was part of the launch. While I have been doing marketing for quite some time now, for me to take over the business mandate is an opportunity to grow into a larger business role. We have some exciting shows lined up.”

     

    When asked on how he would juggle multiple roles including handling the marketing mandate of RBNL as well as being responsible for the P&L of the new English channels under BIG CBS he said: “On the marketing front, my role is more of providing strategic help and guidance to the different teams but my focus will be largely on the Big CBS business because it is still very young and requires a lot of attention. Also, I have been doing marketing for a long time so that comes easy to me. Though I was handling regional channels Magic and Spark, now to move to the English genre space will be a new experience for me as there is a new set of consumers, new set of products and a different set of challenges to meet. But the great thing is that CBS is a great brand and they bring some fantastic content to the table. Between BIG and CBS, building a joint venture is in itself a prestigious brand to work for. So it’s an interesting opportunity and I am looking forward to it.”

     

    Speaking on Anand Chakravarthy’s appointment, Tarun Katial, CEO, Reliance Broadcast Network Ltd. said, “Anand is one of our finest and most committed senior management associates. As the business takes a new leap with some amazing content – America’s Got Talent, American Idol, X Factor, Dexter and more, along with the impending digitization which will catapult these channels into another level, no one is better equipped than Anand to lead this initiative and focus on great content and communication, subscription revenue, and building greater value for advertisers.”

     

    Though it is still early days, Mr Chakravarthy already has his work cut out for him. He asserts: “The channels have taken off well and we have an objective to take them to a strong leadership position. The other thing is that we want to bring in more and more exciting content so we are just in the middle of the latest season of America’s Got Talent. Next is X factor that will be simulcast along with the US on September 14. We’re gonna follow that up with American Idol and the latest season of American Idol post that as well.” The focus, he says, is to bring in some of the marquee properties from the US which are familiar and well-known in India and start launching them simultaneously with the US. “Over the next six months, we want to cement our promise as a network that will deliver the latest, precious and hottest of American TV and will do that with a series of exciting launches,” affirmed Mr Chakravarthy.

     

  • Genesis Burson-Marsteller has announced new business wins across key business sectors including e-commerce, manufacturing, customer loyalty and fashion retail, marking strong momentum as it enters the second half of 2012

    Genesis BM starts Q3 with new business wins

    By A Correspondent

     

    Genesis Burson-Marsteller, which specialises in public relations, public affairs and digital marketing services, has announced new business wins across key business sectors including e-commerce, manufacturing, customer loyalty and fashion retail, marking strong momentum as it enters the second half of 2012. Genesis Burson-Marsteller is pleased to be working with such respected brands and companies including Flipkart, Loyalty One, and GAS.

     

    “GAS works with a philosophy of being simple and authentic. We were looking at working with an agency that shares similar values and represents GAS the best possible way.  We are very happy to be partnering with Genesis Burson-Marsteller as our Public Relations agency and looking forward to a successful association ahead,” stated Amit Dhanjani, Head of Marketing and Communications for GAS.

     

    Genesis Burson-Marsteller is celebrating its 20th year as a communications leader in India. “We are proud of the clients we have represented these last 20 years and in 2012 we continue work with great brands,” stated Prema Sagar, Founder and Principal. “As a firm that specialises in integrated communications, the range of businesses represented by these recent wins also demonstrates our ability to work with clients in all industries, helping them achieve their communications objectives.”

     

    Flipkart went live in 2007 with the objective of making books easily available to anyone who had internet access. Today, they are present across various categories including movies, music, games, mobiles, cameras, computers, healthcare and personal products, home appliances and electronics, stationery, perfumes, toys. They’re present in 37 cities, with over 11.5 million book titles, 14 different categories, more than 3 million registered users and sale of 30000 items a day; they are one of the leading e-commerce players in the country.

     

    GAS is a premium jeans wear brand with an international feel fueled by the idea of fashionable – yet functional and practical – clothes for intelligent, discerning and cosmopolitan people who look to clothing to express their own personality for every occasion. Today Grotto S.p.A. is a global, international company determined to continue to reinforce its presence abroad, with a particular focus on Europe and the Far East.

     

    Loyalty One is a global provider of customer insight and strategy, marketing and loyalty programs and customer experience management. Our roster of clients includes Fortune 1000 companies across the globe. Loyalty One’s industry-leading associates, practical experience and proven capabilities set the benchmark of thought leadership in the loyalty marketplace.

