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EE News Desk
Embassy of India, Paris is organising a series of events on Yoga on the occasion of the Second International Day of Yoga. As a part of these celebrations, a Yoga event was organised at the iconic Eiffel Tower on 19 June 2016 in Paris. The event saw an overwhelming response. Due to constraints of ongoing security measures, the participation had to be limited to 300 Yoga enthusiasts chosen through a lucky draw out of more than 2000 registrations received. The youngest Yoga enthusiast was a 6-year old boy while the oldest was a 92-year old senior citizen. Speaking on the occasion, Ambassador of India, Dr. Mohan Kumar emphasized the importance of Yoga for a healthy and balanced life. The event commenced with a meditation session by the teachers of the Shivananda Yoga Centre in Paris. Synchronised asanas and mudras by the participants at the foot of the iconic Eiffel Tower were a visual delight. Earlier on 18 June, another Yoga event organised by the Embassy at the La Villette park in Paris drew more than 2000 participants. An important part of the event was a narration of personal experiences of several individuals who immensely benefitted from Yoga. Their addresses drew much applause from the participants. On 21 June, the Embassy of India will organize Yoga on the river Seine onboard the famous Bateaux Mouches boat sailing from the Eiffel Tower to the Notre Dame Cathedral. Meanwhile, news of celebrations of the International Yoga Day is being received from many other parts of France including from the cities of Gretz, Strasbourg, Avignon and the overseas territories like Guadeloupe and Martinique islands. Managing Director of World News Network Satish Reddy said, "I am glad to be the part of this International Yoga Festival in Paris. Yoga is an ancient science which leads to health in the body, peace in the mind, joy in the heart, and liberation of the soul. I am happy that Embassy has done a very good job where thousands of French and Indians have come toward to Celebrate Yoga day and It can be said that Euro Cup and Yoga Day is the most rocking events in France." Others who were present at the event are Mr. Manish Prabhat (Deputy chief of mission) Mr. Lavanya Kumar (First cultural secretary ) and Mr. Suresh K Sharma (Attaché Cultural).
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Kingfisher, brings the Good Times experience of a city to the comfort of your home with the launch of their latest virtual reality content- 'Kingfisher 360 Cities’. Kingfisher has created virtual reality campaign in association with Spectra VR, leveraging the growing popularity of VR headsets. Apart from this, the360 video content support on Facebook and YouTube enables the brand to further engage with their fans and followers on these platforms. With the larger goal of showcasing how Kingfisher is integral to having fun in the city, the videos walk users through the coolest & most popular parts of the country, showing them the best way to unwind in those cities with Kingfisher. While the brand has already released Goa & Pondicherry as part of their ‘KF 360 Cities’ campaign over the last couple of months and has seen a tremendous response across social platforms, places like Kerala, Rajasthan & Uttarakhand are ready to be released soon. Targeting tech savvy youth, Kingfisher has created a riveting series of virtual tours that can transport the viewer into any of the given cities. From the beaches of Goa to the sand dunes of Rajasthan, adventure seekers can get a 360 view of the city by logging onto the Kingfisher pages on Facebook &YouTube. Samar Singh Sheikhawat, Senior Vice President - Marketing, United Breweries Limited, said, “The ‘KF 360 cities’ campaign is the perfect opportunity to bring destinations to people instead of the other way around. Forget maps and GPS, and explore India like you’ve never done before. Whether it’s the backwaters of Kerala, the sand dunes of Jaisalmer or the beaches of Goa, Kingfisher will truly show you how to have a Good Time!” Virtual Reality is the latest buzzword online and with Samsung Gear VR headset already out in the market, it gives brands an opportunity to create amazing, immersive experiences for consumers. With its on-going digital campaigns, Kingfisher becomes one of the first few brands to bring the phenomenon of virtual reality into mainstream marketing. The other preceding campaigns like the Kingfisher Super Chasers VR Game, during the IPL season used VR gear to transport users into a virtual cricket stadium, giving them an immersive gaming experience. The game created a lot of fan frenzy during the Kingfisher on-ground activations across the country, with even cricketers trying their hand at the game. Virtual Reality is set to take the gaming industry by storm and if the response to the Kingfisher Super Chasers VR Game is anything to go by, then we sure are in for good times ahead!
