MxMIndia

Category: Digital

  • Rolls out a new TV ad campaign to gather momentum for the promotional property

    ShopClues unveils ‘Biggest Thank You Sale’ campaign

    By A Correspondent

     

    On successfully recording 1 crore customers, ShopClues has announced the ‘Biggest Thank You Sale’ campaign. The promotional property from ShopClues will be live between 5th and 10thOctober, 2015 and will offer decent deals as well as Clues Bucks worth Rs. 1,00,000 for existing customers. To generate excitement and awareness around the sale, ShopClues has also launched a new TV ad campaign. Conceptualised and created by Enormous Brands, Mumbai, the TVC invites buyers to make the best of this phenomenal shopping extravaganza.

     

    As a part of the initiative, existing customers will receive free credit in the form of Clues Bucks between Rs 50 to Rs 1,00,00 which they can use to purchase anything on the website. In addition, the marketplace has put together incredible deals and discounts across a large assortment of products, from categories as varied as personal care products, stationary, consumer electronics and much more for the six-day period. ShopClues has also entered into alliances with top brands so that customers can enjoy a variety of benefits including gift vouchers worth Rs 250 on Naturals products, 40 per cent cashback on orders with TinyOwl and up to Rs 4,000 off on travel bookings with the Yatra app.

     

    Speaking on the sale and the TV ad campaign, Radhika Aggarwal, Co-founder and Chief Business Officer, ShopClues.co said, “We at ShopClues are thrilled at registering 1 crore customers. Through the ‘Biggest Thank You Sale’, we want each one of those 1 crore shoppers to revel in the celebration with us! The new TVC rolled out by ShopClues endeavours to create a buzz around this sale so that customers can make the best of the deals and discounts on offer.”

     

    The TV ad film starts by elucidating how bleak the world would be if people were charged money for a simple “Thank You” when they were given any help or shown some support. The viewer is then reminded that since ShopClues is highly grateful for the constant loyalty, support and patronage of its 1 crore customers, it is in no mood to save and has therefore announced this mega sale. The ad film reiterates ShopClues’ celebratory mode and its desire to share the joy with its customers.

     

  • Higher SME digital engagement results in 49 per cent more profit than their offline-only counterparts

    Ecommerce sector powering India’s SME growth, notes Snapdeal & KPMG study

    By A Correspondent

     

    Snapdeal released a first-of-its-kind study in partnership with KPMG titled ‘Impact of Ecommerce on SMEs in India’. The study examines the macro-impact of e-commerce sector on growth of SMEs in India and identifies remaining gaps in the eco system needed to be plugged to facilitate adoption of e-commerce by SMEs.

     

    The report compares the e-commerce led growth trajectory of SMEs in India vis-à-vis other emerging and developed economies. Additionally, it outlines different roles that various participants like the government, industry bodies and ecommerce companies themselves can play in making the SME ecosystem more robust.

     

    Speaking at the release of the report, Kunal Bahl, Co-founder and CEO, Snapdeal said, “At Snapdeal, we are working towards building the most impactful digital commerce ecosystem in the country and SMEs form the foundation of this ecosystem in many ways. With over 200,000 sellers operating on our platform, we felt the need to conduct a systematic unbiased study to identify opportunities and challenges to further accelerate the growth of the sector. We have taken a number of initiatives like seller training programs, seller financing program- Capital Assist and Snapdeal Seller Advisor Program, with an aim of creating life changing experiences for over one million sellers in the next three years. This study has given us deeper insights into what more we can do to enable small businesses become more successful online.”

     

    Richard Rekhy, CEO, KPMG India said, “The fast paced growth of the e-commerce industry in India represents an unprecedented opportunity for SMEs. We hope that the findings of this report will assist policymakers, industry bodies and e-commerce companies to strengthen the support ecosystem, which enables SMEs to ride the e-commerce growth wave successfully.”

     

    This report is the first in a series of initiatives that Snapdeal has undertaken for creating an ecosystem for MSMEs and leveraging ecommerce for their growth.

