Howard Schultz, former chief executive officer of Starbuck who served on the company board, has decided to retire. Post his retirement, Schultz will become lifelong chairman emeritus, and will hold a role that will bring no official position on the board, hold no voting power, attendance or any other rights.


As per a report, his exit comes after a period of five months of a new CEO taking up the mantle. This movement also comes amid a rise in union organising in the company’s cafes in the US.


During his 41 year stint at the coffee giant, Schultz transformed Starbucks into a global coffeehouse chain with 36,000 cafes bustling in 86 markets from selling only whole beans. 


Schultz is the co-founder of Schultz Family Foundation and emes project llc. His innings at Starbucks began in 1987 as chairman and CEO. 

Howard Schultz, Starbucks’ former CEO to step down from the board

Howard Schultz, whose association with Starbucks dates back to 1987, transformed the small company selling only whole beans to a global coffeehouse chain busy in 86 markets with 36,000 cafes.

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Nilay Chandra, who had led the electric two-wheeler maker Ather Energy as vice president, scooter business head, has quit the EV maker after eight years with the company. 


Chandra said “Ather not only changed my professional expertise, but equally, the people I worked with shaped my perspective on life and work. And I hope I was able to make a difference.”

In early September, two-wheeler major Hero MotoCorp said it had got the board's approval to invest Rs 550 crore into Ather Energy, in which it is an existing investor. "The Board of Directors of the Company at its meeting held on September 4, 2023, has approved an investment of up to INR 550 crore (Rupees five hundred fifty crores), in the Rights issue of Ather Energy Private Limited," The NSE filing by Hero MotoCorp said. Industry sources said that Ather Energy is mulling an IPO by 2024.
 
During Chandra's stint at Ather, he led the growth stage of the brand achieving a 4x growth over last year with a market share increase of 2.5 percent, while driving the category to a 192 percent growth rate. Chandra's experience was across, sales strategy, retail financing, P&L management, customer insight, cross-functional team leadership, business intelligence and analytics. He joined the Hero MotoCorp-backed Ather Energy in 2019. 


He started his career with Bosch and went on to work across Wipro Consumer Care, GSK Consumer Healthcare and Flipkart. Chandra has a degree in electrical and electronics engineering from Visvesvaraya Technological University.

Nilay Chandra moves on from EV-maker Ather Energy

<em>By Srushti Vaidya</em>

Varun Beverages, which makes and sells soft drinks and juices for Pepsi, is set to grow in the long run thanks to refrigeration expanding farther and wider. The company’s growth will also be fuelled by beverage launches and dairy products in the near term, analysts said.

The Indian beverage industry is poised for growth due to the rise in refrigerator sales in rural areas. Consumers can now store beverages for longer, and this will drive up sales for beverage companies, the analysts noted.

<strong>What are Varun Beverages’ growth drivers?</strong>

The market for refrigerators in India is expected to grow at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 9.3 percent over FY 2023-28, said Mordor Intelligence, a market research consultancy firm. It said that increasing household income, improving living standards, rapid urbanisation, the rising number of nuclear families, a largely untapped market and environmental changes are key growth drivers for the refrigerator industry. Analysts say that Varun Beverages is expected to capitalise on this growing refrigerator reach in the country in the long term.

However, in the near term, analysts expect Varun Beverages to play on its beverage launches. Some of its recent launches — Sting, Gatorade, Pepsi Black — were well received by consumers and are set to perform well going ahead. “We remain optimistic on demand, given under-penetration in core categories, strong acceptability for energy drink Sting and entry into new categories,” said Emkay in a report dated August 3.

<strong>Dairy bet</strong>

Varun Beverages is tripling its capacity in the dairy-based beverages category. No other player in the dairy industry can match its distribution network, the company’s management said in its Q1FY24 earnings conference call. Also, realization in dairy is 15-20 percent higher than other products, said the management. A wide distribution network gives the company the upper hand in scaling up its dairy segment.

“Varun Beverages will capitalize on its robust distribution network and well-established supply chain of existing products for the dairy segment,” said brokerage firm Motilal Oswal in a report dated August 3. It also noted that no other player in the dairy industry possesses such an extensive and far-reaching distribution network.

<strong>Growing beyond borders</strong>

Varun Beverages has set up a subsidiary in South Africa. The South African market is expected to be a billion-case market thanks to its high per capita consumption, said Motilal Oswal.

Pepsi has around 20 percent market share in South Africa, “If Varun is able to acquire franchise rights for South Africa, it will add significant growth tailwinds,” said ICICI Securities in a report dated August 3.