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Mr. Karthik Raman is the Chief Marketing and Strategy Officer at IDBI Life Insurance, a brand that has invested heavily into the category of sports. In the following authored account he talks about IDBI's popular 'Childsurance' campaign, everything non-sports and cutting the clutter. "As a brand we have always chosen to go on an off beaten path. Be it our sports and fitness initiatives or our various campaigns across the year. Our messaging style of hope and humour has helped us stand apart in the cluttered market space. A striking example of this was our Childsurance campaign. Children’s future solutions are the second most popular life insurance plans in India. This is because most studies point towards the fact that Indian parents save and invest widely in insurance for the future of their kids. They contribute about 20% to our sales portfolio and remain an important category for the company. We wanted to launch a child campaign to drive sales and build positive disposition for the brand through awareness. With a bouquet of child products in our kitty, as a brand we were keen to highlight our offerings but soon found that the category was already too crowded. What’s usually depicted in life insurance ads in this category is a child asking for something, an arrested moment of thought and then the parent resolving the tension by planning for it. To distinguish between multiple such ads is clearly difficult. So, we came up with an idea that would nudge the young parent harder in a manner which is humorous. That’s how the ‘angry baby’ campaign came up. Our company captured the hearts and minds of millions of parents in India with the angry baby hoardings plastered across the skylines of 110 Indian cities. In the month of September, 2015, our company launched an outdoor promotion for the children’s future solutions with the ‘Childsurance’ campaign. The outdoor creative asked parents how their angry child of today would look at 18 years of age. Clearly, he or she wouldn’t be as cute then. It was then followed up with an interactive radio campaign and digital campaign called ‘the cutest angry baby hunt’. Apart from high-impact activations in prominent malls across key metros to hunt the cutest angry baby, our company also launched 33 on-air short radio films featuring children for their campaign. In the phase II, an educative radio programme, ‘Badon ki Pathshala’, was launched that enabled young parents to share and learn from the experience and enables us to bing celeb moms, child psychologists and financial advisors on the same platform. The show gave tips on good parenting, financial planning, understanding and tackling the developmental stages of children from 0-8 years. Unconventionally, we excluded a TVC from this campaign and restricted it to Outdoors, Digital and Radio. The idea worked for us - despite being a passive medium, it managed to stop the consumer in his tracks. The series of awards won and superlative brand scores achieved during the period bear testimony to the success of the campaign. We won a Gold in the Radio Effectiveness Category for the Childsurance Radio Film Festival and Bronze in the Best Use of Celebrity Endorsement for Badon Ki Pathshala at the prestigious Asian Customer Engagement Forum (ACEF). We also won Gold in the Social Media Category at the Public Relations Council of India and won the Most Effective Use of Radio in an activation campaign at the Excellence in Radio Awards (ERA) by India Radio Forum. Our consideration scores moved up 5% and our partner banks’ total awareness increased from 81% in March-August 2015 to 99% between Sept'15-Nov'15 during the campaign period. One of the biggest challenges for marketers today is fragmentation. This is not just in terms of the proliferation of brands in various categories, but also in terms of consumer interests and the way they engage in those interests. A few years ago, you could advertise on the networks; sponsor a few big sports or events and rest assured that your brand message was being delivered. Now, you have dozens of media avenues with content that draws passionate followers. This is landscape that is much more diverse with the impact of social media and new trends and passions emerging every day! Our campaign idea thank fully allowed us to break through the clutter and delivered the message powerfully. It gave us an opportunity to add value to the experience of participants and align with their values through something that they truly care about – the future and well being of their little stars!"
