The Advertising Agencies Association of India (AAAI) presented the AAAI Lifetime Achievement Award for 2023 to advertising veteran Shashi Sinha. This is the highest honour given to an individual in India for contributions to the advertising industry. Sinha, who has spent nearly four decades in the advertising industry, is a seasoned professional much loved in the ad fraternity. But back when he joined the industry, he never imagined he would spend such a long time in it. “I thought I'll probably quit in a year's time,” said Shashi Sinha, in an exclusive chat with Storyboard18.

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Indian advertising industry’s go-to man Shashi Sinha revisits his four-decade long career

Sinha, who has spent nearly four decades in the advertising industry, is a seasoned professional who has dedicated the majority of his career to a single agency group: Interpublic Group (IPG). The listed American advertising company is the parent of major agencies such as FCB, McCann and IPG Mediabrands, among many others. In a leadership trajectory spanning 25 years, Sinha progressed from being the head of media at FCB Ulka to CEO of all media units under IPG Mediabrands India in 2013.

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GOZOOP HAWK, and online reputation management and customer support agency under the GOZOOP Group, has bagged the listening and digital response management duties for Amazon miniTV, a leading free entertainment service in India.


As part of the mandate, GOZOOP HAWK’s key responsibilities will include handling digital customer support, monitoring online brand chatter, amplifying positive stories, measuring sentiments, providing timely resolutions and deriving actionable business insights for the brand by understanding and tracking valuable web conversations to delight customers. 


Amazon miniTV offers a large library of popular web series, movies, reality shows, dubbed international content, in multiple genres like comedy, romance, slice of life, thriller and more.


Commenting on the partnership Aruna Daryanani, director and business head, Amazon miniTV said, “ORM is an important component of brand building and reputation management. With the right strategy, ideation and creative thinking we can further strengthen our brand presence. We are excited to partner with GOZOOP HAWK and look forward to their expertise to continue to raise the bar on customer experience.”


Commenting on the win, Premkumar Iyer, president, GOZOOP HAWK said, “HAWK has always demonstrated capability of delivering some of the most unconventional listening and online customer support solutions. This habit to push boundaries coupled with Amazon miniTV's disruptive approach towards the dynamic OTT space makes the relationship click. We have already done some stellar work e.g. during Amazon miniTV’s recent launch of dubbed K-dramas, we turned the whole response management strategy to Korean language generating shift in outreach. We look forward to doing more such unconventional work for them in times to come.”


GOZOOP HAWK bags listening and digital customer support mandate for Amazon miniTV

The marketing team within media giant Cox Media Group (CMG) claims it has the capability to listen to ambient conversations of consumers through embedded microphones in smartphones, smart TVs, and other devices to gather data and use it to target ads, according to a review of CMG marketing materials by 404 Media and details from a pitch given to an outside marketing professional. Called “Active Listening,” CMG claims the capability can identify potential customers “based on casual conversations in real time.”

The news signals that what a huge swath of the public has believed for years—that smartphones are listening to people in order to deliver ads—may finally be a reality in certain situations. Until now, there was no evidence that such a capability actually existed, but its myth permeated due to how sophisticated other ad tracking methods have become.

It is not immediately clear if the capability CMG is advertising and claims works is being used on devices in the market today, but the company notes it is “a marketing technique fit for the future. Available today.” 404 Media also found a representative of the company on LinkedIn explicitly asking interested parties to contact them about the product. One marketing professional pitched by CMG on the tech said a CMG representative explained the prices of the service to them.

“What would it mean for your business if you could target potential clients who are actively discussing their need for your services in their day-to-day conversations? No, it's not a Black Mirror episode—it's Voice Data, and CMG has the capabilities to use it to your business advantage,” CMG’s website reads.

The part of CMG advertising the capability is CMG Local Solutions. CMG itself is owned by Apollo Global Management and Cox Enterprises, which includes the ISP Cox Communications. CMG operates a wide array of local news television and radio stations.

With Active Listening, CMG claims to be able to “target your advertising to the EXACT people you are looking for.” The goal is to target potential clients or customers based on what they say in “their day to day conversations,” the website adds. Specifically, those could include:

Clients can “claim” a territory where they want to use CMG’s services, which are available in a 10 or 20 mile radius, the website says. After setup, “Active Listening begins and is analyzed via AI to detect pertinent conversations via smartphones, smart tvs and other devices,” the website adds. CMG also claims it installs a tracking pixel on its client’s website to monitor the return on investment (ROI).

With an audience created, CMG then delivers adverts to these people through streaming TV, streaming audio, display ads, YouTube, and Google and Bing search, the website says.

“The result? Unprecedented understanding of consumer behavior, so we can deliver personalized ads that make your target audience think: wow, they must be a mind reader,” another section of CMG’s website reads.

Claims about this capability raises obvious and immediate legal concerns; intercepting communications without proper consent can violate wiretapping laws. CMG’s website addresses this with a section that starts “We know what you are thinking…”

“Is this legal? YES- it is totally legal for phones and devices to listen to you. That's because consumers usually give consent when accepting terms and conditions of software updates or app downloads,” the website says.

Beyond CMG’s website, very little information is available about the capability, including how exactly the data is gathered, be that via a software development kit (SDK) bundled into apps, or via collection at another point. For its part, Apple does alert iPhone users when an app is accessing the device’s microphone with a small icon in the UI.

The marketing professional pitched by CMG told 404 Media that after a call with the company, they disabled microphone access on much of their own technology: “I immediately removed all my Amazon Echo devices and locked down microphone permissions on things like my phone as receiving confirmation they are doing things like this have confirmed my worst fears and I, for one, will not take part in it,” they said.

CMG says “the ROI is already impressive” and is actively soliciting potential customers, though. On LinkedIn, Chris Marxmiller, a senior sales consultant at CMG, invites people in his bio to “Ask me about our NEW product - ACTIVE LISTENING.” Marxmiller did not respond to a request for comment which asked for more information on the Active Listening product.

CMG lists a number of other companies as its partners and publishers. These include Amazon, Microsoft, and Google. Microsoft declined to comment. Google told 404 Media in a statement that “For years, Android has prevented apps from collecting audio  when they're not being actively used, and whenever an app activates a device’s microphone, there is a prominent icon displayed in the status bar.” Google did not answer 404 Media’s question in its statement.

Amazon said in a statement that “the advertising product being described would not be possible with Echo devices. We do not share voice recordings with third parties.”

CMG said in a statement that “CMG Local Solutions markets a wide range of advertising tools. Like other advertising companies, some of those tools include third-party vendor products powered by data sets sourced from users by various social media and other applications then packaged and resold to data servicers. Advertising data based on voice and other data is collected by these platforms and devices under the terms and conditions provided by those apps and accepted by their users, and can then be sold to third-party companies and converted into anonymized information for advertisers. This anonymized data then is resold by numerous advertising companies.”

“CMG businesses do not listen to any conversations or have access to anything beyond a third-party aggregated, anonymized and fully encrypted data set that can be used for ad placement. We regret any confusion and we are committed to ensuring our marketing is clear and transparent,” the statement added.

Cox Media Group claims to have capability to listen to ambient conversations of consumers for targeted ads

On June 1, 1945, Fritz Sennheiser, a German inventor and entrepreneur, founded the audio equipment manufacturing company that bears his name and went on to become a global brand. Today, Sennheiser has three business units: Pro Audio, Business Communication and Neumann.Berlin. 


In a conversation with Storyboard18, Andreas Sennheiser, the company’s chief executive officer, said, “The first thing is you have to hit a ‘need’. To not get complacent and to not be happy with what we've achieved, we have to keep listening to the customer and at the same time have a creative dissatisfaction with the status quo. So, the achievements of the past should always be seen as just the new standard. From there, we can iterate again.”


Edited excerpts:


Tell us more about Sennheiser’s India story.


We started bringing good audio to India in 2007. At the time, it was really hard to understand where the general public was with audio consumption. We found out that listening to music via headphones wasn’t a known principle. 


So, over the last 16 years, I think we've done quite well in developing the taste of enjoying music on the consumer side. For two years, we focused on the pro business only, along with business communication, and then our Neumann products also.


Particularly, in the last one-and-a-half years after the pandemic, we've seen very strong growth. On the live part, everyone wants to enjoy music, festivals, weddings and all kinds of corporate events. But on the business communication side, government, corporate and also higher education facilities are gearing up significantly for hybrid meetings, for remote lectures and also for a digital government.


Where do you see India in Sennheiser's growth map?


In the last two years, India has had one of the highest growth levels, with more than 50 percent annual growth.


As far as the general business globally is concerned, we could supply all our customers with products even during the pandemic. So, we were never really out of products.


From a product lens, what’s the focus? 