<strong>How Varun Beverages stacks up against its peers</strong>

Varun Beverages is well ahead of its competitor, Orient Beverages, the packager for Bisleri. Orient Beverages has reported compound profit growth of 20 percent for the last five years, whereas Varun Beverages recorded compound profit growth of 49 percent over the same period. Varun Beverages’ return on equity grew at a CAGR of 22 percent over the 5-year period, against Orient Beverages’ -(9) percent.

<strong>Growth projections</strong>

Varun Beverages is expected to deliver a revenue CAGR of 17 percent over CY23-25, according to Motilal Oswal. Net profit is estimated to grow at a CAGR of 26 percent over CY23-25, it added. ICICI Securities expects the company’s revenue and net profit to grow at a CAGR of 21.1 percent and 20.6 percent, respectively, over CY23-24.

The stock is currently trading at 46 times its FY25 EPS estimates. Although the current valuations are stretched, and there is a limited near-term upside on the stock, it has strong growth prospects for the long-term

Pepsi maker Varun Beverages set to ride on growth in refrigerator sales in rural areas

The brandy category has battled unfavourable perceptions. People perceive it to be an old man’s drink or a drink that is only good to have if one is facing health issues. Or it’s a drink that is consumed mainly in winter. Needless to say, these perceptions are inhibiting the overall growth of the Brandy category.

 

Tilaknagar industries, which caters to the alco-bev industry, is a Brandy-first company. Mansion House, its mother brand, sold 7.6 million cases last financial year, recording growth of 38% over the previous year. As per the Millionaires Club report of 2023 released by Drinks International, Mansion House Brandy has been rated as the second-largest selling brandy in the world and also the second-fastest growing spirits brand in the world.


With 12 percent market share in the overall Brandy category, Tilaknagar Industries’ flagship brand Mansion House aimed to create a campaign with a distinctive, powerful narrative around the category to help the company expand the entire category.


Traditionally, the alco-bev category talks about success, achievement, bonding and fun; however, through the campaign ‘A Warm Welcome’ the brand's goal has been to position Mansion House as more than just an alco-beverage brand by celebrating genuine connections, inclusivity and compassion. 


<strong>Genesis and vision of the campaign</strong>


The 90-second digital video (DVC) challenges conventional stereotypes and transports viewers through uplifting montages, weaving a vibrant tapestry of human experiences. A woman army officer reuniting with her family in the Northeast; a chance meeting between a stranded musician and a compassionate couple; and a troubled young man being comforted by an elderly gentleman.

The campaign, which advocates for equal and diverse representation in society, is an integration of product truth along with human insight of warmth and genuine connections.



<blockquote>"Even with COVID receding, people are consuming a lot of alcohol at home. So, the traditional taboo about drinking at home is slowly disappearing," Ahmed Rahimtoola, chief marketing officer, Tilaknagar Industries</blockquote>



Ahmed Rahimtoola, chief marketing officer, Tilaknagar Industries,  shares his insights about the campaign and says that the critical objective of the brand is to get more millennials as consumers. Considering the target audience, the campaign was created with a strong social message, and the entire treatment has been about warm tones, captivating visuals, heartwarming narratives and relatable scenarios to create that strong emotional bond with consumers.

StoryBoats, the brand’s creative and brand partner, came on board for the campaign.  “I have spent countless hours with Antony, the CEO of StoryBoats, delving into the immense potential of creating a category code. We recognised the significance of capturing the authentic essence of warm welcomes, going beyond mere advertising to craft a narrative that truly reflects our organisational beliefs,” recalls Rahimtoola. “This partnership has been the driving force behind our quest to define the very code of the category, embracing inclusivity and genuine human connections at its core,” he added.