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With a desire to acknowledge and fulfil the dreams and aspirations of its consumers, Shell Lubricants, the global market share leader in finished lubricants announced the launch of “Real Destinations’- the company’s largest consumer led, integrated brand campaign for its ‘Rimula’ range of lubricants. Connecting with all Rimula users through its global campaign, Shell aims to be a valuable partner in the journey of truckers, fleet managers, mechanics, farmers and small commercial vehicle (SCV) owners; and support them in reaching their real goals in life. The brand campaign highlights the everyday struggle, the rough journey and the real desires of the truckers and farmers in the country. Shell’s passion and love for its consumers has been captured in the campaign tagline “Manzil aapki, saath humara”. The campaign captures the brand’s deep connection it shares with its consumers; and their journey to reach their real destinations in life. The key element of the consumer led brand campaign is to highlight the struggle experience by truckers and farmers. The campaign has seen designed keeping in mind the role Shell pays in their lives. Realizing that consumers depend solely on their trucks and tractors for their livelihood and that less downtime on the roads or in the fields, means more quality time for them with their families/real destinations. To showcase its deep understanding of a trucker’s life on the road Shell has also created a special film which captures the real life story of an Indian trucker. The heartwarming film captures the hard life of the trucker and his aspiration of giving his daughter her dream wedding lehenga; his ‘Real Destination’ in life. In addition to highlighting their stories, Shell has also created various on-ground avenues to meet its consumer’s face-to face, understand their struggles and ensure their welfare. Highlighting the message of health being an important pre-requisite; Shell has identified key hubs in transport nagars to create more buzz around the new campaign. Through health check-up camps for truckers and special Agri Pathshalas for farmers, Shell is creating new avenues to interact with their audience. While the health checkup camps have been aimed at creating a value for a healthy lifestyle among truckers; farmers have been introduced to new practices of farming and internet know-how by the brand. With an avenue to manage their crops better and gain additional knowledge with respect to their equipment; the Pathshalas were widely appreciated. The brand plans to connect with thousands of excited truckers and farmers, across the country, through these initiatives. Driving meaningful conversations and engagement with its consumers; the brand aims to leveraged the campaign across platforms including TV, point-of-sale activations, Mobile, Radio and Digital. The central idea during these conversations is to invite, reward and recognize stories of real destinations in the lives of truckers, farmers and how they are striving to reach them. Accompanying the brand’s revised positioning and messaging, Shell has also redesigned its Rimula product packaging, in direct response to its customer needs. The changes are aimed towards making the purchasing process easier for customers and increase the brand’s distinction in a cluttered marketplace. The latest designs are now easier to read, easier to understand, and therefore easier to use. The new design also looks at delivering practical solutions such as greater stability while stacking, reduced chances of spillage and product damage. Speaking about the campaign, Ms. Mansi Tripathy, Chief Marketing Officer, Shell Lubricants India said, “For many of our customers, trucking/farming is the cornerstone of their life: a job that sees them work long hours, over long periods, for truckers often many miles/kilometers away from home, but ultimately provides for their family and loved ones. At Shell Lubricants, we understand our consumers and want to be an active part of their journey. With the ‘Real Destinations’ campaign, we have strived to reach our consumers better, listen to their stories and be a part of fulfilling their dreams. The campaign has been designed to strengthen and redefine the Rimula promise of being, a trusted partner in helping consumers save more money and reach their real destinations in life. It is notable to understand that engine oil plays a vital role in keeping their vehicles and business moving, yet despite this it remains a traditionally low-interest purchase. We want our consumers to feel celebrated, and the change is Rimula’s positioning has been to make it more consumer friendly. The tactical changes in product designs have been made to ensure the best experience for our consumers. We hope to connect better and make a real difference in the lives of our consumers through this campaign”
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AMTEX 2016, an exhibition catering to the machine tool needs of production and consumption hotspots is scheduled to take place between 8th-11th of July 2016 at Pragati Maidan, New Delhi. This biennial event will primarily focus on end user industries like Automotive, Power and Electrical Equipment, Textile Machinery and Consumer goods. Industry experts estimate India's manufacturing sector to touch US$ 1 trillion by 2025 accounting for 25-30 per cent of the country's GDP and acting as a job creator with millions of domestic jobs on offer. The 11th edition of this coveted platform will aim to provide deep insights into the Indian machine tool industry through its exclusive Conference Programme, with an emphasis on future trends, growth strategies, new technologies and innovations, keys to sustainable growth and the challenges and expectations of the industry players. Registrations are on with multiple exhibhitors from India and 30% overseas players participation from countries like China, Germany, Japan, Korea, Singapore, Taiwan and Turkey among others already joining in. The last date to book the exhibitor space is June 30th, 2016. According to Cyril Pereira, Managing Director, Reed Triune Exhibitions Pvt. Ltd, “AMTEX 2016 will act as the exquisite ground for exhibitors to interact with the entire machine tool fraternity. India is currently the 10th highest consumer and 14th highest producer of Machine Tools. The time is ripe with ‘Make in India’ bringing in lot more opportunities compared to previous years and AMTEX will act as the seamless platform in ushering in positive interest from international organisations to produce/manufacture and invest in India”. Some of the major companies participating in the event this year are Ace Micromatic, Jyoti CNC Automation Ltd., Mitsubishi Electric India Pvt Ltd., Renishaw Metrology Systems Private Limited, Muratec (Murata Machinery Ltd.) and Meiban (Meiban Engineering Technology), to name a few.