We have several focuses. There’s a general common focus that more and more of the technology that we’re using—it is highly advanced—is hidden behind very simple user interfaces. 


So, we want to make it as simple as possible, come up with seamless integration, plug and play with our installed business like ceiling microphones… This is so that an integrator, a consultant or the end user really doesn’t need to deal a lot with technology but actually can focus on the experience.



Many global CEOs are surprised by the way Indian consumers have evolved over the last few years. From a price-conscious market, we now are a value-conscious market. So, what are your observations and what is unique about Indian consumers?


Well, you just gave the right keywords. 


It has evolved from a price sensitive market of buying at the lowest possible level to now buying the highest possible value. So, with that, we are in an excellent position because we love competition. We love the direct comparison of our products with competitive products because usually this is when we win.


That's why value-based buying decisions are very much in our favour, because we provide superior audio quality. 


Globally, what are the trends in the audio space and do you see the adoption of those trends in India anytime soon? 


One of the big trends is that high–quality audio is being more and more appreciated. This is particularly when it comes to immersive audio and spatial audio. In the studios, we have more and more Atmos installations with our Neumann speakers. Also, on the playback side, we see a lot of venues now having full arrays of speakers for an immersive experience.


So, the whole appreciation for good audio has significantly increased over the last few years. At the same time, there’s also a strong trend of simplification of workflows. So, we try to focus on making the lives of our end users as simple as possible, particularly because there's also cost pressure on production, music production, news gathering etc. We want to give them the gear that they can operate with the least possible amount of people. 


What is the brand perception of Sennheiser? 


Sennheiser has a brand reputation of being extremely reliable, creating remarkable audio experience and being a highly innovative brand. 


The topmost factor is always reliability. In a meeting room, you don’t want to spend 20 minutes getting the system to work. An artist in front of 50,000 people, the only thing he or she can hold is a microphone, and that should not fail.


In terms of marketing, what are the big plans for India and what are the investments like? 

Our main investment is in people and education. So, it's people on our end and education on the customer side.

We see that the more there are highly talented technicians, audio engineers and people who know the difference between an okay system and a great system.

During the pandemic, we produced 200 tutorial videos: how to use our microphones, how to set up gear in general, and how to build a studio. A lot of things to just help the audio community do a better job.


In India, startups have been weaving a very different story in the last few years. As a family-owned company and one of the oldest startups in the audio space, do tell us what it takes to make a successful business and your advice for startups here. 

The first thing is you have to hit a ‘need’. This is not only true in a startup, but also when a company like ours gets older. Now, we’re closer to the 80th year of our existence. To not get complacent and to not be happy with what we've achieved, we have to keep listening to the customer and at the same time have a creative dissatisfaction with the status quo.

So, the achievements of the past should always be seen as just the new standard. From there, we can iterate again. 

There are a bunch of profitable startups in the audio space here in India. What impresses you about them and are there any lessons that you can pick from them? 

When startups have a platform economy in mind and then scale that up, they can very quickly cover a very broad demand, be it with fintech platforms or be it any other integration.


That is an approach that I find highly attractive because it's not product and gear oriented, but really platform oriented. And this is also a strategy that we're adopting more and more. We are not just selling gear to our customers, but we actually provide the control platform with it to make it as easy as possible. 


That has been a strategy for a couple of years—to have a lot of allies in the industry in order to allow a seamless integration for the end user. So, the platform is really the main focus. And, what we're selling in terms of gear is just an endpoint to the whole platform.

Has the target audience of Sennheiser evolved over time? 

Yes and no. Our target audience grows with us.

While there was an entry target audience a decade back that has now matured in age and in income, they are now being lifted to the next level.

I had a chance to meet with music composer duo Salim-Sulaiman. We had a chat about technology particularly, and they stressed upon how they started with simple gear and then moved to higher-grade gear.

Andreas Sennheiser: We have to keep listening to the customer and have a creative dissatisfaction with the status quo

Gen Z consumers are 50 percent more likely to take their friends' recommendation over an influencer or a celebrity when making a purchase decision, revealed a study from Yuvaa – the Indian Gen Z-driven youth media, impact, and research organization.

An Economic Times report states that the findings are based on a report titled 'Not All Gen Z'. The findings are based on responses from over 900 Gen Z participants, spanning over 20 cities across tier I, II, and III cities and towns of the country. Gen Z represents people born between 1997 and 2012 who show distinctive behavior in their lifestyle and shopping habits. At over two billion, Gen Z forms roughly 25 percent of the global population. It makes up for over 35 percent of India's population, according to Yuvaa.

Their estimated spending power is in excess of €235 billion, according to BCG. 

Influencers provide brand visibility

Karthik Srinivasan, a communications strategy consultant, believes that we trust the references and recommendations of the people we trust the most within our family or friends circle. However, influencers have a different role to play.

"They have come to usurp the role of mainstream media and advertising to a large extent and have become predictable sources of visibility more than influence. In other words, influencers (along with mainstream media and advertising) are sources of introducing products or services, use-cases, and giving them visibility, but they may not necessarily persuade people to make the purchase. That's where friends and family (known peers, colleagues too) would come into play," he explains.

Srinivasan tells Storyboard18 that influencers are merely shilling a product for a fee and have long stopped pretending to be actual users of a product to offer use-based/experience-based content/information.

"Even if they claim to offer personal experience-based recommendations, if viewers/followers see the disclaimer about paid content, they'd automatically discount that factor and take that recommendation with a pinch of salt," he adds.

Yuvaa's report findings also highlight a few key aspects of a Gen Z consumer who is not only willing to support brands that support social causes but also cares about sustainability. Around 63 percent of Gen Z shoppers surveyed said they prefer brands that support social causes. 

71 percent of Gen Z prioritize brands that are environment-friendly, and 77 percent consider price when buying something, even if it's not sustainable. Gen Zs are split equally between feminist and non-feminist brands, but 60 percent of women prefer them.

<a href="https://www.storyboard18.com/quantum-brief/amazon-vs-myntra-who-will-win-over-more-gen-z-shoppers-in-india-8247.htm">Read more: Amazon vs Myntra: Who will win over more Gen Z shoppers in India?</a>

E-com platforms chasing Gen Z

These trends are being closely followed and implemented in product and marketing strategies by e-commerce platforms in India. Storyboard18 reported that there has been intense competition between online retailers to woo the next generation of shoppers, with e-commerce platforms Amazon and Myntra actively investing in the Gen Z cohort.

Flipkart-backed fashion portal Myntra, for instance, announced the launch of FWD, an in-platform experience offering additional brands and styles curated for Gen-Z shoppers.

The move comes days after rival Amazon Fashion introduced the ‘Next Gen Store,’ catering to the unique needs of Gen Z shoppers, who seek to experiment with fashion and have varying preferences in terms of styles, sizes, brands, and fitting.

While Nykaa Fashion has not yet launched a dedicated platform for Gen Z shoppers, it has been onboarding brands that target this cohort. Recently, it added MIXT, which offers streetwear-inspired modern apparel options such as bodysuits, corsets, jumpsuits, jackets, cardigans, and footwear. It brought in Cider, a US-based label, expanding its global offerings to Indian consumers.

Gen Z segment has a distinct aesthetic that impacts their brand choices, which have been driving fashion trends – crop tops, ribbed dresses, chunky sneakers, and baggy jeans.

Unlike previous generations, which were heavily influenced by Bollywood and sports celebrities, Gen Z shoppers are more picky about who they follow. Social media influencers have emerged as a significant force in shaping their purchase decisions.

However, there is a catch. This group only follows influencers or celebrities who ‘walk the talk’ and are more trustworthy.

Value for sustainability, inclusivity

Bindiya Bhatt, senior director of category management at Myntra told Storyboard18 that for Gen Z, inclusivity, authenticity, and unconventionalism take centre stage as well.

"By embracing these values and catering to their specific needs, businesses can create more meaningful and impactful experiences that resonate with this important and influential demographic," she said.

Technopak Advisors' Ankur Bisen had a deeper insight, saying Gen Z shoppers are community-driven and seek better products rather than stay loyal to brands.

"...they are definitely seeking better products than brands and they are also looking at the consumption of fashion through communities. For example, there are communities towards gaming, nature, and even limited edition products. The spin-off from this trend could be the 'sneaker culture' in India and the craze to buy limited edition sneakers that are being sold online. These are some micro trends that one needs to notice," he said.

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“We will have another incremental billion dollars in the next three years for the home-grown billion dollar brand Thums Ups,” says Arnab Roy, vice president and head of marketing, Coca-Cola India and Southwest Asia to Storyboard18’s Shibani Gharat. He also talks about the brand’s new advertising campaign #HarHaathToofan.

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Over the past few months, Metaverse has received a lot of attention. Some brands are viewing marketing in the metaverse as an opportunity to reach a larger audience in an engaging manner. Increasingly, automakers are getting onto the metaverse bandwagon to enhance their customer experience.