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border-radius: 4px; flex-grow: 0; height: 14px; margin-bottom: 6px; width: 100px;"></div> <div style=" background-color: #F4F4F4; border-radius: 4px; flex-grow: 0; height: 14px; width: 60px;"></div></div></div><div style="padding: 19% 0;"></div> <div style="display:block; height:50px; margin:0 auto 12px; width:50px;"><svg width="50px" height="50px" viewBox="0 0 60 60" version="1.1" xmlns="https://www.w3.org/2000/svg" xmlns:xlink="https://www.w3.org/1999/xlink"><g stroke="none" stroke-width="1" fill="none" fill-rule="evenodd"><g transform="translate(-511.000000, -20.000000)" fill="#000000"><g><path d="M556.869,30.41 C554.814,30.41 553.148,32.076 553.148,34.131 C553.148,36.186 554.814,37.852 556.869,37.852 C558.924,37.852 560.59,36.186 560.59,34.131 C560.59,32.076 558.924,30.41 556.869,30.41 M541,60.657 C535.114,60.657 530.342,55.887 530.342,50 C530.342,44.114 535.114,39.342 541,39.342 C546.887,39.342 551.658,44.114 551.658,50 C551.658,55.887 546.887,60.657 541,60.657 M541,33.886 C532.1,33.886 524.886,41.1 524.886,50 C524.886,58.899 532.1,66.113 541,66.113 C549.9,66.113 557.115,58.899 557.115,50 C557.115,41.1 549.9,33.886 541,33.886 M565.378,62.101 C565.244,65.022 564.756,66.606 564.346,67.663 C563.803,69.06 563.154,70.057 562.106,71.106 C561.058,72.155 560.06,72.803 558.662,73.347 C557.607,73.757 556.021,74.244 553.102,74.378 C549.944,74.521 548.997,74.552 541,74.552 C533.003,74.552 532.056,74.521 528.898,74.378 C525.979,74.244 524.393,73.757 523.338,73.347 C521.94,72.803 520.942,72.155 519.894,71.106 C518.846,70.057 518.197,69.06 517.654,67.663 C517.244,66.606 516.755,65.022 516.623,62.101 C516.479,58.943 516.448,57.996 516.448,50 C516.448,42.003 516.479,41.056 516.623,37.899 C516.755,34.978 517.244,33.391 517.654,32.338 C518.197,30.938 518.846,29.942 519.894,28.894 C520.942,27.846 521.94,27.196 523.338,26.654 C524.393,26.244 525.979,25.756 528.898,25.623 C532.057,25.479 533.004,25.448 541,25.448 C548.997,25.448 549.943,25.479 553.102,25.623 C556.021,25.756 557.607,26.244 558.662,26.654 C560.06,27.196 561.058,27.846 562.106,28.894 C563.154,29.942 563.803,30.938 564.346,32.338 C564.756,33.391 565.244,34.978 565.378,37.899 C565.522,41.056 565.552,42.003 565.552,50 C565.552,57.996 565.522,58.943 565.378,62.101 M570.82,37.631 C570.674,34.438 570.167,32.258 569.425,30.349 C568.659,28.377 567.633,26.702 565.965,25.035 C564.297,23.368 562.623,22.342 560.652,21.575 C558.743,20.834 556.562,20.326 553.369,20.18 C550.169,20.033 549.148,20 541,20 C532.853,20 531.831,20.033 528.631,20.18 C525.438,20.326 523.257,20.834 521.349,21.575 C519.376,22.342 517.703,23.368 516.035,25.035 C514.368,26.702 513.342,28.377 512.574,30.349 C511.834,32.258 511.326,34.438 511.181,37.631 C511.035,40.831 511,41.851 511,50 C511,58.147 511.035,59.17 511.181,62.369 C511.326,65.562 511.834,67.743 512.574,69.651 C513.342,71.625 514.368,73.296 516.035,74.965 C517.703,76.634 519.376,77.658 521.349,78.425 C523.257,79.167 525.438,79.673 528.631,79.82 C531.831,79.965 532.853,80.001 541,80.001 C549.148,80.001 550.169,79.965 553.369,79.82 C556.562,79.673 558.743,79.167 560.652,78.425 C562.623,77.658 564.297,76.634 565.965,74.965 C567.633,73.296 568.659,71.625 569.425,69.651 C570.167,67.743 570.674,65.562 570.82,62.369 C570.966,59.17 571,58.147 571,50 C571,41.851 570.966,40.831 570.82,37.631"></path></g></g></g></svg></div><div style="padding-top: 8px;"> <div style=" color:#3897f0; 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overflow:hidden; padding:8px 0 7px; text-align:center; text-overflow:ellipsis; white-space:nowrap;"><a href="https://www.instagram.com/reel/CvZftiopq4a/?utm_source=ig_embed&amp;utm_campaign=loading" style=" color:#c9c8cd; font-family:Arial,sans-serif; font-size:14px; font-style:normal; font-weight:normal; line-height:17px; text-decoration:none;" target="_blank" rel="noopener">A post shared by Mansion House (@mansionhousebrandy)</a></p></div></blockquote> <script async src="//www.instagram.com/embed.js"></script>

When Rahimtoola had just joined TilakNagar Industries and asked retailers and distribution partners why people drank Brandy, he was told that  people don’t drink Brandy, they drink Mansion House.