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The UEFA Euro 2016 has got off to a rocketing start. With the on-field action grabbing the headlines, the Indian market has moved swiftly to capture the biggest football flavor of this season. Mobile handset maker GioneeMobiles has come on board as the title on-air sponsor after their successful rebranding stint with the Kolkata Knight Riders in the Indian Premier League. Sony Pictures Networks India (SPN), hold the rights for Euro's broadcast in India and are beaming it across their channels and online onsonyliv.com. Last heard before the beginning of the tournament, they had sold almost 80 % of the advertising inventory. Highly placed sources close to these deals reveal that brands have allocated tentatively Rs 8-10 crore towards sponsorship. According to a report in the Business Standard, SPN is continuing with an activity it had started dabbling with in 2014 where it had multi-lingual feeds for the FIFA World Cup with a Bengali feed on Sony Aath, the Bangla entertainment channel under the network. Euro 2016 will be available in six languages, English, Hindi, Bengali, Tamil, Telugu and Malayalam. Sony SIX will telecast the English language feed while Sony ESPN will give viewers the other options. Prasana Krishnan, executive vice-president and business head of Sports Cluster, SPN, says, "When we experimented with the Bengali feed, we realised that there is an appetite for the sport in the regional markets. With Euro 2016, we intend to test out more markets and so we have added three more languages. It is perhaps the first time in India that a non-cricket tournament of this scale will be available in so many languages." According to the ESP Properties - SportzPower India Sports Sponsorship Report 2016, on the back of Hero Indian Super League (ISL), ground sponsorship for Football shot up from Rs 59.5 crore in 2014 to Rs 114 crore in 2015, a jump of 91.6% . Hitesh Gossain, CEO of Onspon.com, gives us a lowdown on the brands that have moved on-board for the European football fiesta, "According to market sources and SPN estimates, the brands that have agreed to be a part of the Euro bandwagon are Honda Cars India, Idea, Carlsberg, Hero Cycles, Crompton Greaves, Micromax, YES Bank and Renault. E-commerce players such as Amazon, OLX and Paytm were also said to be keenly interested in taking up slots. As the games are shown on Sony SIX and Sony ESPN channels at the primetime slots of 6:30 pm and 9:30 pm, and 12:30 am. SPN's sales team has quoted a rate of Rs 2.25-2.5 lakh for ad-spots and most brands have accepted this.
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Renaissance Convention Centre hosted their fifth edition ‘Global Day of Discovery Fair 2016’ on 16th June 2016 from 4pm-10pm at the A Bar Lounge in the property. This year, The Global Day of Discovery Fair hosted interesting elements of a flea market. The hotel hosted innovative stalls, unique handicrafts and interesting showcases by various local brands and artistes. At the fair, one could choose from a plethora of activities and each activity was designed to help one discover something exciting and new. The A bar hosted a cluster of brands offering products ranging from apparel, handicrafts, accessories, home décor to wellness. From options of organic luxury candles, authentic Kashmiri Handicrafts and interesting handmade apparel and yarns a variety of unique shopping options were made available. Guests also discovered some innovative cocktails such as Kokum Chai and Kalakhatta Margarita along with finger food. In the evening, guests also got to witness a performance of percussion and fusion music by DJ Woody and local Maharashtrian percussionists. Commenting about the Global Day of Discovery Concept 2016, Rex A.G. Nijhof - General Manager, Renaissance Mumbai Convention Centre Hotel & Lakeside Chalet- Marriott Executive Apartments said, “We are very excited to bring in the fifth edition of Global Day of Discovery in such style and vigor! This year, we had created the concept of a flea market for consumers to appreciate the little joys in life while trying to discover something new. With a wide variety of activities, display and entertainment, it really is amazing to see all our guests having such a joyful time with us.”
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Coinciding with the recent launch of OnePlus 3 the smartphone company partnered with Uber, the multinational online transportation network company, to make it more convenient for fans to get their hands on the Loop VR Headset. This on-demand Loop VR Headset delivery service was being brought to 9 major Indian cities namely, New Delhi, Bangalore, Mumbai, Guwahati, Bhubaneshwar, Pune, Kolkata, Chennai and Chandigarh by two of the coolest and the fastest growing global technology startups. On the partnership with Uber, Vikas Agarwal, General Manager, India at OnePlus said, “OnePlus’ fan community is very important to us and we are thankful to them for their continued love and support. We are delighted to partner with Uber to give our fans a last minute opportunity to get their hands on OnePlus Loop VR Headsets to experience the OnePlus 3 launch in VR.” "Uber is all about the experience, and partnering with OnePlus for this on-demand we're happy to give our riders the opportunity to experience the Loop VR headset.” Said Bhavik Rathod, General Manager, Uber West & South. Fans could order their Loop VR Headsets from June 14, 12 pm onwards by logging into the Uber app. The doors to the Loop, OnePlus’ new office in space, opened at 10 PM IST on June 14 and the public sales for the OnePlus 3 began soon after on Amazon India at 12:30 AM IST.