     

  • Billed as India's first cross-media audience measurement mechanism, the new service will offer a single currency for TV & Web Advertising Planning

    Meanwhile, TAM, IMRB launch combined TV + Internet audience measurement

    By A Correspondent

     

    TAM Media Research and IMRB International have jointly announced the launch of a cross-media consumption behaviour data service. Called ‘TeleWeb Audience Measurement’, it is being billed as the first ever service available in the Indian media industry. This new service will provide data and analytics on the consumption of content across TV and Online platforms like desktop and mobile websites, YouTube and even apps for devices like phones and tablets. TeleWeb Audience Measurement was officially launched on Tuesday and the service has started with a sample across six metros and will be reported on a monthly basis.

     

    L V Krishnan

    Commenting on the launch, L V Krishnan, CEO, TAM Media Research, said, “Content consumption has been transitioning across media platforms, especially television and online. Hence, understanding cross=media consumption patterns at one go and planning advertising investments was imperative. This is what makes TeleWeb Audience Measurement the most awaited service for the Indian Media Industry. It is a win-win situation for both the mediums as it will create mutual pull of advertising investments.”

     

    Highlighting the value that TeleWeb Audience Measurement would bring to the Industry, Hemant Mehta, Senior Vice President, IMRB International said, “We are delighted to partner TAM Media and bring to the industry the first measurement of two screens. With content increasingly becoming platform agnostic, we believe this is an important step in measuring the total reach across platforms. Besides providing the content owners an understanding of the size and profile of their audiences across Digital and TV, the TeleWeb Audience Measurement service will also help advertisers identify new, interesting and cost efficient communication opportunities. For Digital publishers with video content, TeleWeb Audience Measurement would help in benchmarking themselves   vis-à-vis TV channels”.

     

    It may be noted that TAM is a joint venture of Kantar Media and Nielsen. IMRB is part of Kantar Media, which is fully owned by WPP.

     

    Presently, WAM’s five-year-old internet panel-based audience measurement platform tracks usage behaviour amongst active internet users in India and has a sample size of 6075 respondents across six metros (Mumbai, Delhi, Kolkata, Bengaluru, Chennai and Hyderabad) which will be fused with TAM viewership data of 10936 individuals from the same  6 Metro Markets (across 2500-odd panels). WAM tracks URLs surfed from user machines and mobile handsets to provide a complete view of consumption habits of audiences across digital properties.

     

    The WAM data from six metros above will be fused with the TAM TV Viewing data from the same markets. The fused output will be made available through a Client Software Interface called Video Xpress.

     

  • Ropes in Kapil Sharma, the famous standup comedian and South sensation Rana Daggubati

    Micromax initiative to accelerate smartphone adoption

    By A Correspondent

     

    To accelerate the smartphone adoption in the country, Micromax Informatics launched a 360 degree marketing campaign to encourage the 70 million new age consumers using feature phones to switch to smartphones. With a strong portfolio, the company is committed to deliver value to the consumers by focusing on three key levers: faster internet connectivity, large display, speedy processors at extremely affordable price points. To take its message to the nook and corner of the country and reach out to the first time smartphone users, the company has roped in popular stand-up comedian Kapil Sharma for North and the Bahubali sensation, Rana Daggubati for South. The two stars will be seen in a series of films that give very tangible, easy to comprehend benefits of switching to a Micromax smartphone.

     

    Currently, the Indian mobile market is dominated by feature phones with smartphone penetration at just about 15 per cent. Micromax has identified three core barriers hindering the faster smartphone adoption which include the total cost owning the smartphone and data packages, hesitancy around using touchscreen and an evolved Android experience and English language UI making it difficult for consumers to make the shift. Based on these insights, Micromax, has developed a full business initiative comprising key components such as affordable devices with big screen size, regional language support, customized data package and a fully developed customer education program– including printed material, digital content available over phone in local languages to empower first time users of smartphone to set up and use basic functions like email, social networking and other basic utilities.

     

    In line with this, Micromax’s new Bolt series phones offer big screen experience and cuts across various price points to suit the pockets of diverse consumer sets with models like Bolt S302: ₹ 3199/-, Bolt D303: ₹ 3199/-, Bolt Q331: ₹ 4999/- and Bolt Q338: ₹ 6499/-. All the Bolt series smartphones will now come pre-loaded with Firstouch, a patented translator functionality app that will help people translate from English to their local languages and vice versa and access apps in App Bazaar in their preferred language. Additionally, Micromax Bolt customers can also opt for either free WhatsApp or avail talk time worth Rs. 40 per month on Airtel for the first five months. Micromax has also initiated a tech buddy program which includes trained retail representatives and customer care executives across 850 Micromax service centres to help consumers in seamless transition. To take the message across the length and breadth of the country, a 360 degree marketing campaign has been launched to promote the entire initiative and explain the benefits of making the switch to smartphones with Micromax Bolt range.