Mindshare India recently conceptualised and enabled the first ever electric vehicle (EV) launch in the metaverse for Volvo Cars in a space called Volvoverse. This is a first-of-its-kind collaboration across WPP agencies.

Watch to find out how and why they did it. 

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Meeting Amin Lakhani and Amit Jain in Volvoverse 

Pragya Bijalwan, chief marketing officer of Crompton Greaves, believes in the power of the Pomodoro technique, which recommends working for 25 minutes and then taking a break. Then, after frequent intervals, take longer breaks. She says it helps because one can break away from monotony, but for those 25 minutes, one has to really focus on work.


She spoke to Storyboard18 about work pressures, how to get through the weekdays and weekends, and her hacks for the workplace and the home. 


Edited excerpts:


The creator economy has taken the world by storm. Which influencers and trends are you following?


Everyone is hooked on social media. In fact, Gen Z spends in excess of 240 minutes per day on social media. While I don't belong to Gen Z, I'm pretty much on social media to know about a lot of things.


I'm pretty much a fitness freak because I think it's very important to keep that side of your system alive. One person that I have followed over the years is Milind Soman. I don't follow many of them, but when I follow them I get quite inspired and there are no stereotypes.


You don’t have to hit the gym to be fit. What I've learned after seeing a lot of content is that you just need to be in your space and there is always room to exercise. I try to consume as much during the day, more so because I have a health regime. Secondly, if I don't practise health and fitness or exercise for a day, I feel guilty of not doing it… So, that keeps me a little bit alive and also motivated.


There's a lot of talk about burnout, workplace toxicity and hustle culture. What steps have you taken to avoid the adverse impact of the always-on culture on yourself and your colleagues and what advice would you give them?


There are so many things happening around that one wants to be everywhere. Marketers often have this fear of missing out. If there are 10 platforms, they think there is a need to be there on the 10 platforms. One has to make a frugal choice. Work is a lot different. Similarly, you have to make choices on the way you also operate.


So, one is that you define your work. Quite often, what happens is that when you really want to do everything, you get busy, you don't get effective. So, one is to think about getting effective rather than to get busy.


Just because you're working 12 hours a day, it doesn't mean that you're doing the best of the work. After four o'clock, I don't allow for anything. It's all pre-blocked for me, which basically says: No meetings after that from my side.


I have blocked lunch time, I have blocked reading time for myself, which helps me and my team members to divide the time and not stay just busy.


Secondly, it's very important to be realistic in your ambition. You have to define the top three things you have to go after and just stick to that.


One more important thing is don't overkill yourself with ambition. It is good to be a perfectionist sometimes, but it's also okay to lose that perfection sometimes for peace. If that 10 on 10 is not going to be sustainable each time, then you have to take a call for yourself.


Sometimes, when you get involved with your work, you get very emotional and passionate about it. Withdraw yourself at the right time – that will ensure your mental health or your mental capacity does not get exhausted.


Is there any sport or fitness routine you practice to steal a few minutes of me-time for yourself?


I work out late in the evening, after office hours. I directly hit the gym. Over the weekends, I have lately started playing squash, which requires a lot of strength. More than that, it requires a lot of mental agility because you focus so much on the game.


What does your weekend look like?


Like anyone else, I actually look forward to the weekend. I would say a little bit of work to the point that it adds on to my knowledge area. It is a cocktail of a lot of activities which provides me relaxation and also helps me see things outside of my work area.


So socialising with friends, going out, reading a lot of stuff, and also playing my sport. I also believe in mindfulness, so tranquillity to the extent that if I can sit and just close my eyes and focus on something for half an hour, I do that either on a Saturday or on a Sunday.


It's basically anchored towards a Sunday because Saturday goes into a lot of other things. So on a Sunday, I need to again clear my mind so that I can be ready for Monday.


Share one work hack and one life hack you swear by.


While a job requires us to attend meetings back to back and read a lot of stuff, I try to take breaks in between. Pomodoro technique says to work for 25 minutes and then take a break. Then after frequent intervals, take a longer break. I think that helps because you break away from the monotony. But for those 25 minutes, one has to really focus on work. The biggest distraction these days is your phone.


On the personal front, one hack which works is – and I think it's quite dated – is to have a to-do list. So, I think that's one thing that you can do is to have a look at your diary and then you can just go through what your week looks like.


I keep a diary and I maintain it every day in the morning when I land in the office between 9:00 and 9:30. Morning time is the best time for me, where I take on the most difficult task. Because if that gets sorted for me, which has been a pain for a little while, then the rest of the day looks easy. So, I try to eat the frog first.


What are you watching or streaming this weekend?


I've been watching One Day at a Time on Netflix. It's about an American-Cuban family and it is a comedy drama. The family members have battles with each other when they talk about what they want to do. They talk about people having different preferences in their life and how the family still works together in a different country.


What are you reading? Any recommendations?


There's a book called Thinking, Fast and Slow by Daniel Kahneman. So it talks about two systems about humans. System one is about intuitive systems. If there is a problem, my intuitive self says that this is what can work out. I am very quick in my response. I immediately react to it.


System two is about a delayed decision but a thought-out decision. And you apply all kinds of projects to arrive at that. Now it talks about how system one and two can work together to arrive at the right decisions. It also talks about cognitive bias.


A piece of wisdom you would like to share?


Life is not always the same. You'll see a successful person and will look up to him or her. But remember, that person has gone through a lot of downs as well. So I'm a big fan of resilience.


I keep saying this to my team because we have a lot of Gen Z crowd. We need to take care of the new-age trend. And these are the future of our target audience for us. Everyone wants to move really fast. But when failures come, it's very difficult for some of them to really absorb and learn from it.


It's very easy to see 10 things happening and say you're lucky. Nobody is lucky. They work through that. You haven't seen the failures behind it. So my mantra is that if you fall seven times you should stand up eight times.


Always plan your day because a lot of things are unpredictable. But be ready for that. Work around it. And if you persist and you have the resilience, you'll always see the right things happening at the end of the day. But don't lose that resilience. Because speed is one thing. But sustaining that speed is another thing.


Read More: <a href="https://www.storyboard18.com/brand-makers/job-is-a-part-of-you-you-also-have-another-side-of-you-says-darshana-shah-aditya-birla-capital-29568.htm">Job is a part of you. You also have another side of you, says Darshana Shah, Aditya Birla Capital</a>

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India is currently in the midst of two major events, especially from an advertising and marketing standpoint - the Indian Premier League (IPL) and the Lok Sabha Elections. With these two events coinciding, brands have been spending either more on advertising or are allocating their spends on what they think will be the optimal option for them to gain reach. Either way, media agencies have their work cut out for them during this period. Storyboard18 caught up with Harish Iyer, EVP, Media and Investment, Interactive Avenues, the digital arm of IPG Mediabrands India to understand what sort of shift there has been in ad spends in the last two months, the top spending categories, major reasons behind the AdEx surge and more. 

Edited excerpts. 


What is the kind of increase in ad spends that you are noticing this April due to the combined impact of IPL and elections?

In April, we initially observed a slow start among advertisers and platforms, but there has been a notable uptick in ad spends recently. This surge can be attributed to the combined impact of the IPL and upcoming elections. Notably, key sectors such as beverages, e-commerce, automotive, BFSI, and consumer electronics are leading the charge in terms of increased ad expenditures. As user traction remains strong across both high-impact activities, advertisers are capitalizing on this opportunity to maximize their brand visibility and engagement.

 

What are the top ad spending categories experiencing the biggest surge in AdeX due to the combined effect of IPL and the upcoming elections?

The top ad spending categories include those mentioned earlier: beverages, e-commerce, automotive, BFSI, and consumer electronics. These sectors are strategically leveraging the heightened viewership during this period to amplify their advertising efforts and connect with their target audience effectively.

 

What are the specific goals that brands are looking to achieve with their advertising campaigns during this period of heightened viewership?

Apart from seeking increased audience numbers to boost brand visibility and awareness, brands are also focused on driving engagement with viewers. Leveraging this engagement, they aim to foster brand loyalty among their audience base, thereby strengthening their market presence and customer relationships.

 

Can you tell us which genres of programming are performing best in terms of ad viewership during the IPL and election season?

In terms of ad viewership, news genres and live sports platforms are experiencing significant traction. Viewers are tuning in to stay updated on the latest developments surrounding the elections and other news events, making news programming a key avenue for advertisers to reach their target audience effectively.

 

How significant is the ad rate growth compared to usual periods, (or, this time last year) considering both IPL and election?

While there has indeed been an increase in ad rates, this increase is primarily viewed as a correction rather than an unprecedented surge. Advertisers are adapting to these adjustments in ad rates as they navigate the competitive landscape shaped by the IPL and elections.