90 percent of the brand’s sales come from South India. Mansion House’s largest markets are Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Kerala and Karnataka, in that order. Its market share in this price point is almost 80 percent. Therefore, it is  important for Mansion House as a brand to capture a share from other categories, starting from a big base of consumers drinking brandy at a price point below Mansion House, to persuading whiskey connoisseurs to make the shift to brandy.


<strong>Discerning the alcohol-beverage category</strong>


Rahimtoola highlights premiumisation as one of the key trends of the alcohol-beverage category, saying “Consumers today are drinking better, as their lifestyle is improving. Urbanisation and rising disposable incomes are clearly leading to premiumisation.”

This trend continues today. Even with COVID receding, people are consuming a lot of alcohol at home. So, the traditional taboo about drinking at home is slowly disappearing. Thirdly, the time frame for brand renovations is getting shorter. Now, every three years, there are renovations in the brand in the form of packaging, blend, and line extensions.



<blockquote>"A lot of brands and marketers are focusing on mass media; 75 percent of ad spends still go towards cricket and hence the importance of that spot only gets stronger," Ahmed Rahimtoola, chief marketing officer, Tilaknagar Industries</blockquote>

Addressing the evolving retail landscape as another important trend, Rahimtoola says,  “If you walk into a retail store it is very different from what you saw ten years back. You see these walk-in formats, browsable stores where consumer experience is very critical. And one also gets to see a lot more women. I see a lot of impactful visual merchandising, which is drawing consumer attention. Also, a lot of brands and marketers are focusing on mass media; 75 percent of ad spends still go towards cricket and hence the importance of that spot only gets stronger.”


Another important trend is the coming of age of Indian malts. “A lot of  Indian companies are launching single malts with impeccable quality, impeccable blend and an impeccable story to support its claim as well, ” says Rahimtoola. He also pointed at another trend of non-alcoholic  and low alcohol brands coming to the forefront and targeting Gen Z, hoping that they will move to the mainline.


<strong>Growth and expansion</strong>


“The brand has been dormant, and in spite of that, has been gaining volume year on year on year. With the kind of narrative that we've created, we hope to influence lot of young adults to buy from our brand,” says Rahimtoola.

Even though the brand is primarily a South focused market, over the last year, Mansion House has been eyeing the East quite aggressively. Mansion House is the second-largest brand in Sikkim and is witnessing decent growth in Odisha and West Bengal. “We've just started work in Assam as well. After the South, we're looking at trying to penetrate the East, but that will take some time as a category,” says Rahimtoola.

Mansion House has recently launched Flandy (flavoured brandy). Through Flandy which is available in flavours like Orange, Peach and Cherry, the brand is hoping to see a shift from whisky and white spirits to brandy and thus is targeting a younger demographic that will also help to increase the consumer base for brandy. 


Rahimtoola also hints at a few line extensions to expand the category. “We are looking at a premium line extension as well, at a 70-80 percent premium, to get consumers who probably today will be trading up from Mansion House as they grow in status and career.”







How an Indian liquor maker is trying to make brandy cool

Radiohead Brands, the parent company of Jimmy’s Cocktails has raised Rs.11 crore in a pre-series A funding round from PayTM’s founder and CEO Vijay Shekhar Sharma and investment firm Prath ventures. The raised capital will be directed towards the expansion of its new energy drink Hustle. 

Currently, Radiohead Brands makes cocktail premixes and sparkling beverage mixers like tonic water, ginger ale and other popular flavours. Ankur Bhatia, the founder of the company said that that their new energy drink Hustle plans to penetrate and capitalise on the markets potential after rival brand PepsiCo India’s Sting’s success. Hustle will be competitively priced between Rs.50 and Rs.100.

The pre-series A funding round also saw interest from angel investor Neel Bahl as well as existing investors including HDFC’s Keki Mistry, Shiprocket’s Vishesh Khurana, 7Square Ventures, T&T Motors’ Vidur Talwar and CLSA’s Anirudh Somani. The company has previously raised Rs. 14 crore in an investment round led by Root Ventures in March last year. 

As per company statements, Hustle has a potential to reach ₹40 crore in gross revenue in less than a year.





Jimmy's cocktail makers launch new energy drink Hustle

Pernod Ricard India, that sells a range of alcoholic beverages such as 100 Pipers, Blenders Pride, Chivas Regal and Ballantine’s whiskies, Absolut vodka and Beefeater and Money 47 gin, among others, is rolling out several brands in the country. On the cards is a new homegrown whisky brand Longitude 77 as well as new gin and wine brands from its international portfolio.