     

    Commenting on the launch of the new campaign, Shubhajit Sen, CMO, Micromax Informatics, said, “Around 70-80 million Indians convert from their feature phones to smartphones every year and more and more consumers will use a smartphone for their initial computing and Internet needs leapfrogging the PC and laptop generation. We believe that smartphones will play a significant role in meeting PM’s ‘Digital India’ vision to connect the next billion. Micromax, being a front runner in the sub 7.5k mass segment handsets, has taken a step ahead in its philosophy of democratizing technology to the masses and has come up with a special program to enable the consumers to take the next technological leap towards the smartphones from feature phones.”

     

    “WhatsApp is excited to partner with Micromax as it continues to offer affordable innovations that enable connectivity. With over 900 million active users around the world and India being an important part of that, we remain focused on helping people communicate in a way that has become a part of everyday life. We are pleased to be working together with Micromax in this unique offering so that people in India can stay connected with their friends and family both in India and abroad,” said, Brian Acton, Co-Founder of WhatsApp.

     

    The entire campaign is designed to make the consumers more comfortable to approach Micromax to hand-hold them through all the apprehensions and inhibitions of using a smartphone for the first time. The campaign will act as a trigger for the consumers to be connected to their friends and family in a better way. The TVC campaign is conceptualized by Lowe Lintas Delhi, and includes a series of three films, each shot with Kapil Sharma and Rana Daggubati. The communication, in a very tongue-in-cheek manner, talks about Micromax differentiators that come with switching to the Micromax Bolt Smartphone range, which are – free data for use on WhatsApp, regional languages, affordability and big screen. The TVCs will showcase both the brand ambassadors in a double role which is a first for both of them.

     

  • BankBazaar.com has been a pioneer and a one-stop provider of hassle-free solutions for all personal finance products including insurance policies, bank loans and credit cards

    BankBazaar.com entrusts Enormous with creative mandate

    By A Correspondent

     

    BankBazaar.com, a leading financial market place, has awarded the creative mandate to Enormous, after a multi-agency pitch in Mumbai. As part of the scope of engagement, Enormous will work towards further strengthening Bankbazaar.com’s brand positioning as an online financial marketplace offering end-to-end financial services catering to the country’s growing tech-savvy customers. The account will be serviced from Enormous’ Mumbai office.

     

    Established in 2008, BankBazaar.com has been a pioneer and a one-stop provider of hassle-free solutions for all personal finance products including insurance policies, bank loans and credit cards.

     

    Commenting on the development, Adhil Shetty, CEO of BankBazaar.com, said, “The e-commerce segment of the country has successfully spearheaded interesting communication campaigns to enable it as a high involvement sector. On the other hand, financial services, being an important aspect of our lives, remains a low involvement category due to complexities in information dissemination. We are delighted to have Enormous partner with us to simplify financial services through unique creative communication campaigns and to offer optimized benefits to our audience.”

     

    Ashish Khazanchi – Managing Partner, Enormous, “We are delighted to be appointed the agency for Bankbazaar.com. It was a hard-won pitch with Enormous being the only mid-sized agency as part of the process. It is a delight to be working with a team that is driven to effect a large behavior shift in the country. I always believe that ambitious clients help develop ambitious campaigns. Glad to be a small part of the process.”

     

  • Last week, print majors made hay with ecomm sales. ZenithOptimedia group MD Hari Krishnan on why print (still) works

    Print still rules for advertisers (including internet start-ups)

     

    By Hari Krishnan

     

    India counters the rest of the world’s media-evolution-pattern of traditional media de-growth. And this is evident from the mushrooming of daily newspapers in the country, including regional ones. The Hindi and other vernacular print media markets performed exceedingly well on the back of low media penetration, high population growth and rising income and literacy levels. FMCG, retail and real estate want to reach these new audiences. In urban India, e-commerce and internet businesses are driving the growth. No wonder the forecast for ad spends in dailies is a growing 13 per cent (next only to digital), and in magazines it is a positive projection of five per cent growth.