 

Besides IPL and elections, are there any other upcoming events or trends that you anticipate will impact media buying strategies?

Following the conclusion of the IPL and elections, attention will shift towards the T20 World Cup, scheduled to be held in the US and West Indies. Some advertisers are already strategizing for a full-quarter activation centred around sports and news, anticipating continued opportunities for engagement and brand exposure.

Orient Electric Limited, part of the CK Birla Group, has launched a new TVC campaign to promote its premium range of BLDC fans. The TV commercial, featuring brand ambassador MS Dhoni in a never-seen-before avatar, takes the viewers on an electrifying journey through time to unveil the ‘Future of Fans’. Anika Agarwal, Chief Marketing and Customer Experience Officer, Orient Electric shares what makes MS Dhoni the ideal brand ambassador for Orient Electric, talks about Orient being present for both IPL and general elections, and more. 

What led to the genesis of the campaign? What makes MS Dhoni the ideal brand ambassador for Orient?

The genesis of our campaign stemmed from a desire to reimagine fans in the context of modern homes, embracing cutting-edge technology with future-ready features, designs, and finishes. Today, fans have become integral to our lifestyle and home decor, reflecting consumers’ desire for smart, stylish, and technologically advanced solutions. Through our campaign, we wanted to not just showcase our premium BLDC fans differently but present an exciting narrative that encapsulates the evolving preferences of new-age consumers. We sought to break through the clutter of a heavy media investment period across categories, particularly within the fans category. 

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Now, why MS Dhoni, you ask? Well, it's a natural fit, as he has a longstanding association with Orient Electric. A legend in his own right, Dhoni is at the peak of his popularity and with his future in cricket sparking intrigue, we saw an opportunity to marry his iconic status with our concept of reimaging fans to come up with an interesting narrative around future of cricket juxtaposed with futuristic fans. Through our campaign, we're not just presenting a product, but showcasing a vision of the future, where premium Orient BLDC fans redefine the way we think about comfort, convenience, and style.

Take us through the behind the scenes and making of the campaign? How did the entire process pan out? 

The journey behind our campaign was a rollercoaster of excitement and challenge. While we were brainstorming ways to showcase the futuristic appeal of our fans for modern homes, the idea of intertwining it with cricket during the IPL season piqued our interest. When we decided to go ahead with the futuristic narrative for the campaign, the challenge became clear - creating a future world that’s not intimidating but captivating and one that resonates with cricket enthusiasts, ensuring engagement as IPL fever takes hold this summer. 

And then another creative conundrum emerged - how to maintain Dhoni’s iconic ‘Captain Cool’ persona while giving it a fresh, futuristic spin? It was a creative tightrope walk, blending the familiar with the novel to capture his charisma like never before. From brainstorming sessions to storyboard sketches, every detail was meticulously crafted to ensure that our message resonated with our audience. 

A significant aspect of our campaign was the extensive use of VFX, which brought the futuristic aspects of our narrative to life, resulting in a visually stunning depiction of the imagined future. As for the shoot, the energy on set was palpable, with everyone including MSD, super excited about the concept and the outcome. Through it all, we learned the transformative potential of storytelling in weaving captivating narratives that not only engage but also inspire viewers in exciting and innovative ways. 

Can you share some interesting market trends and consumer insights you are observing currently?

One key trend we're noticing is the increasing demand for premium and energy-efficient products across categories like fans, air coolers and kitchen appliances. Consumers are upgrading their lifestyles and are choosing to invest in high-quality, premium products that that enhance their living spaces while giving them the pride of ownership. Moreover, with the increasing environmentally conscious consumerism, the demand for energy-efficient products is also growing fast. With new-age consumers upgrading their lifestyles, brands that deliver innovative solutions resonate well with them. In this context, we at Orient invest heavily in research and development and continue to embrace emerging technologies and trends to deliver groundbreaking solutions that meet and exceed customer expectations.

From a content perspective, we're observing a notable surge in video content consumption, with short-format videos and influencer-generated content playing a pivotal role in shaping consumer preferences. Leveraging this trend, we'll continue to use it to drive consideration as shoulder content. Moreover, authenticity remains paramount, particularly for our digital-first audience. To cater to this need, we'll focus our efforts on platforms like native advertising and product reviews. 

We're a mass-premium brand in a heavily penetrated category and we employ an integrated marketing approach. While TV remains our primary reach medium, we're now allocating more than 25 percent of our total spends to Digital. E-commerce is integral to the customer journey, and so we’re using various digital channels including social commerce and DSPs to target younger audiences and women.

What's the crux of Orient's advertising and marketing strategies for the IPL this year?

The IPL holds significant importance for us beyond being just a media property. It's an impact property serving as a key platform for contextual conversations with our brand ambassador, MS Dhoni. Our advertising and marketing strategies during the IPL season are centered around leveraging the tournament's popularity to reach a wider and diverse audience, contextualize our campaign messages to cricket, and engage our audience with relevant digital content. In addition to the IPL, there's a substantial portion of consumers that has interest in general elections, which results in increased news consumption both online and offline. We'll maintain our presence across both these platforms, ensuring visibility in both digital and traditional media channels.

What's your media mix? Where is the business coming from the most?

Our media mix includes a healthy balance of offline and online channels. Considering the fact that a significant number of customer decision journeys start on digital today, we have done audience mapping across media and are using a healthy mix of TV, CTV, Meta, and OTT for broader reach for building top funnel awareness and consideration. For targeting customers who are actively looking for our products, we allocate search spends on Google, Amazon, and Flipkart. Additionally, we are exploring the potential of Q-commerce as a sales channel to provide our customers with quick and convenient shopping experiences. Our summer spends have gone up by 20 percent compared to last year. This increase is to target the premium audience interested in our BLDC Pro fans and to support the exciting media events planned for this season. 

While our majority business traditionally comes from general trade, we're experiencing a significant uptick in online sales, with digital channels now contributing to a double-digit share of our sales.

Take us through Orient's growth trajectory.

The growth has been faster than the market last year, driven by product portfolio expansion and the product availability in various designs and across price points, catering to varying consumer preferences. As a consumer-centric brand, we aim to unravel what consumers want and provide them with the right solutions that meet and exceed their expectations. We leverage data analytics to gain deeper insights into consumer behaviour which enables us to deliver innovative, differentiated, and first-to-market products. 

With a robust presence nationwide, we rank among the top-tier brands in most states. We are among the Top 3-4 players in the fans category and will continue to build market share across our preferred segments. 

How is Orient planning to grow and evolve?

Customer centricity, embedded in our DNA, guides everything at Orient, from product development to marketing strategies. Looking ahead, we will continue to focus on differentiation within our portfolio, increasing accessibility across channels, enhancing customer experience, and building a robust digital strategy to guide consumers through their research journey, increasing consideration for our brand. 

As for marketing efforts, we deploy comprehensive 360-degree advertising support during the summer season to maximize our reach and impact. Alongside, we remain committed to investing in the growth of our other product categories including air coolers, water heaters, kitchen appliances and lighting. Our aim is to establish ourselves as a top-quartile player in Lighting and Appliances segments

Orient Electric's Anika Agarwal on importance of IPL and general elections, digital spends and more

The digital payments sector is witnessing rapid growth, driven by factors such as technological advancements, changing consumer preferences, and increasing digitization. Convenience, security, and the availability of innovative features has led to customers embracing digital payment solutions. 

There is a growing preference amongst consumers for convenience in payment methods. Customers are increasingly gravitating towards solutions that offer ease of use, quick transactions, and hassle-free experiences. Considering this, Amazon Pay had come out with 'Pay Karne Ka Smarter Way' featuring Ayushmann Khurrana highlighting the speed and convenience of Amazon Pay.

Anuradha Aggarwal, director, user growth and CMO, Amazon Pay India discusses with Storyboard18 about the genesis of the campaign, consumer insights that the digital payment service leveraged and more. 

What led to the genesis of Pay Karne Ka Smarter Way campaign? What was the rationale behind choosing Ayushmann Khurrana? 

We realized that customers are looking for convenient, secure, safe ways of making payments. And, it's not limited to just where they make payments or how they make payments, but across all touch points, across all payment instruments that they use, and across all use cases. Therefore, we decided to simplify bill payments for customers last year. 

We gave them simpler and smarter ways to make payments last year. This year, we discovered that while customers are using digital payments extensively, they are still suffering some pain points when they are making payments. Take the case of low lighting for example when scans take time, or don't scan at all, in the case of many parking lots. Then there are grocery queues where people are impatient. In such cases, you need fast and secure solutions.
Amazon Pay has this new feature called “auto torch”. We are the first ones on iOS to do an auto torch in low light, which allows us to pay even in low light area. 