Although the liquor firm’s licence to do business in Delhi has been cancelled owing to an ongoing investigation over alleged violation of the state’s liquor policy, it’s Blenders Pride Reserve Collection sold one million cases between June 2022 and July 2023. Kartik Mohindra, chief marketing officer, speaks to Storyboard18 on emerging consumer trends and why whisky remains the country’s staple alcoholic drink.

<strong>Edited excerpts</strong>

<strong>Pernod Ricard acquired Seagram’s India business 20 years ago with brands like Imperial Blue, Royal Stag, 100 Pipers and Blenders Pride. With Blenders Pride Reserve Collection selling a million cases a year, is it true that only the whiskies portfolio has scaled?</strong>

The best way I can describe this is that on a flavour palate preference basis, India remains an out and out whisky market. Easily 65 percent of all alcobev sold in the country is whisky.

This emanates largely from two aspects. One is, the historical palate preference of the Indian consumer. Also, whisky, in general, offers many expressions, caters to different price points and consumers. You have also had virtually every player investing in the category because that's where the bulk of the businesses is. As a result, whisky in India has been continuously brought to life by the competitive forces.

So, yes, whisky continues to be strong and in large part a leader in volume and value. Though we also have categories like gin which has seen recent revival but that would mean it's pretty much at the top end.


<strong>Which is your best-selling brand?</strong>


Going from the bottom to the top, all my brands are growing very strongly, whether it's Imperial Blue, Royal Stag, Blenders Pride, Ballantine’s or Chivas. Chivas has outpaced virtually every brand in terms of growth over the years.

The alcobev industry in India, considers the one million cases as a very important milestone that determines the success of brands. Blenders Pride Reserve Collection is at the top-end of the pile in a short 12-year horizon. This could have been probably achieved earlier but for three years of Covid-led disruptions and its economic fallout.


<strong>Which whisky segment is growing the fastest – top or bottom end?</strong>


I think there have been many consumer-led changes which are defining or changing historical trends. Earlier, growth would be determined in a fairly linear fashion, but I don't think that exists anymore. So one cannot call out if bottom-up growth is the fastest or the top-down growth is the fastest.

Recent trends show that higher the price point, the greater the growth albeit on a smaller base compared to the low-priced brands. But there’s an explicit breaking down of social taboos and barriers pertaining to alcohol. Earlier, consumers used to be very reluctant in a certain way but today they are comfortable. I think Covid broke the barriers. People no longer want to have alcohol as a functional thing, but they want to savour what they are having.

The younger audiences entering the legal drinking age will start pretty much in the middle and the premium whisky segment also gets a lot of new entrants. These consumers are very confident and experimentative.

 
<strong>Where does rum stand today in the brown spirits segment?</strong>

Like I said, these are interesting times because the younger consumers are more affluent, aspirational and more in tune with global trends. You've seeing a fair bit of a revival of gin. You're also seeing tequila being consumed depending on the occasions of consumption. Rum is making a bit of a comeback and we got Havana Club a couple of year ago. But the top-end remains very small. The major part of the volume is at the bottom end. Significant proportion of rum is consumed in the southern parts of the country and parts of the east like Orissa and West Bengal.

<strong>You launched wine with zero alcohol last year. Are there any other low alcohol products in the pipeline?</strong>

While “no alcohol” drinks are fine, the prevailing laws do not actually permit low alcohol whiskies etc. It gets determined by excise law. Equally, a lot of these category are under a phase of development. I think there is a requirement of passage of time for this category to truly develop and then we can think of greater participation.

<strong>Do you feel some habits formed during covid are permanent such as home consumption of alcohol which may be affecting on-premise and institutional sales?</strong>

During Covid-19 of course there was a huge gap but I would imagine now or the better part of the last 12 months gone by, it’s back with a bang. People are revenge partying in pubs and night clubs. I think with the upcoming wedding and the festive season we will see a lot of things bouncing back. So, to me, the on-premise or institutional sales is doing pretty well.

However, since barriers crashed during covid and people entertained at home, our consumer research shows that couples now sit at home after work, enjoying the Blenders Pride Reserve Collection, which, perhaps, earlier used to be out-of-home or in separate sort of social groups.

<strong>Would you agree that people continue to drink at home as drinking on-premise is expensive in India?</strong>

That’s a very broad questions because there are many factors which determine the balance between home and out-of-home consumption. And it could differ from market to market. First, of course is cultural – how comfortable are you drinking at home where there are parents, kids, spouse. Then there are aspects like housing. If residences are small, as they are in most parts of the country, then entertaining at home becomes a challenge and consumption shifts out of home.

Of course, price is very important and it really depends on the price of alcohol in a particular market, the level of, let's say, the proliferation of outlets, the taxation, the margin, the competitiveness. So I don’t think there is a standard answer.