     

    Let’s look at some of the key reasons that makes press still a dependable vehicle that advertisers are betting on, especially the new-age, internet, smartphone and app- enabled ecosystem players. Of course the generic advantages of newspaper ads being more informative in a credible environment, carrying content with greater shelf life than a TVC and the audience being a bit more involved, still apply, as they did ever since the medium was invented. However the altered market landscape offers a few new answers.

     

    Over 2000 first-time advertisers in 2015

    The total number of first-time advertisers on mass media, is a staggering 2,250 in 2015 alone, implying the need for creating basic brand awareness for over 2,000 new brands in the market. The press offers the advantage of quick and high reach to create mass awareness levels on Day One, because it’s the best ‘announcement medium’.

     

    E-commerce action is date-specific

    As the e-commerce war heats up, brands are betting on specific ‘sale days’ to drive a huge surge of traffic and transactions. While TV, too, is used to build up the stress and anticipation, the print media does the job best on specific dates earmarked for the shopping event, additionally offering the benefits of a ‘catalogue effect’ of individual products and pricing. The same applies to major brick-and-mortar retail players too.

     

    TV time inventory has shrunk

    The year-and-a-half-old cap on TV ads (10+2 rule) has resulted in a shortage of supply of TV advertising time, the added number of new advertisers and growing budgets of existing players have created an excess demand that has been diverted to the next high-reach, high-impact medium: Print. E-commerce player spends have doubled in 2015 (over last year), standing at a staggering Rs 1,600 crore. The online category will overtake cars to become the third-biggest spender in 2015.

     

    Hari Krishnan is Managing Director, ZenithOptimedia Group, India

     

  • The agency won the account following a multi-agency pitch

    Hachette India hands over digital mandate to Isobar

    By A Correspondent

     

    Hachette Book Publishing India (Hachette India) has appointed Isobar, a full-service digital agency from the Dentsu Aegis Network, as their digital agency. The agency won the account following a multi-agency pitch.

     

    Sharing his thoughts on the association, Thomas Abraham, Managing Director, Hachette India said, “As a part of our larger commitment to exploring newer ways of reaching our readers we’ve brought Isobar on-board to help us with our social media presence. Isobar’s pitch captured the heart of why books endure and how people connect with books. Their clear understanding of what we need and the enthusiasm of the team assures us that our brand and our books are in good hands.”

     

    Shamsuddin Jasani

    Shamsuddin Jasani, Managing Director, Isobar India, “We are very happy to be associated with Hachette India, as we are always looking at experiences across different sectors and different types of clients. This win adds a very important category of books and publications to our ever expanding repertoire.”

     

    Hachette India publishes general, literary and commercial fiction, children’s and reference books as well as non-fiction, covering memoirs, self-help, travel, history, business, popular culture, lifestyle and sport. Hachette India commenced operations in 2008 and began its local publishing programme in May 2009 with Amit Varma’s My Friend Sancho, the highest selling fiction debut of the year. Hachette India is the publisher of legends like J.K. Rowling, John Grisham, Stephen King, Nicholas Sparks, Stieg Larsson, Neil Gaiman, Gregory David Roberts among others. Hachette’s Playing it My Way by Sachin Tendulkar, published in 2014 is the highest selling nonfiction in hardback in India.

     

  • This mobile application is the only chance for real world retail shops to win back customers lost to e-commerce sites

    Appie to empower retailers fight e-commerce festive sale war

    By A Correspondent

     

    Bates CHI&Partners Mumbai has launched festival initiative for recently acquired client Appie. This festive season, brick and mortar retailers have found their ally in the form of an app to fight the e-commerce sale war. Appie for Retailers – an App that will help empower retailers to stay competitive against e-commerce  players. The newly launched application – Appie, helps connect customers and retailers in a more efficient and personal manner. Most often when customers order something through an e-commerce portal, many become victim to either delayed deliveries or wrong /damaged products. Though there is a return policy in place for all online shopping websites but what is not returned is the valuable time customers lose out in the bargain.