     

  • Putting the spice into the edible oil landscape, Dhara's new campaign comes after a six-year break and addresses the health concerns of the new generation

    Dhara offers healthy variety to its TG

    By Tuhina Anand

     

    Dhara, which has in the past come up with successful taglines including ‘Dhara Dhara Shudh Dhara’ and ‘My Daddy Strongest’, has now after a gap of almost six years come out with a new campaign.

     

    India Ka Tadka is how Dhara has positioned itself in its current communication, which is about celebrating the fondness of food that Indians are known for and various emotions that come with food.  It also talks of the role that edible oil plays in daily Indian cooking, which also involve frying. Hence, Dhara offering guilt-free consumption of all things that are seen as sinful by switching to the brand that offers healthy variants of oil to choose from, thus also championing the rotating of different oils which is seen as a healthy choice.

     

    Offering an insight into the reason for the six-year gap before this campaign, Amit Kumar Taneja, Senior Brand Manager, Dhara, Mother Dairy, said, “In the year 2009, we revamped the entire packaging for the brand and then post that we have been doing a lot of work like creating a new brand identity based on its equity and heritage, introducing new variants and simultaneously focusing on distribution in regions with tactical media exposure. Taking a step ahead we thought that it is the right time to also introduce a national campaign now. Incidentally, Dhara has just entered its 25th year too.”

     

    The campaign tries to bring about an emotional connect, along with being relevant, to the consumers. Mr Taneja explained, “Edible oil is like salt which is a necessary ingredient for the everyday kitchen. Now there are certain reserves regarding consuming oil. So what we are essentially saying that research recommends changing oil variants frequently for healthy lifestyle, and we have taken the responsible route and provide those variants under the Dhara umbrella thus providing consumers reassurance that we are taking care of their health needs.”

     

    He added, “The message is being reinforced on Dhara packaging as well, which reads as ‘For optimum health benefits Dhara recommends consumption of more than one variant to get balanced quantity of saturated fatty acids (SFA), monounsaturated fatty acids (MUFA) and polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFA) along with a variety of micro nutrients present in different oils’. ”

     

    India ka Tadka essentially means that we have grown up hearing the crackling sound of tadka, and whenever we hear it, subconsciously we know that food is going to be served. Tadka is that wafting aroma of spices in oil which turns an ordinary meal into the most exquisite treat. It’s also a metaphor for the joie de vivre, the spice of life. The positioning tries to capture the significance of food even in our smallest of celebrations.

     

    The campaign is developed by DDB Mudra and shot by Thumbnail Pictures. It’s been launched pan-India with Hindi, Marathi, Kannada and Bengali edits. The OOH too is being tapped in different cities across India.

     

    Commenting on the TVC, Vandana Das, President, DDB Mudra, said, “We take a lot of pride in this campaign and our association with Dhara for so many years. With past campaigns like ‘Jalebi’ and ‘My Daddy Strongest’ done for Dhara, the benchmark was already set very high. What’s great and delights us is that we managed to partner the client in creating yet another campaign that not just breaks the category clutter but also captures a strong insight. India ka Tadka for sure depicts each one of us in some way or the other.”

     

  • With Taproot selling 51 percent stake to a transnational advertising agency less than four years after it was set up, we spoke to a cross-section of people in the know, on when is the time right for an entrepreneur to sell out

    TAPROOT! | What would make an entrepreneur sell?

    By Ananya Saha

     

    Some create to sell. Some create to keep. Why would an entrepreneur who has created, built up and nurtured a company, wish to sell it? And given that the reasons are good, what then is a good time for this sell-out?

     

    PV Sahad, Editor of VCCircle, a news website dedicated to covering private equity, venture capital investments and M&A in India, said, “The right time to sell a business depends entirely on the objective of the management or the entrepreneur.”

     

    Mr Sahad added, “Usually, the companies are sold off when the markets are high or if there are suitable buyers for the company. The suitable buyers knock on the doors when the company is at the peak performance stage. This is when a buyer looks at the company and makes a good offer.”

     

    Prof Kavil Ramachandran of ISB Hyderabad opined, “There are various reasons why a company sells out. One, when the entrepreneur gets excited by something more challenging and wishes to move away from something he has established and toiled over. The entrepreneur and/or management might wish to sell out when the Return on Investment (ROI) and Return on Time and Investment (ROTI) for the effort put in seem good in terms of the valuation.”

     

    One more reason could be that the management of the company feels that the pressures of growing the company further are beyond their current means, and the entrepreneur starts to feel that someone else might be able to do a better job, added Prof Ramachandran.