<strong>Which new brands are you bringing into the country?</strong>

In the last 12 months we have launched a few brands – one of them being Malfy Italian gin. We've also launched KI NO BI which is a Japanese super premium gin. We recently introduced a premium wine brand by the name of Saint Hugo which is just in the process of rolling out.

We are going to be launching a couple more brands in the coming months as well gearing up for the festive season. Last but not the least, we have launched our very own Indian single malt by the name of Longitude 77. But more on that when we announce it.

<strong>Where does the probe against Pernod Ricard currently stand and how much of a revenue loss is it since your licence for Delhi remains cancelled?</strong>

Well, the only thing that I would say on this is, firstly, the matter is subjudice. So, we will await the outcome of the process. Of course, we are committed to remaining totally as per the laws of the state and the country. We will respect the outcome as it happens. But yes, Delhi remains an important state and that we would love to initiate business as and when our licences are back.

<strong>Which is your biggest market in India?</strong>

Our strength emanates from the fact that we have a presence across most markets. But Maharashtra, Telangana, Andhra Pradesh and Haryana, these will be our top four markets

<strong>Has the model for home delivery of alcohol allowed by some states scaled?</strong>

No, not particularly. It's been attempted and experimented with by a few states but has it been a game changer in terms of the revenue model or collections of the state? Not necessarily. But let's put it this way, at least the consumers now have a choice. So it cannot be bad.

<strong>With surrogate advertising for liquor being strictly monitored, how is the liquor industry coping?</strong>

As an organisation we are committed to following the laws in the country. Yes, recently there has been a tightening of the operating rules and regulations pertaining to brand extensions and we are absolutely in respect and in compliance towards that. We do have several brand extensions and in fact we are significantly ahead of the prescribed turnover or distribution of those products.

Chivas and Absolut maker Pernod Ricard to roll out new brands, says India CMO, Kartik Mohindra

Maurice Levy, founder of Vivatech and chairman of the supervisory board of Publicis Groupe was speaking at the G20 and Digital Innovation Alliance event organised by the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology at the annual technology conference for innovation and startups, VivaTech in Paris, France.

According to Levy, India has the potential to become one of the superpowers of the world as it has the world’s largest population with innovators. He said, “India has a potential for becoming one of the superpowers of the world because of population and innovators. They can create, invent, and disrupt. India has a big heart. They share and give back to the community in terms of education and schools.” and added, “ At one time, we were saying Incredible India but I will tell you it is a credible India.” 

He also spoke about the country making significant progress in the field of cyber security. “When you look at the difference in a few years of what happened in India, it is absolutely fantastic because India was almost nowhere when it came to cyber security. And now it is one of the major players in the world,” said Levy.

Publicis Groupe is a renowned French multinational advertising and public relations company, headquartered in Paris. It is popularly known for being of the "Big Four" agency companies, alongside WPP, Interpublic and Omnicom. Some of the main subsidiaries of this group are Leo Burnett Worldwide, Saatchi & Saatchi, and Starcom. 




India has potential to become one of the world’s superpowers: Publicis Groupe’s Maurice Levy

Madhav Sheth, who served as the vice president - realme and president - realme international business group has moved on from his respective roles. His stint at realme lasted for more than five years. Media reports suggest that his move would likely be to Chinese electronics multinational company Huawei. 


As he announced his departure via LinkedIn, the post read, “Goodbye can be disheartening, but the world is too small until we meet again. Farewell for now, but our paths may cross again soon, and that's something to look forward to building a better and bigger me.”


Sheth is armed with an experience of two decades and started his career at Synopsis Inc as data analyst. He moved to Priory Business Group as sales manager and from there, he moved to Perfect Communications as the sales director. He also served as the managing director and chief executive officer of Perfect Communications, and from there, he joined Oppo as the sales director.


He started his career at realme as the CEO in 2018.


Sheth has a masters degree in business administration and management from Harvard Business School.

Madhav Sheth quits realme, likely to join another Chinese phone maker

As Meta, the parent company of Facebook, Instagram, and WhatsApp, went through a phase of downsizing globally, many Indian employees found themselves facing job cuts. Members of the senior leadership teams here in India, such as Avinash Pant, director of marketing for India, and Saket Jha Saurabh, director of media partnerships, were among those affected.

Alongside layoffs, the internet giants have also been seeing a series of resignations from the leadership team. Manish Chopra, who served as the director and head of Meta's partnership initiatives in India, announced his departure earlier this month after spending four and a half years at the company. This adds to the succession of notable exits from Meta India, following the exits of Ajit Mohan, the former India head, and Rajiv Aggarwal, the public policy head, both of whom left the organization towards the end of the previous year.