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AccorHotels and Cyberabad Convention Centre Private Limited (a Joint Venture between Telangana State Industrial Infrastructure Corporation Ltd – TSIIC Ltd and Emaar Properties PJSC, Dubai), today announced the renewal of their agreement for the management of the Novotel Hyderabad Convention Centre and the Hyderabad International Convention Centre. This follows the successful completion of a ten-year commitment to manage and operate the 287-room hotel and the 15-acre state-of-the-art convention facility in Hyderabad. Both facilities operate in a complementary yet distinctive manner. Cyberabad Convention Centre and AccorHotels also announced a refurbishment programme for the hotel and the convention centre. Located in Hyderabad’s IT and Business district, Novotel Hyderabad Convention Centre is a 45 minutes drive from the Rajiv Gandhi International Airport. The hotel is connected to the purpose-built venue renowned for its world class convention facilities, the Hyderabad International Convention Centre. The Novotel Hyderabad Convention Centre is spread over 15 acres with 287 rooms to offer a resort-like ambience with an outdoor pool, lawns and rejuvenation facilities. This announcement comes on the heels of the tenth anniversary of Novotel in India. Novotel today enjoys a strong presence with 13 hotels located in key cities across the country. Based on AccorHotels’ current expansion plans, the brand is poised for significant growth over the next few years and is at the cornerstone of AccorHotels’ India development pipeline with another 14 new Novotel expected to open over the next few years. AccorHotels is the leader in operating convention centres and meeting spaces in India with over 500,000 square-feet of convention space under management. Alongside the Hyderabad International Convention Centre, AccorHotels also manages the Lavasa International Convention Centre, and later this year, will also start operations of the Jaipur Exhibition & Convention Centre (JECC). Adding to its MICE portfolio is the Pullman and Novotel New Delhi Aerocity with 40,000 square meeting of conventions space and the Novotel Kolkata Hotel & Residences with another 30,000 square feet. Amit Jain, Director, Cyberabad Convention Centre said, “Hyderabad is characterised by state-of-the-art infrastructure growth, increased business activity led by strong IT/ITES presence and emerging sector such as education and pharmaceuticals. We take pride in being a part of this growth and in giving the city a world-class convention facility with the Novotel Hyderabad Convention Centre. We see great value in our association with AccorHotels and look forward to continued growth particularly in the MICE area.” “Together with the Government of Telangana, and Emaar Properties PJSC, we have strategic and committed partners. With the Novotel Hyderabad Convention Centre and Hyderabad International Convention Centre, we have established a world-class joint facility in Hyderabad and one that arguably, is South Asia’s finest,” said Jean- Michel Casse, Senior Vice President, Operations, AccorHotels India. Neil Paterson, General Manager, Novotel Hyderabad Convention Centre and Hyderabad International Convention Centre, said, “Our focus on structured and seamless event execution replete with meticulous planning has allowed us to successfully position HICC as a premium convention and meetings destination. Featuring world class infrastructure and conferencing facilities, combined with the warmth and personalization of our staff, HICC is undoubtedly a best-in-class MICE location and a clearly differentiated proposition from other dual hotel and convention developments.”
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Nutrela has launched a campaign spread across 6 weeks with a TV campaign across Hindi GEC, Regional GEC, Movies and Food channels delivering at least 1000 GRP’s so as to break through clutter. The campaign will also be supported with print and ground activation coupled with massive visibility drive in trade. With regard to experiential marketing, the brand has launched an educative campaign “Video on Wheels.” The on-ground campaign will run for a period of six weeks parallely during which Nutrela will attempt to educate the masses on the ill effects of consuming loose soya. Through this initiative, Nutrela Mobile Vans will visit major markets in an attempt to educate the consumers about the benefits of branded Nutrela Soya and tell them why it is better than loose soya. The brand has also created a three minute short film that will be played in the mobile vans. The film highlights the benefits of eating Nutrela Soya in an interesting way. The campaign aims to build awareness amongst consumers, which is the only long term sustainable strategy to combat adulteration in the country. The video will urge consumers, especially those who use loose soya to review their consumption patterns. Loose Soya often has risk of contamination by insects / rodents which destroys the nutrients in the foods and causes various illness / diseases.
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