     

    Mahendra Swarup

    Mahendra Swarup, President, Indian Venture Capital and Private Equity Association (IVCA), said that the reason to sell out depends vastly on the outlook of the entrepreneur. “If one’s company is heavily invested or has raised money through IPO, then the compulsion to exit the business is much more.” According to him little or less equity rights with the entrepreneur is also one reason when the companies prefer to sell out.

     

    The companies usually try and scale up their business with the money that an investor (for a stake sale) brings in, or it the entrepreneur wishes to exit the business altogether.

     

    Mr Swarup added that a good time to sell company is also dependent on the entrepreneur. “They can sell when the company is doing well, or is actually not doing well. But usually, companies are sold when the entrepreneur has an alternative scheme of things that can be a new investment horizon or venture.”

     

    Sanjeev Bhikchandani

    Sanjeev Bhikchandani, founder and executive vice-chairman of Naukri.com, said, “There are no general answers to when is a good time to sell a company. The motive to sell depends solely on the goals and objectives of the entrepreneur. If they wish to make a quick buck, they might scale up and sell. If they wish to create a huge company, they might not. The time is decided by the motive of the entrepreneur.”

     

  • Satvikshop.com offers consumers a large collection of organic and ayurvedic solutions and products from reputed brands

    Satvikshop for natural living @ doorsteps

    By A Correspondent

     

    Bridging the gap between consumers and their quest for a natural lifestyle, Satvikshop.com was launched recently, offering consumers a large collection of organic and ayurvedic solutions and products from reputed brands.

     

    The website offers free consultation with a panel of experts who can best advise you about treatments for various ailments. Consumers can post their questions online and receive answers from the experts. A full-fledged call centre guides consumers on a 24/7 basis.

     

    Consumers can view and buy ayurvedic products by browsing through various categories, including gender, diseases, organ care, and common ailments. Consumers can search through products from multiple brands as well as all products of a single brand, with around 1000 SKUs already at satvikshop.com.

     

    The website boasts a strong knowledge base with information on herbs, certifications and their importance. Product attributes include detailed description, brand, ingredients, symptoms, contra-indications, side-effects, user reviews, recipes, nutritional facts, and dosage.

     

    The e-shop offers free shipping for all orders. The website also features an active blog with regular updates related to  organic and ayurvedic lifestyle.

     

    “It is our endeavour to promote Satvik living – free of chemicals, pesticides and pollutants that have entered our lives without us noticing”, said Subhanker Sarker, Business Head, Satvikshop.com and Indiatimes Shopping. “With reputed partners such as Dabur, Organic India, Morarka Organic Foods and many more, we are confident of reversing this trend and bringing a healthy lifestyle to our consumers. Pre launch consumer engagement has been very encouraging and we already have a Facebook community which is 15,000 strong.”

     

    Krishan Guptaa, M.D & Global CEO,Organic India Pvt. Ltd. Said “Association of Organic India and Satvikshop.com is the ideal partnership to deliver authentic Organic products to our consumers. Both companies have similar vision to ensure everyone in the chain from Mother earth, farmers, associates , employees , consumers and planet as a whole wins with this unique partnership.”

     

    “MOFL being the single largest and oldest retail organic player in India has always been supportive of initiatives that creates awareness and makes organic food more accessible to the masses.  The availability of organic food has not yet spread to every nook and corner of this country, though the health conscious consumers live in every place. We are sure that many consumers who have not been able to buy from shops will now be able to buy it on line. Satvikshop.com provides consumers with a fantastic platform to access the same.The credibility of indiatimes will also convince them to do so.” said  Mukesh Gupta,CEO,Morarka Organic Foods Ltd, Jaipur and Executive Director – Morarka Foundation.

     

    Times Internet’s latest vertical – Satvikshop.com eyes Rs 160 cr+ by 2013
    By A Correspondent 

    Times Internet recently launched a vertical e-commerce site – Satvikshop.com. It offers consumers wide range of organic and ayurvedic solutions and products from reputed brands. Satvikshop.com is a vertical which is powered and funded by Indiatimes Shopping. The website offers free consultation with a panel of experts who about treatments for various ailments. Post launch, Satvikshop.com will take a 360 degree marketing approach wherein it will leverage all the properties within its group. In conversation with MxMIndia, Subhanker Sarker, COO and Business Head of Indiatimes Shopping & Saatvikshop.com spoke at length about his new vertical, the break-even plans and the post launch marketing plans for Satvikshop.com, the growth targets and much more.