A significant number of employees across functions in the company have been given the pink slip.

Numerous employees of the company took to their social network pages to share their layoff story as #metalayoffs trended across platforms.

A lot of them said they were sent on a ‘forced break’.

Kate Hayes, head of policy communications - contentiIntegrity and responsible innovation, Asia Pacific at Meta said in her LinkedIn post, “After 3 incredible years, unfortunately I was impacted by the #metalayoffs. This is the first time I've been without a job since I was 15 years old, and whilst it's a discombobulating feeling, I'm going to take this forced break as a gift.”

The recent Meta layoffs was not the first one though. Previously, the company had already implemented a round of layoffs, which affected thousands of employees. The decision to downsize again as per the company is in line with Meta's ongoing efforts to adapt to changing market conditions and streamline its operations.

In an excerpt from a blogpost earlier this year, Mark Zuckerberg had said, “Over the next couple of months, org leaders will announce restructuring plans focused on flattening our orgs, canceling lower priority projects, and reducing our hiring rates. With less hiring, I’ve made the difficult decision to further reduce the size of our recruiting team. We will let recruiting team members know tomorrow whether they’re impacted. We expect to announce restructurings and layoffs in our tech groups in late April, and then our business groups in late May. In a small number of cases, it may take through the end of the year to complete these changes. Our timelines for international teams will also look different, and local leaders will follow up with more details. Overall, we expect to reduce our team size by around 10,000 people and to close around 5,000 additional open roles that we haven’t yet hired.”

The blogpost also said that after restructuring, the company plans to lift hiring and transfer freezes in each group.


Meta layoffs hit India, affecting senior leadership and other employees

A few days before Pride Month, Starbucks India created a trans-inclusive campaign  #ItStartsWithYourName. The film shows a family union wherein a transgender woman meets her parents after a long time for coffee at Starbucks. It is implied that her father has had issues with her identity in the past.

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Your name defines who you are - whether it&#39;s Arpit or Arpita. At Starbucks, we love and accept you for who you are. Because being yourself means everything to us. <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/ItStartsWithYourName?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#ItStartsWithYourName</a>. ? <a href="https://t.co/DKNGhKZ1Hg">pic.twitter.com/DKNGhKZ1Hg</a></p>&mdash; Starbucks India (@StarbucksIndia) <a href="https://twitter.com/StarbucksIndia/status/1656133960924012545?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">May 10, 2023</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

Within a few minutes there was a barrage of tweets from people calling Starbucks woke and propagandist.

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Tata is big time woke. They own Starbucks, Tanishq (remember that ad?). They fund The Wire, Harvard, Cornell, etc. But are smart enough to sell their products with nationalism (desh ka namak, desh ke truck, army themed ads). Funds all political parties good as well.</p>&mdash; THE SKIN DOCTOR (@theskindoctor13) <a href="https://twitter.com/theskindoctor13/status/1656594686331748353?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">May 11, 2023</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">If you wanted to normalise it, you should have used a transwoman who looks like 99% of them. By using one who looks &amp; sounds like a woman set impossible standards that will lead to more mental health issues in trans people and their self harm rates will go up. Shame on u. <a href="https://t.co/1slId7l4TA">pic.twitter.com/1slId7l4TA</a></p>&mdash; Eminent Intellectual (@total_woke_) <a href="https://twitter.com/total_woke_/status/1656881240039993344?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">May 12, 2023</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

An ongoing case demanding legality of same-sex marriage has been taking place in the Supreme court. Storyboard18 has reached out to multiple brands but most have refused to comment on inclusive practices at their workplace or creating a space for queer community in their brands. 

It seems that Starbucks has taken a stand, even though in the past, brands have been accused of using the Pride Month for rainbow washing and clout chasing.

<strong>Read More:</strong> <a href="https://www.storyboard18.com/how-it-works/brands-should-go-beyond-tokenism-and-be-more-queer-friendly-say-lgbtqia-influencers-6184.htm" rel="noopener" target="_blank">Brands should go beyond tokenism and be more queer-friendly, say LGBTQIA influencers</a>

Patruni Chidananda Sastry (they/he/she), a non-binary and bisexual drag artist feels as trans people often face discrimination in public spaces whenever they try to access, being a coffee shop and welcoming trans individuals is definitely an example for a lot of brands to be trans-inclusive.