Customers tend to have anxiety about whether the money will get refunded, the time it will take for the refund and the person of contact to solve their query. This is a key differentiator for our Amazon Pay wallet where the customer can actually make payments in one click. They can get instant refunds and they can connect with our customer service 24/7. That's what we want to communicate and let the customer know that there are smarter ways of making payments out there. 

Coming to why we chose Ayushmann as our partner for this campaign; it's due to his versatility which resonates with Amazon Pay’s versatility. He is not only charming and witty but also resonates with every other man. Amazon Pay being an accessible brand, we wanted to go for a celebrity who was not inaccessible.

What are some key consumer insights that you’ve been observing currently?

A lot of customers leave the house without their physical wallets, and the younger the customer, the more comfort there is around making a digital payment on any interface. Yet, not every customer realizes that there is interoperability and that they can scan with any QR code and they can receive money from any QR code in any app. This is one of the insights that we have used.

There is still some element of education that needs to be done, despite the fact that there is a huge amount of ubiquity of digital payments. Secondly, there is a proliferation of customer payment instruments and ways to pay; there's a real need for simplicity. And that is something that Amazon Pay is working very hard to solve for the customer.

We do realize that sometimes the choices can be overwhelming. Therefore, we want to simplify them; we want to put them in front of the customersaying here are the choices. They can simply make a choice between one instrument or the other basis what sorts of payment they want to make, or the rewards that they want to receive.

How is Amazon currently approaching advertising and marketing? 

A lot of our communication is for our visitors who come to shop. Our shoppers and payers are the people we want to talk to. We communicate with potential customers even as we go outside of Amazon customer base and speak to customers about how Amazon Pay is still a smarter way to pay. We are fundamentally approaching the Amazon customer who wants to shop on Amazon. 

We want to talk to customers who have fragmented their payment instruments across different apps; we want to encourage them about consolidating their payment instruments in one place. Ideally, we want customers to make payments for all their everyday payment use cases including bill payments, LPG cylinders, and mobile phone payments among others on Amazon Pay. We use a 360-degree approach for our mass media campaigns, but we do a lot of targeted communication to customers on the site itself.

How is Amazon innovating and evolving?

We constantly innovate, evolve, and improve our existing features while simultaneously working on more convenient payment solutions. We have enhanced our Scan & Pay feature with improved latency as well as enabling quick and seamless payments even in unfavorable environments including low light areas, low network areas. We have a miniscule payment failure record, even in such cases we facilitate instant refunds and enable 24X7 customer support for our users.

We are one of the first ones to launch the auto torch on iOS. We're also launching very large, diversified use cases; we just launched our Fastag proposition with ICICI bank which is connected straight to the Amazon Pay Wallet. 

The customer doesn't have to keep uploading their details; they can connect the details with the Amazon Pay wallet, allow auto pay and continue to pay from there. We have also come up with travel tickets where customers can do seat selection along while booking air travel. People can book their flight tickets on Amazon and hotels when they travelling. Other than that, Amazon Pay is widely accepted at over 10,000 online merchants, covering a wide range of services including cabs, food delivery, movie ticketing, bus ticketing, and travel bookings including merchants like Uber, Zomato, Swiggy, Dominos, ACT, Red Bus, Faasos, BookMyShow, Freshmenu, NetMeds, and MakeMyTrip.

Amazon Pay's Anuradha Aggarwal on how there's a real need for simplicity in digital payments

For Darshana Shah, chief marketing officer, Aditya Birla Capital, the whole concept of hustle culture is for people who are directionally not very clear. She stated, "I believe in flexibility, and I strongly believe in work-life balance. Because we as an organisation have weekends off. So, I don't believe in disturbing my team, unless there is a big campaign or something that we need to do on the weekend. My time with my family is important, and so is for my team members." 


Edited excerpts:


The creator economy has taken the world by storm. Which influencers and trends are you following? 

One of the things is obviously Bollywood and India. So there is Viral Bhayani, and Manav Miglani, and I engage with a lot of finance influencers to understand what is happening in the BFSI space. I'm planning a lot more regional content and check upon some of these regional influencers to understand what kind of regional content is trending. That is more from a marketer's POV for the brand, and then depending on the mood and the moment. 

What marketing related content do you consume in your free time? 
 
I like listening to podcasts because I think there's a really interesting take, whether it is on health, etc. Since I was also in health insurance, there are a lot of things around balancing your health, mental wellness and leadership. So podcast is something that lately I enjoy doing in my drive time. 


There's a lot of talk about burnout, workplace toxicity and hustle culture. What steps you have taken to avoid the adverse impact of the always-on culture on yourself and your colleagues and what advice would you give to your peers, colleagues and next-gen marketers on this? 


This whole hustle culture is for people who are directionally not very clear. It was okay in Covid-19 when was sitting at home trying to do it, But, it's not productive anymore. 


Given the kind of conglomerate and the work we have, there are enough and more opportunities within the organisation, but it's not like you are doing something and then you're going out and hustling together. I have seen that in the technology and engineering side, and that really affects the productivity at the end of it.


I am a person who believes strongly in the mantra of work hard and party harder. So for me, flexibility at work and Covid-19 has taught us that. 


Every once in 15 days, we go out as a team for drinks and dinner, because I like the engagement. I like the interaction. I also believe in flexibility and that Covid-19 has taught us that you can work within the office closer to your house. I strongly believe in work-life balance, because we as an organisation have weekends off. So, I don't believe in disturbing my team, unless there is a big campaign or something that we need to do on the weekend. Because I believe my time with my family is important, and so is for my team members.


Job is a part of you. You also have another side of you. You have your family. You have your passion. You have your friends. I believe you should have that. So, that space I like to give. 


Is there any sport or fitness routine you practise?


My husband and I started club dancing. Dance is what I love. So, it's actually on weekdays. Both of us late night go for partner dancing. I also go to gyms three times a week.
 

What does your weekend look like?
 

Weekends are for family and friends. Friday evening, it's either friends or me and my husband are out. Sunday lunch is with family.
 

We are working weekdays, and on weekends, we want to spend time with family, watch OTT, K-dramas, have lunches together and meet friends. 


Share one work hack and life hack, you swear by.


I am a person who likes creating things. I'm very driven by passion and I like to try new things. That's what keeps me going. Learning new things, learning what AI is bringing in, what other things are bringing in. I have a very never-say-die attitude.


My life is much bigger than just my job and today, I do believe that you need to have a purpose which is just beyond you. For me, it is to give back to people in mid-careers, specifically women. I read about the term ‘motherhood penalty’. This is a term which I learned in one of the campaigns where the agency was presenting. When they go for motherhood and return back, the penalty that they have to pay is the lack of fair salary. The roles are cut, and it's not the same for men. So, I do feel that I want to give back to women and help them not give up on their dreams and aspirations. I want them to have a voice.


What are you watching on streaming this weekend? 


Lately, I have been watching some of these K dramas.


A piece of wisdom you would like to share?


I'm a strong believer that you live your life to the fullest. It's not the years in life that counts, but it's a life in your years. So make sure that you live life king-size. Remember to practice gratitude. That's one other important thing because I think we are still blessed people. We've been given a lot. So gratitude is important. 


Read More: <a href="https://www.storyboard18.com/brand-makers/pepsicos-aastha-bhasin-marketing-keeps-you-curious-throughout-life-14064.htm">PepsiCo’s Aastha Bhasin: Marketing keeps you curious throughout life</a>

Job is a part of you. You also have another side of you, says Darshana Shah, Aditya Birla Capital

Fashion is an interesting category. Especially now, with Gen Z having such a large influence on various industries. Gen Z fashion is bold, expressive and experimental. Many brands have had to adapt to their style and innovate to stay relevant. Having said that, there has been a huge shift towards sustainability over the past couple of years. And, experiential shopping too is becoming the norm. E-commerce platforms have had to introduce multiple new features to incorporate immersive experiences. Moreover, they've had to partner with many more brands to cater to the sustainable and experimental tastes of the new generation. Amidst this, Amazon Fashion launched a campaign recently called ‘Fashion on Amazon, Har Pal Fashionable.’ The campaign features Ananya Pandey and Aditya Roy Kapoor and talks about accessible yet unique fashion. Storyboard18 caught up with Saurabh Srivastava, vice president, Amazon Fashion to understand how the platform is catering to these diverse set of needs and adopting various tech practices to provide customers with tailored experiences. 

Edited excerpts. 


How has the fashion industry been since the pandemic? We’ve seen a lot more people willing to explore various fashion pieces and trends. How are you viewing it?