     

    Q: Despite having a horizontal e-commerce site, Indiatimes shopping, why the need for a vertical – Satvikshop.com?

    Satvikshop.com is a vertical which addresses a need gap of providing organic and ayurvedic product to the Indian consumer, and is powered and funded by Indiatimes Shopping. Indiatimes Shopping is a horizontal portal which has various categories and is probably one of the most per capital efficient e-commerce players. What we figured is that ayurveda in India is estimated to be a humongous Rs. 6,000-crore plus industry. Organic food is estimated to be in excess of around Rs 650 crore now, growing at a CAGR of 15 per cent. So very clearly Indian consumers are adopting health products, and this trend we realize is not limited to large cities but also tier 2 and tier 3 cities. This is where we saw this opportunity of an e-commerce player capable of delivering to the entire country as a brand. Satvikshop.com is therefore also a pioneer in this space. Once this vertical stabilizes we also plan to provide the same product in our horizontal portal i.e. Indiatimes Shopping.

     

    Q: What kind of research was undertaken before the launch of the vertical? How did you realize the need for an e-commerce site on ayurvedic and organic products?

    We did not do any specific research but we had enough secondary data available which indicated the need and highlighted the opportunity to bring both ayurvedic and organic properties together. Even in the offline scenario you have shops but you will not find one shop which sells both organic and ayurvedic products, thus we saw this as an opportunity.

     

    Q: You had a soft launch last week; what is the kind of response you have been receiving from consumers and marketers alike?

    A month before the launch, we opened a Facebook page on Satvikshop.com. We received encouraging response in terms of engagement with our potential consumers. Today we are on the fifth day of the commercial launch and our transactions have touched over 100 per day which is also very encouraging.

     

    Q: Are you in partnership with any brands for the site? Which ones?

    In both ayurveda and organic there are roughly 20 odd brands which contribute to almost 95 per cent of the consumption. We have partnership with most of the significant players, namely Dabur, Morarka and so on. Now, these are different levels of partnership, it ranges from revenue sharing to commission.

     

    Q: What is the business model that you follow at Satvikshop.com?

    There is a need gap and consumers are looking for a solution, some amount of consultation and recommendations and products are mostly sold on MRPs in India. This is the strength you will find in the offline scenario. As far as online is concerned, here too we are selling the product at the right price, but we will provide free consultation as well as free home delivery, and because it is addressing a need gap, the business has a healthy gross market.

     

    Q: What is your post launch marketing strategy? How do you intend to reach out to your consumers?

    We will leverage on various properties on our group, and take a 360-degree marketing approach. Our TG is any health-conscious family in India, especially those in tier 1, 2 and 3 cities.

     

    Q: Do you have a mobile strategy too?

    Mobile as a strategy is linked to Indiatimes Shopping, we already have a very vibrant Android and iPhone app where some amount of transaction is happening. We are looking at innovative ways of mobile payment and all of those will get integrated with Satvikshop.com as well.

     

    Q: And when do you plan to achieve break-even position?

    We will be profitable within the first 12 months of our launch.

     

    Q: And the nature or the kind of investments put into Satvikshop.com?

    Satvikshop is a vertical powered and funded by Indiatimes Shopping. Satvikshop will leverage Indiatimes Shopping’s technology platform and supply chain infrastructure to be able to deliver organic and ayurveda products to households across India. We have invested to build a diet and health consultation platform and customised customer support, and will further invest in the infrastructure as we scale up. We will also invest in building the brand Satvikshop.com with a 360-degree approach.

     

    Q: What are the revenue and growth targets for Satvikshop.com for this year and the next?

    We are targeting nearly Rs. 60 crore this FY and in excess of Rs. 160 crore by the next year.

     

    Q: Lastly, what are your views on the e-commerce business in India?

    The last couple of years had seen the definitive adoption of online shopping by Indian consumers in a big way, almost across all categories. The trend clearly indicates that e-commerce business in India will grow exponentially. We believe that Indiatimes Shopping, with a planned Gross Margin of 3 per cent and Revenue per Employee per year of Rs. 1.2 crore, is aligned towards a path to profitability as an ecommerce player. Our ASP of Rs. 2200 is highest among all horizontal e-commerce players. Indiatimes Shopping is highly capital efficient and is easily scalable to 10X because of a robust in-house technology platform and the process/model leverage that we have.