     

    In all situations, one community that has always been at the losing end is the retailer community, who in spite of having better or similar products with door-step delivery capabilities get marginalized due to the noise created by e-commerce players by use of mass media. However, this festive season retailers have an ace up their sleeve with the help of partnering with a startup that is promising them to win back their lost customers.

     

    Appie Mobiquity, a startup that has developed the app Appie, promises convenience  and instant gratification to customers as well as power to retailers. This mobile application presents a path breaking solution for making the real world retail shops / to thrive in the increasingly Digital and Mobile First world.

     

    How Appie works:

    • Customers downloads Appie app on mobile phones
    • Search for the product of their choice on the application or simply share product from other ecommerce sites.
    • Appie helps discover the product in the vicinity of the customer, right there
      where the customer is searching  on any major
      e-commerce sites
    • Appie helps the customer find quickest possible source to get the product
      along with price, availability and retailer’s information. Essentially helping the
      customers get the product in as quick as 30 minutes.
    • Appie puts the retailer’s identity right in front and centre to the consumer
      and enables a direct transaction between the retailer unlike e-commerce portals
    • This option also helps retailers with increased footfalls as many customers even today will prefer to touch, feel and experience the product before buying and more importantly want their purchase faster.
    • Additionally Appie has decided to stand with retailers in their war with e-commerce players this festive season and offer full cash back to retailers on winning back customers from e-commerce portals.
    • The Mobile App is free to download and works on any Android Phone.

     

    Research by Google and other prominent organizations suggests that customer who research online often buy 3-5 five times more than regular shopper. Appie wants to enable a level playing field for retail shops and consumers thereby creating a win-win situation

     

    Benefits to Retailers:

    1. Affordable – No investment fee and retailers pay as low as Re 1/- for each transaction
    2. Easy – User-friendly and easier than Whatsapp that enables retail shops to win customers in less than three clicks and three seconds.
    3. Identity – Highlights merchant’s name and contact. Brand recall for next use
    4. Quality: No discount and deals to attract customers and increase burden on retailers. Customers sent to stores are purely driven by their intent to buy.

     

  • Last year, the Grand Diwali Mela received over 5.5 million visitors in a course of 30 days. Over 150,000 samples were shipped across India, with 70 percent sample orders going to Tier 2 and Tier 3 towns

    GroupM brings back online Diwali mela with Google

    By A Correspondent

     

    Following the success of the 2014 edition, GroupM along with Google is bringing back India’s largest online Diwali celebration. This year, the online festival initiative has a new title sponsor in Askmebazaar.com. The other brands to come on board are Lakme, Horlicks, Kurkure and Hungama.com renewing their partnership with the Grand Diwali Mela and new partners Eno and Godrej Securities.

     

    Last year, the Grand Diwali Mela received over 5.5 million visitors in a course of 30 days. Over 150,000 samples were shipped across India, with 70 percent sample orders going to Tier 2 and Tier 3 towns. The samples ranged from make-up, skincare and household products.

     

    On the second season of the Grand Diwali Mela, CVL Srinivas, CEO, GroupM South Asia said, “After the success of the ‘Grand Diwali Mela in year one, we are excited to bring the online festival back again this year. With a clear focus on taking the festival to not just metros, but also Tier 2 and 3 towns, where the mobile phone is their window to the world, GroupM and our partners are integrating traditional print, TV and radio with mobile and digital marketing.”

     

    Said Punitha Arumugam, Director Agency Business, Google SEA & India: “As more and more consumer products companies embrace the internet to drive sampling and consumer engagement, we’re delighted to partner Group M to scale this initiative further and help brands make the most of the opportunity online.”

     

  • Samayam apps for Android can be downloaded online and can be accessed on the mobile web too

    Times Internet unveils digital news & infotainment brand ‘Samayam’

    By A Correspondent

     

    Times Internet (TIL) unveiled ‘Samayam’ – a news, entertainment and lifestyle content destination available in Tamil, Telugu and Malayalam languages. ‘Samayam’ has been created to bridge the gap between users looking for quality content in their very own languages and trustworthy platforms providing them.

     

    Samayam is available as an android app, on mobile web and also on desktop. With the launch of Samayam, Times Internet’s language offerings are now available across eight languages – Hindi, Tamil, Telugu, Malayalam, Kannada, Gujarati, Marathi and Bangla – in addition to English.