The fashion industry has undergone a significant transformation since the onset of the pandemic. The global health crisis prompted a profound shift in consumer behaviour, with people becoming more self-conscious and placing greater emphasis on their well-being and how they spend on themselves. This shift has fueled a heightened desire for self-expression, leading people to explore diverse styles and fashion trends from the comfort of their homes. Online shopping, too, witnessed an unprecedented surge as people sought safer and more convenient ways to access fashion and lifestyle products.

Fast fashion is an interesting category, something that Gen Z is very enthusiastic about. What is your take on it, and can it become mainstream?

Fast fashion is indeed a captivating category, particularly capturing the enthusiasm of Gen Z. Firstly, it fulfills the desire for frequent style updates and allows individuals to keep pace with the evolving trends without breaking the bank. Fast fashion brands excel in quickly translating runway looks into accessible and affordable pieces, making high fashion more attainable for a larger demographic. This aligns with the modern consumer’s expectation, especially Gen Z who is looking for instant gratification and the desire to express themselves through fashion without significant financial commitment. 

In April 2023, we launched the Next Gen Store – a first-of-its-kind dedicated storefront for Gen Z that aimed at filling the market gap and addressing the specific needs of this generation. The store was designed to indulge Gen Z consumers in the latest fashion and beauty selections from over 300+ domestic and global fashion brands and 1M+ products under one roof. The storefront also allows for quick and easy navigation offering a complete mix of fast and sustainable fashion, international trends, and affordable styles.

Gen Z fashion trends are a statement. They’re unique, experimental, and bold. What does Gen Z look at when shopping online and how do you cater to them?

Gen Z is a tech-savvy generation born with smartphones as extensions of their hands. Their fashion sensibilities have been shaped by unparalleled access to a vast array of styles and trends, all at the touch of a button. They follow the global fashion landscape where they can explore and engage with diverse influences from around the world. This exposure has cultivated a generation of trendsetters who value individuality, creativity, and inclusivity in their fashion choices. 

We were the first ones in India to launch a dedicated storefront for this generation. Since the launch of Next Gen Store, we have undergone a significant transformation. We revamped Gen Next Store 2.0 and have collaborated with renowned brands to curate a selection tailored to the latest trends and styles. This includes sought-after items such as oversized tees, sculpting fits, and printed travel bags from popular labels like Bewakoof, Souled Store, Vero Moda, Skybags, and more. We have incorporated the freshest styles that resonate with the current year’s trends. Imagine vibrant dials, eye-catching clogs, sporty skirts, metallic heels, and wide-leg pants—all carefully selected to reflect the pulse of contemporary fashion. Moreover, the imagery and product displays within the store have been curated with our specific cohort in mind. Everything is designed to be approachable and relatable, ensuring that our customers feel connected to the aesthetic and energy of the collection. 

Furthermore, our commitment to expanding our logistics network has allowed us to deliver 99.8 percent of pin codes, making fashion products easily accessible to customers. We offer guaranteed 2-day delivery in over 200 major cities and same-day delivery for Prime members, ensuring that Gen Z across regions receives their orders promptly. 

Sustainability is a big part of brand building today and in the fashion category, it is a buzzword. Are there any steps you are taking towards sustainability?

In today's brand landscape, sustainability stands as a cornerstone, especially within the fashion sector where it resonates as a prevalent buzzword. Recognizing this pivotal shift, Amazon Fashion is deeply committed to integrating sustainability into our brand ethos. We understand the significance of sustainable practices in shaping consumer perception and loyalty. Many of our seller partners embrace sustainable practices and offer eco-friendly alternatives. Through these collaborations, we aim to offer a diverse range of products that align with ethical and environmental standards. We have observed a surge in eco-conscious brands, particularly in the Direct-to-Consumer (D2C) sector. Within our apparel selection, you can find sustainable options such as Fabindia’s eco-friendly offerings, M&S’s linen collections, and brands like Vero Moda and Suta. These brands leverage cutting-edge technology and processes to deliver exciting styles that resonate with the fashion sensibilities of young Indian consumers, including Gen Z and millennials, who seek the latest trends without compromising on sustainability. 

Why Ananya Pandey and Aditya Roy Kapoor? Are you targeting a younger audience?

Ananya’s existing association with Amazon Fashion since 2023 made her a natural choice for this campaign as she has established a rapport with Amazon’s audience. She is a fashion icon with a strong sense of personal style and Aditya Roy Kapur is known for his effortless style and confidence. Together they are recognized as a popular and fashionable couple in Bollywood, making them relatable and aspirational figures for a wider set of fashion enthusiasts across demographics and a natural choice for a campaign centered around effortless fashion. 

Today, shopping has become more of an experience than a want or need. As an e-commerce platform, how do you view this? 

Shopping is indeed evolving into an immersive experience where discovery, personalization, and engagement play pivotal roles. At Amazon Fashion, we leverage technology and innovative features to enhance this experience. With features like ‘Wear it with’ suggestions, we blend selection and convenience, ensuring everyone is just a click away from accessing the best of fashion and the latest trending styles. Virtual try-ons, brand-specific size charts, and Style Snap – an image-based search tool that allows customers to discover products they have spotted in an image – further help customers enhance their overall shopping experience. We also have a feature known as Outfit Builder at multiple shopping points in the customer’s journey, which helps them evaluate and discover fashion items. It uses Machine Learning to generate complementary products and show customers how to wear items together as a complete look. ‘Customer Most Loved’ Program, is another feature that helps customers find highly reviewed and rated fashion and beauty products on Amazon.in. Our focus is to meet the customer with relevant information designed specifically for each interaction point. We continuously explore new ways to make fashion shopping enjoyable and inspiring.

What is ‘Fashion on Amazon, Har Pal Fashionable’ all about? And why will it resonate with your audience?

Our Tagline, ‘Har Pal Fashionable’ reflects our vision to empower customers to embody their unique style effortlessly. We believe that fashion should be accessible, enabling individuals to express themselves confidently through their clothing and accessories. Amazon Fashion is positioned to fulfill this vision due to our comprehensive range of offerings across various categories. We provide a one-stop online destination for apparel, footwear, bags, accessories like watches and jewellery, allowing customers to curate complete looks with ease. Our strength lies in our diverse assortment, which caters to different tastes, styles, and preferences, ensuring that every customer can find something that resonates with them.

Our latest campaign ‘Fashion on Amazon, Har Pal Fashionable’ reiterates this vision. Through this, we are reaffirming Amazon’s commitment to fashion enthusiasts. With features like ‘wear it with’ suggestions from top brands, and convenience features like ‘easy returns’, ‘fast delivery’, ‘no convenience fees’ we strive to continuously make fashion effortless and elevate the shopping experience of our customers. 

The campaign resonates with both men and women. Women often put a lot of time and effort into organizing a variety of different head-to-toe looks for everyday wear. Hence in our female fashion-focused film, Aditya Roy Kapur is impressed when he sees how effortlessly Ananya Panday was able to put multiple looks together by shopping on Amazon. Men find it challenging to elevate their outfits, particularly when dressing for outings or work wear. In the male fashion-focused film, Aditya Roy Kapur is seen ready to head out, but Ananya points out that he’s only halfway there and helps him complete his ensemble and turn it into a fashionable look. Both films highlight Amazon Fashion’s wide selection across different fashion categories along with its convenience features that make it effortless to be ‘Har Pal Fashionable’.

Amazon Fashion doubles down on GenZ focus; VP Saurabh Srivastava says Amazon’s committed to "fashion enthusiasts"

Subin Sivan, marketing and commercial excellence leader, Cargill’s Food Solutions Business in South Asia, feels a marketer should be extremely curious and thirsty for knowing what's going on. “Therefore, keep the customer and the consumer at the heart of all the narratives and conversations and strategies that you're building here. But to be able to do that one needs to be innately curious,” he tells Storyboard18 in an interview. 


Edited Excerpts


The creator economy has taken the world by storm. So which influencers and trends are you following currently? 


I don't have a specific influencer as such in life. I get inspired and influenced by the personification of the ideals and passions of different people. For instance, I enjoy listening to and reading about Steve Jobs. So it's a slightly, divergent view of the common current narrative of creator led content ecosystem and the kind of influencers that we see, but I still latch onto philosophies and values that different people represent. And to me, therefore, the influence comes from the rebel in Steve Jobs when it comes to his creative vision is a source of influence.


Therefore, the kind of content that I look for is essentially the content that may come from his autobiography or any old snapshots of his. On a similar note, another gentleman who's a source of influence for me is Neil deGrasse Tyson, a fantastic physicist. A great source of influence because that experience is not just driven by creator led content, but also life led. To that particular passion point, and therefore there's a lot of value that you derive when you listen to their content, both in terms of the life they lead, the discipline that they have, the choices that they make, and their functional expertise in the space that they talk about. 


What marketing related content do you consume in your free time?


I like listening to a podcast named ‘Marketing over Coffee’ done by a gentleman called John J Wall. It covers and balances both the traditional and the new-age marketing concepts.