“The backlash we are receiving is a testament that there is hate being induced on us deliberately to curtail our freedom of accessing something as simple as a coffee. Trans people in public spaces have often triggered the conservatives as they want us to not be visible at all. It's high time that brands be with us and ensure to create more inclusive and diverse campaigns as they know those would change the mindset. It's high time brands be loyal to the cause and take risk,” Sastry shares

The LGBTQIA community seems to think that brands should normalise PRIDE instead of sensationalizing it, as Sushant Divgikr says. Divgikr who was crowned Mr Gay 2014 is a social media influencer, reality tv star and drag queen among other things. Watch his views here. 
 
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr"><a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/PrideMonth?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#PrideMonth</a> | &quot;Let&#39;s not celebrate Pride for only one month. We are alive all the other months.&quot; ?<br><br>Sushant Divgikr <a href="https://twitter.com/thedivasushant?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@thedivasushant</a> asks brands to NOT sensationalize LGBTQIA representation ?<a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/Pride2023?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#Pride2023</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/rainbowwashing?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#rainbowwashing</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/Marketing?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#Marketing</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/media?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#media</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/LGBTQIA?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#LGBTQIA</a> <br><br>Here are Divgikr&#39;s views <a href="https://t.co/NWS2PmDIW7">pic.twitter.com/NWS2PmDIW7</a></p>&mdash; Storyboard18 (@BrandStoryboard) <a href="https://twitter.com/BrandStoryboard/status/1656911868781551618?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">May 12, 2023</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

Like Divgikr, Sastry too feels that the queer community needs publicity as it takes ages to ensure that the bias is gone. “Brands just doing a pride campaign is definitely hypocrisy, brands need to take a stand and invite diverse communities with sensibility and then put it across to people. “

Karthik Srinivasan, a communications consultant says, “I loved the ad. Starbucks has done the same thing in the UK and Brazil. In India, they have incorporated the ad with cultural nuances. The ad was inclusive, honest and truthful. I don’t understand the anger. But in the larger context, Budweiser in the US also did an inclusive and friendly ad with trans people and it also got backlash. If people don’t like something, they don’t want brands to associate with it."

Parmesh Shahani, LGBTQIA inclusion consultant and author of the book Queeristan: LGBTQ Inclusion in the Indian Workplace, says “ I am happy that Starbucks has used its advertising to communicate a message of trans inclusion just as many companies and brands like Brooke Bond and Fast Track have done in the past. All of these companies understand that LGBTQIA inclusion is a win-win proposition; all the data indicates that being inclusive makes you more money, makes you more innovative and wins the loyalty of gen Z and millenials - their present and future customers..”

He further states, “Given that 6-10 percent of our country might be LGBTQIA and that society is changing very rapidly in terms of acceptance at colleges homes and workplaces, all these brands have understood that the future is undoubtedly LGBTQIA inclusive and are using their ads to participate in it.”


Shahani feels trolling is a relatively short-term phenomenon in today’s day and age. “But committing to a cause is a much deeper and long term purpose and brands that continue to stand by the LGBTQIA community are sure to have the long term support of not just the community but also millions of straight allies.“


Cancel 'Cancel Culture': Tata-Starbucks faces boycott calls from netizens over trans-inclusive ad

Reckitt Benckiser (RB), one of the country's biggest advertisers, has initiated a media pitch. The account size is estimated at Rs 500 crore. Industry insiders tell Storyboard18 that the pitch process is being held in Gurgaon. The incumbent agency is Dentsu X which has been handling the account since 2020. As per sources, leading media investment companies such as IPG Mediabrands and GroupM are participating in the pitch.

RB, the FMCG multinational has marquee brands namely, Dettol, Durex, Mortein, Strepsils, Harpic, among others, in its portfolio. With operations across 60 countries, RB has been actively rolling out sustainability movements across many countries including India. 

In 2022, Oxford Economics published an independent analysis of the significant economic impact Reckitt has brought to the Indian economy and society. For instance, the Dettol Banega Swasth India Campaign, which works towards improving people’s behaviours around health and hygiene, has reached over 116 million people since its launch in 2014. The Dettol School Hygiene Education Programme teaches children hygiene behaviours and has educated 20 million children in five critical hygiene settings – at home, school, within neighbourhoods, personally and during illness. The Reach Each Child Programme has saved 6,500 children from death and illness from malnutrition. 

The Harpic World Toilet College Programme, which provides India’s sanitation workers with greater economic prosperity, increased dignity, and a safer working environment, has trained over 15,800 workers. RB contributed INR78.8 billion (£775 million) to India’s GDP in 2021. 

In 2022, according to a report by AdEx India, a division of TAM Media Research, RB India was the biggest advertiser on television. 


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