     

    Speaking on the launch, Puneet Gupt, Head of News Business at Times Internet, said: “We are really excited to launch Samayam. Mobile led media landscape is evolving rapidly in India and we hope to become the destination of choice for millions of Indians and Indian diaspora users across languages and platforms.”

     

    Samayam apps for Android can be downloaded online and can be accessed on the mobile web too. Once a user sets a default edition or makes a language choice, subsequent visits to Samayam would directly take the user to his/her default edition.

     

  • The new online destination will bring together Mashable's mission of inspiring, informing and entertaining its global community

    Mashable announces India launch

    By A Correspondent

     

    Mashable, the leading media company for the digital generation, and India.com Webportal Private Limited have announced the launch of Mashable India.

     

    The new online destination will bring together Mashable’s mission of inspiring, informing and entertaining its global community about how digital and technology are changing the world with India.com’s strength in generating original content for Indian audiences and widespread reach in the Indian digital space.

     

    “As a truly global media company, Mashable is very excited to be launching Mashable India, in partnership with the incredibly talented team at India.com, to better serve both our community and brand partners in India,” said Pete Cashmore, Founder and CEO of Mashable. “With technology and digital changing almost every aspect of our world, now could not be a better time to expand to one of the most diverse and unique areas of the world, India.”

     

    “We are thrilled to be building upon our already robust growth of the PMC and ZEE joint venture in the India digital publishing marketplace and am proud to be doing so with Mashable, a brand that has so effectively attracted and maintained a global audience in other international markets,” said PMC Chairman and CEO Jay Penske.

     

    Mashable India has a dedicated editorial team based in Mumbai and New Delhi for localized content to serve the ever growing and connected Indian audiences. Mashable India will offer the best global coverage from Mashable.com and augment it with extensive editorial coverage from India. Mashable India will also leverage the audience reach of India.com network properties.

     

    “We are delighted to begin the India operations of Mashable, which will offer unique content for the connected generation. The combined offering from India.com’s wide range of content and Mashable’s expertise will give readers a global and Indian perspective on things with a refreshing take,” said Punit Goenka, MD & CEO, Zee Entertainment Enterprises Ltd.

     

    The addition of Mashable India continues the company’s global expansion, which has seen the launch of dedicated UK, Australia and Asia editions over the past year.

     

  • He will be bringing in fresh perspectives for the agency in areas such as content, social, experiential, and overall creative output

    BC Web Wise appoints Alabhya Vaibhav as Creative Director

    By A Correspondent

     

    BC Web Wise, the full-service digital agency, has appointed Alabhya Vaibhav as Creative Director, based out of Mumbai. The agency is strengthening its teams in Mumbai and Delhi by bringing new talent on board to reinforce its core offerings in digital marketing and creative content.

     

    Alabhya’s primary role will be to bring his traditional agency learnings on board and work together with the creative team at BC Web Wise to think bigger, think new and up the creative quotient. He will be bringing in fresh perspectives for the agency in areas such as content, social, experiential, and overall creative output.

     

    Commenting on the appointment, Chaaya Baaradhwaaj, Founder-MD, BC Web Wise said, “Digital is not a niche medium anymore and there are clients who are doing exclusive digital advertising today. Adding to this is that we are delivering a lot of broadcast and video content for clients. Alabhya has the perfect mix of creativity and strategic outlook that aligns with our focus.”

     

    Mangesh Bhayde, Creative Director – Art, BC Web Wise said, “Alabhya brings extensive mainstream experience to the table. He’ll have a huge impact on driving excellence and diversity of our output.”

     

    Speaking about his new role, Alabhya commented, “Digital has always inspired me. This is a great opportunity to bring my passion to a medium that thrives on innovation and interactivity. Digital is more important today than ever, and I hope I can use my experience to help the team meet the raging demand for creativity and content day in and day out.”

     

    Alabhya’s portfolio spans creative work for clients like Vodafone, Samsung Mobiles, Honda, Gujarat Tourism, and Indian Airlines. He is armed with 13 years of experience and his past stints include Ushak Kaal Communications where he started his career, and later jaunts at R K Swamy BBDO, DDB Mudra, Dentsu Marcom, and Cheil Worldwide. He moves to BC Web Wise from Ogilvy & Mather where he was Associate Creative Director.