There is a lot of talk about burnout, workplace toxicity, and hustle culture. What steps have you taken to avoid the adverse impact of the always-on culture on yourself and your colleagues, and what advice would you give to your peers, colleagues and next-gen marketers on this? 


I think at a fundamental level, certainly choose to work in a place that reflects your values. As long as your organisation respects and values the same principles of work-life balance, conflicts are fundamentally less. Having spent five years in Cargill, the organisation reflects largely those same values around respecting an individual's work and life balance.


But, as a personal view, I think balance in life doesn't just come from intent alone. Almost everyone I know intends to have a good balance, but it requires one to actually build positive habits on a daily basis in a disciplined way. Making time for people and things that matter in life requires discipline so that you're in control of one's life.


For instance, some professionals have spent their entire career accumulating negative habits, such as sticking around late in office, even when there is no work or being on the phone while playing with their kids. These are habits. And, it is possible to cultivate new habits and let go of negative habits.


If I have to kind of address the last part of your question on what I would advise younger marketers or professionals is that they read a book called ‘Atomic Habits’ by James Clear. That's one of my favourite books and I think it has the potential to be a life altering book because it fundamentally argues that simple everyday habits can help an individual gain greater control of the balance or the evasive balance that they desire in life.


And it's not just balance. It's a larger control on the narrative of your life. And I think it comes down to simple everyday habits that you accumulate from the time you wake up to the time you sleep. How do you want your day to go? The example that I gave of people who choose to spend excess time in the office, even when there is no work, it's not an objective decision.


It is happening subconsciously out of habit. So, I think habit formation is a critical pillar that people need to lean on because the desire and intention to achieve that balance exists in everybody. People don't have the tools to get it. 


Is there any sport or fitness routine you practice? 


My fitness routine is to wake up and do some home workouts. Usually, I end up waking up early, close to around five in the morning. I have a four-year-old toddler. Then when she wakes up, I end up playing with her. So that's a nice morning routine.


What does your weekend look like? 


Saturday is usually about doing some outdoors, doing something fun with the family because both my wife and I work. So we try and keep that day for doing something fun, especially around what would be fun for our daughter.

Sunday is a day to take stock at home and laze it out. I enjoy reading. I either chill over a movie, watch a couple of shows, binge watch a little with my wife, so on and so forth.


Is there any book you're reading? Any recommendations? 


Recently, I discovered an app called Wyser and I heard about it on a podcast. It's a wonderful collection of summaries of books across various genres.


In the last 10 days I've covered six books. I'm right now reading a book called 'Good Habits and Bad Habits' by an author called Wendy Wood. 


So I've kind of finished out of those six. One is Atomic Habits. Another favourite book of mine is 'Quiet', which is written by Susan Cain. Very insightful narrative around what it means for organisations that have to handle both introverts and extroverts and how 50 percent of the population are introverts but the organisations are designed around an extrovert ideal.


It's a very interesting narrative and conversation which impacts the way we work today. 


What are you watching on streaming this weekend? 


I enjoy content across multiple languages. Right now, we are going back to some old content. Both my wife and I want to start introducing Harry Potter to our daughter. So we've been watching that and on the other hand, I went back to ‘Breaking Bad’ after a long time.


Any work hack or life hack you would like to share? 

 
In terms of work hack, I would say to be authentic and empathetic. I think it simply means that you're able to kind of understand a work situation from another person's perspective. 

I genuinely believe that it goes a long way in building a reliable and sustainable partnership in the workplace. It helps build a positive work culture where people generally tend to go the extra mile to help get things done when authenticity and empathy are at play.

Life hack, I would say surround yourself with the right kind of people, your spouse, your friends, your family, your mentors. They will eventually steer you and guide you towards a happier place and a more fulfilled life. 


A piece of wisdom you would like to share? 


I think my life hack was a piece of wisdom. I would probably add this piece of wisdom as a marketer. We're dealing with a world where consumers are changing by the day. At Cargill, we have a proprietary tool called trend tracker which tracks trends that are happening; we just completed our 2024 version and it talks about various trends. 


One of them is how the mindful consumer is evolving. Someone who's a lot more cautious and careful about what they consume. And similarly, the consumer is changing in terms of the content she wants to watch, in terms of how she's shopping. Now with quick commerce coming in, in terms of how she's using her money, in terms of how she's banking, every dimension of her life is changing. 


So one clear advice as a marketer is to be extremely curious and thirsty for knowing what's going on. Therefore, keeping the customer and the consumer at the heart of all the narratives, conversations and strategies that you're building here. But to be able to do that, one needs to innately be curious.


Could you touch upon Cargill's marketing strategies?


One of our critical pillars right now is to keep the consumer at the heart of the narrative that we're building.


And the closer we are to them, the more likely it is that we're going to get it right. And this has been proven time and again. Therefore, the kind of spaces that we're working in, it's having an implication on various things that we're doing. On the business front, we are trying to ensure that we are building a portfolio of health and wellness solutions that cater to this need of the mindful consumer by giving them greater options in terms of healthier solutions.


This is happening across our businesses, both the B2B and B2C businesses. We're creating alternatives and product solutions that cater to an eventual end consumer who wants healthier solutions. And on the other hand, one of the other trends we are seeing is that consumers are also seeking more authentic conversations from brands.


This is not just looking for authenticity and transparency from brands, but they also want brands to talk to them in a more authentic manner. We recently brought this idea to life on Gemini, which is one of our leading edible oil brands in the western and southern parts of the country. If you look at Gemini, it is positioned around the notion that a mom's place is not just in the kitchen, and her identity is not limited to just being the gatekeeper of nutrition and wellness of the family. 


So there's a real need to change the questions we ask our moms at home. More often than not in all our households, we end up innocently asking our moms 'Aaj kya bana hai' and the whole campaign is built around the idea of change the conversation from 'Aaj kya bana hai' to 'Aaj kya banna chahte ho?'


So recently, we launched a campaign called ‘Thai’ which brought this premise to life beautifully. It helped us win in the market and it also helped us win a few awards. We recently won the Emvies in 2024 for this campaign. And it's reflective of the evolution of our consumers because if you look at the Emvies and the clear winners this year, two of the top three campaigns spoke about a narrative, which kind of reflected this evolution in the consumer.


One was ‘Dove’, which had this whole campaign of ‘Stop The Beauty Test’. The other was Gemini, which spoke about changing the questions we ask the women in our lives. So I think, on both fronts, you can definitely expect more work from Cargill, both from a product sense by focusing more on the health and wellness narrative, targeting the mindful consumer. 

On the communication front, building more authentic communication platforms and finding more innovative, creative ways to engage with our consumers in an authentic manner. 


Which is the creative and media agency that handles your brand? 


We have multiple partners when it comes to creative development. We work with BBDO and for media planning we have Wavemaker. 


Any marketing trends you can predict for this year? 


We're clearly seeing four trends. One is in the way the consumer is consuming food. So, we're clearly seeing a trend of higher penetration of health and wellness. 


We clearly see a media narrative shifting and evolving significantly on the digital front in terms of overall spends while TV continues to be a dominant reach building with 70 percent penetration. 


OTT platforms today are almost at 34 percent-35 percent penetration. That's more than 400 to 450 million households in India. Also, individuals in India are consuming content primarily through OTT. So that's becoming a significant shift in how marketers will be reaching out to consumers. The way the homemaker is shopping has changed. Quick commerce has overtaken the narrative when it comes to e-commerce, specifically groceries and food.


As a result, the way we go to market, the way we run our promos, where we do marketing campaigns and the kind of activations we do at the point of purchase will also change. So on the whole, marketing campaigns will evolve primarily because the consumer is evolving around these vectors. 


Read More: <a href="https://www.storyboard18.com/brand-makers/through-happydent-we-used-our-visual-tool-to-drive-conversations-around-moment-marketing-says-gunjan-khetan-perfetti-van-melle-india-24317.htm">Time is the most precious commodity in my role, says Gunjan Khetan, Perfetti Van Melle India</a>

It's not just balance. It's a larger control on the narrative of your life: Subin Sivan of Cargill India

BeBetta is claiming to stand apart from competitors such as Dream11, MPL, Gamezy, and Bet365 by placing a strong emphasis on passion, engagement, and the social aspect of sports fandom. "While competitors tend to prioritise transactions and monetisation, our focus lies in creating an experience that goes beyond mere financial transactions, " says Meet Shah, Founder & CEO, BeBetta and adds that "Our growth strategy revolves around leveraging strategic monetization avenues, including advertisements and microtransactions, while simultaneously focusing on user engagement initiatives to ensure a compelling and valuable experience for our users."

Meet Shah, Founder & CEO, BeBetta discusses the inspiration behind relaunching the BeBetta app during the IPL season, how BeBetta is differentiating itself from competitors like Dream11, MPL, Gamezy, and Bet365 and strategies that were employed to maximise reach and engagement across diverse distribution channels. 


What was the inspiration behind relaunching the BeBetta app during the IPL season?

The inspiration behind relaunching the BeBetta app during the IPL season stemmed from our initial MVP version launched three months ago, which served as a proof of concept. Building upon this foundation, our overarching vision has consistently aimed to enrich and amplify the sports fan experience in India by infusing elements of gamification and social interaction. Now, we are fully committed to executing this vision by taking our platform to new heights, engaging users in more immersive and enjoyable ways during one of the most exciting times in the Indian sports calendar.

What are the key features and enhancements introduced in the app’s relaunch?

In our app's relaunch, we made significant strides by introducing a range of key features such as head-to-head bets, pool bets, clubs, and war rooms. These additions were accompanied by enhancements aimed at personalising user journeys, integrating gamification elements, and refining the overall user experience and design. Our primary goal with these updates is to create a more dynamic and interactive platform that fosters social connections and provides an enjoyable experience tailored specifically to the preferences and interests of sports fans across India.

What strategies were employed to maximise reach and engagement across diverse distribution channels?

In our efforts to maximise reach and engagement across diverse distribution channels, we adopt a comprehensive approach that blends both brand and performance marketing strategies. While these strategies serve as the backbone of our outreach efforts, we place particular emphasis on community marketing, product marketing, and innovative ad campaigns. By leveraging community engagement initiatives, highlighting the unique value propositions of our products, and crafting attention-grabbing ad campaigns, we strive to establish authentic connections with our target audience and resonate with them effectively. This multifaceted approach allows us to not only expand our reach but also foster meaningful engagement with our audience across various channels.


How does BeBetta differentiate itself from competitors like Dream11, MPL, Gamezy, and Bet365?

BeBetta stands apart from competitors such as Dream11, MPL, Gamezy, and Bet365 by placing a strong emphasis on passion, engagement, and the social aspect of sports fandom. While competitors tend to prioritise transactions and monetisation, our focus lies in creating an experience that goes beyond mere financial transactions. We aim to make the sports fan experience inherently enjoyable and interactive, leveraging features that foster camaraderie among users and enhance their overall engagement with the platform. 


What is BeBetta’s business model and growth trajectory?

BeBetta's business model is multifaceted, centering around various revenue streams such as advertisements, microtransactions, and brand partnerships. As we continue to expand our user base and enhance our platform, we project reaching 15 million users by the end of this year. Our growth strategy revolves around leveraging strategic monetization avenues, including advertisements and microtransactions, while simultaneously focusing on user engagement initiatives to ensure a compelling and valuable experience for our users. Through these efforts, we aim to not only achieve significant user growth but also drive sustainable revenue growth and establish BeBetta as a leading platform in the sports prediction industry.

What are the key advertising and marketing strategies that the company has been applying? 

BeBetta's business model is built on a diversified approach, incorporating revenue streams such as advertisements, microtransactions, and brand partnerships. By leveraging these avenues, we aim to drive sustainable growth and profitability. Additionally, our strategic focus on user engagement initiatives plays a crucial role in expanding our user base and fostering loyalty among our audience.

With a projected milestone of reaching 15 million users by the end of this year, our growth strategy revolves around strategic monetization tactics that balance revenue generation with providing value to our users. This includes optimizing ad placements, introducing enticing microtransaction options, and forging mutually beneficial partnerships with brands. By prioritizing user experience and engagement, we aim to create a platform that not only attracts new users but also retains and satisfies existing ones, thereby driving long-term growth and success for BeBetta.

Could you provide more details regarding the breakdown of expenditures, particularly in advertising and marketing, especially across digital channels? What are the primary sources of revenue for the business?

In terms of our expense distribution, our investments in advertising and marketing, with a particular focus on digital channels, are strategically allocated across various areas including Universal App Campaigns (UAC), branding efforts, and community initiatives. These channels play pivotal roles in engaging our audience and expanding our reach.

Regarding revenue generation, our business primarily thrives on multiple streams, notably deriving income from advertisements that leverage our platform's visibility and engagement. Additionally, we capitalise on revenue generated through in-app purchases and microtransactions, reflecting the value our products offer to users. Furthermore, our business model is fortified by revenue streams stemming from brand partnerships and affiliate programs, which complement our core offerings and enhance our market presence.

What are the consumer insights and market trends currently observed?

Current consumer insights and market trends indicate a significant shift towards gamified experiences, with users showing a growing appetite for interactive and engaging gameplay. There is also a clear preference for community-led challenges and interactions within the gaming space, highlighting the importance of social connectivity and shared experiences among users. Additionally, there is a noticeable fatigue from the traditional format of fantasy sports, suggesting a desire for novel and innovative gaming concepts.

Moreover, there is a notable demand for no-risk platforms, driven by various factors such as users' reluctance to pay, financial constraints, or a preference for non-monetary motivations. This underscores the importance of offering platforms that cater to diverse user preferences and accommodate individuals who may prioritize other forms of engagement over monetary transactions. By understanding and adapting to these consumer insights and market trends, companies can better tailor their offerings to meet the evolving needs and preferences of their target audience.

BeBetta projects reaching 15 million users by end of 2024: Meet Shah

“I am a huge India fan,” declares Sébastien Bazin, group chairman and CEO of the French multinational hospitality and hotel chain Accor. “I hate to be a spectator of India, I want to be an active participant here,” he adds.


India, he says, contributes only two percent to Accor Group worldwide. “It is way too small when you guys represent 20 percent of the world,” Bazin says, adding that he intends to change it.


This will be done by dialling up strategy around the budget and luxury properties, he says.


“India will be the third largest economy in three years, I want to be the largest player in this space in the next three years," says Bazin.


Accor currently operates 61 hotels across 4 different segments in India. Its brands across luxury include Raffles, Fairmont and Sofitel. In the premium category it has Grand Mercure and Pullman. In mid segment it operates Novotel and Mercure whereas in economy it has ibis and ibis Styles. The company will focus on both volumes and luxury.


Expansion plans


Accor Group’s strategic approach to growth in 2024 includes the opening of six hotels in the premium, midscale, and economy segments and three luxury and lifestyle hotels, to further enrich its diverse portfolio.


In the luxury hospitality market, Accor will have the new Raffles Jaipur in the second quarter of 2024. In the premium sector, it will be opening Grand Mercure Goa Candolim in the second quarter of 2024. Mercure Chandigarh and ibis Styles Mysuru, which are also opening in 2024, will provide quality and affordable accommodation options for budget-conscious travellers. Apart from this, scheduled for the third quarter of 2024, Accor's Novotel brand will see its footprint expand to key cities with the openings of Novotel Goa Panjim, Novotel New Delhi City Centre, and Novotel Bhubaneswar. 


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“Well, volume-wise will be going deeper and with more speed on Ibis, Novotel and Mercure. This is where you have the biggest, largest population, the demand and appetite. But in Udaipur, Jaipur, Bengaluru and Goa we are going to make a big push towards luxury with Sofitel, Raffles, Orient Express and Fairmont. So it’s two different ways of approaching and two different teams working on it,” says Bazin.


Business in India


When asked whether it is challenging to establish a luxury hotel brand in India, he says a lot of people had warned him that the luxury market in India may be difficult but he feels that it is not true. “No, it's not more challenging than being in the Middle East or being in San Francisco or being in London. It's kind of the same challenge. But you invented luxury. Oberoi’s invented luxury a long time ago. So did Taj and so did Leela. I am only learning from what existed already and trying to enhance it, which is difficult, by the way,” he says.


As much as he is bullish on India, Bazin also questions the long time taken to open hotels in the country. “It takes 5-6 years to open hotels in India, whereas globally it is around 3-4 years on the higher side. Why does it take two years more to get a hotel running?” he questions. “We will have 100 hotels in India. I want more than 1,000 hotels in India. I don’t want that to take me 20 years, I am too old to wait 20 years,” he says.


With the Paris Olympics around the corner, the chief executive of the French hotel group couldn’t contain his excitement around the event. Accor will be the official partner of the Olympics and Paralympic Games Paris 2024. “We are going to be in the eyes of the entire world. We have to make sure that people remember what they have seen in Paris and give them a chance to come back. It is time to shine and present Paris and Accor in the best way possible.”

 
Read More: <a href="https://www.storyboard18.com/how-it-works/taj-hotels-and-emirates-top-yougov-advocacy-rankings-2024-in-india-20850.htm">Taj Hotels and Emirates top YouGov Advocacy Rankings 2024 in India</a>

Indian advertising industry’s go-to man Shashi Sinha revisits his four-decade long career

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