Vodafone recently announced its partnership with the Government of Haryana to facilitate mobile-based disbursement of monthly social security pension. The initiative, activated through Vodafone M-Pesa, Vodafone’s mobile money transfer and payment service has been carried out as a pilot initiative, covering 868 beneficiaries at five villages in Karnal and Mahendragarh districts in Haryana. Operated under the Government of India’s pension scheme, Vodafone India’s M-Pesa has been identified as the most suitable partner to facilitate digital transfer of financial disbursements to pensioners in Haryana, offering a safe and secure mechanism to transfer funds. Earlier government used to disburse the pension via Sarpanch of village. He used to share the list of all beneficiaries in his village with the government officials. Accordingly, the total amount for all these beneficiaries used to get transferred in to his account and then was disburse to concerned people. Vodafone M-Pesa has now added ease to the life of beneficiaries and proved to be a more convenient and authentic mode of transferring pension. With the induction of Vodafone M-Pesa, beneficiaries with any active mobile number can directly receive payment of the pension. They get intimated via SMS, mentioning the amount of the pension, the withdrawal code and the withdrawal procedure. They can then withdraw the amount by simply authorizing the transaction with the withdrawal code at a nearby Vodafone M-Pesa retail outlet. Expressing satisfaction at the successful implementation of the pilot social security pension disbursement project in Haryana, Suresh Sethi, Business Head - M-Pesa, Vodafone India said, “With the presence of 2894 outlets in Haryana, especially in small towns and villages, Vodafone M-Pesa is well on its way to being the partner of choice to the Government in its financial inclusion projects and disbursal of remittances for key government programmes. For Government transfers, 'Vodafone M Pesa' is a speedy and transparent mechanism with no leakages. We are delighted to partner with the Govt. of Haryana for monthly pension disbursement, significantly adding to the ease and convenience of pensioners in unbanked areas. As a part of our commitment to partner the Government’s agenda to promote progress in the state and we would like to scale up this initiative to cover more and more towns and villages in the state, over the coming months.’’
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Rural Marketing Association of India (RMAI) conducted its 10th Annual General Meeting on 7th of August, 2015 at India International Centre, New Delhi. The meeting started with Mr. George Angelo, Secretary and Director of Dabur India Ltd highlighting the initiatives taken by the newly elected committee that took over the responsibilities of RMAI last year. Succeeding him, Mr. Raj Kr Jha, Vice President of the association and consultant Geometry Global presented the initiatives planned by the committee for next year. Sanjay Kaul, President RMAI, took the opportunity to announce the Association's goals for the next year. He stated, “For the next year, RMAI team will be focusing on knowledge dissemination and will be working towards expanding its footprints . RMAI will also initiate a study series and CMO roundtables.” In his farewell speech Mr. Pradeep Kashyap Past President RMAI congratulated the new team for taking RMAI initiatives to next level. Concurrent to the Annual General Meeting, RMAI also launched the Flame Awards 2014 Case Study Compilation of 31 award winning cases. Commenting on this Mr. Kaul said that these cases represent some of the best rural marketing practices and initiatives in the country. He also said RMAI will continue to disseminate knowledge generated through various activities with RMAI members and industry at large. The current committee of RMAI is headed by Sanjay Kaul, President of RMAI and CEO Impact Communications, and includes Raj Kr Jha (Vice President) and consultant Geometry Global, George Angelo (Secretary) and Executive Director - Dabur India Ltd and Dr. Anup Kalra (Treasurer) and Director - Ayurvet Ltd. The Executive Committee members include Puneet Vidyarthi, General Manager and Head Rural - JCB India Ltd,Mr. Ranjit Kumar DDG (Rural Business) - India Post, Govt of India, Mr. Biswabaran Chakrabarty, General Manager, Crompton Greaves Ltd, Mr. S N Burman, VP, Maruti Suzuki India Ltd, Mr. Siddhartha Chaturvedi, CEO, Event Crafter, Mr. Nikhil Sharma Partner, MART and Sandip Bansal Chief Client & Field Officer - Group M Dialogue Factory. Himanshu Shah Chief Mentor, SOI Live Marketing, Khurram Askari, Director Insight Outreach Pvt Ltd and Sanjay Panigrahi, ex-CEO Sahaj e-village Ltd are responsible to lead West, South and East zones respectively. Two new additions to the RMAI committee has been made this year with the induction of Sanjay Panigrahi and Sandip Bansal.
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With brand marketers realizing the value of experience and association with a consumer they are ready to shell out a huge marketing budget to engage prospective consumers through innovative campaigns across the world. In Indian context, though the experiential domain has seen a magnificent growth in the last decade however the brands in the country are still somewhat reluctant to experiment with the experience generation. The experiential campaigns designed in the country are yet to be outright and unabashedly whacky and innovative in comparison to the experiential trends outside India. The brand marketers and the curators certainly need a little inspiration in the genre and we at EE are here to serve the purpose, as we list down 5 best experiential campaigns from this month across the globe. 1-Emirates Air Line and K’Nex creative family challenge This first experiential campaign on the list is one about to be executed. Yes, Emirates Air Line in London and the construction toy company K’Nex have invited families to build an object inspired by the view during their ride a cable car, with some amazing prizes to be won. The challenge must be completed in the 20 minutes it takes to do the roundtrip, which will be starting at the Emirates Greenwich Peninsula terminal. The entries will be judged by the chief executive of Mumsnet, Justine Roberts, with the winner to be announced the following week. K’Nex will be supplying the materials for the challenge, as well as one of the prizes – a K’Nex 70 Model Building Tub. The winners will also receive a family ticket for the Emirates Air Line and Thames Clippers, and free entry to the Emirates Aviation Experience. Now isn’t this a wholesome family experience that we must bring to India? 2-Energizer Tower Bridge Battery brand Energizer has created its own version of Tower Bridge in London which is made out of thousands of recycled batteries. The two tonne sculpture took four weeks to create, and it is made out of more than 83,000 recycled batteries. It is 12 metres long and four metres high, and is battery operated to open and close at the same time as Tower Bridge. Also to establish a brand connect with the people Energizer is also giving away free batteries to people who tweet a selfie of themselves with the replica. This one is guaranteed to tickle your experiences. 3- Cadbury Christmas at home Mondelez brand Cadbury took over a seventh floor suite at The May Fair hotel for an immersive press launch of its Christmas products. Not only as a part of this experiential connect were guests were greeted at the door with a flurry of artificial snow before travelling upstairs in the venue’s lift, The door of the suite was also designed to look like the number 25 of a Cadbury’s advent calendar. Visitors were guided into various different rooms of the suite and were presented with a fluffy dressing gown and advent calendars in the bedroom, Christmas canapés and prosecco in the living room, as well as a set dining table. Also a special ‘snowball room’ allowed the guests to play in a giant white ball pit that surrounded a bedroom set-up. Now this is what I call, a true happy experience. 4- Timberland pop-up customizable shoe experience Outdoor lifestyle brand Timberland has today (16 July) installed a pop-up Lab within the new JD Sports store on Oxford Street in London. Designed with the idea to celebrate the store’s opening, the Lab provided shoppers with the opportunity to customize their new Timberland boots in-store between 11am and 6pm. The brand as part of the campaign also recruited artist Russell Maurice, who has previously worked with brands including Maharishi and Puma, for the experience. 5- John Smith’s creates beer-shaped star constellation Heineken brand John Smith’s has recently created a constellation in the sky comprising 100 stars, and it is shaped in a pint of beer.The constellation is located next to Capella, the sixth brightest star in the sky, and it can be viewed by looking to the north. Well for those who think that this is indeed the best experiential marketing example by any brand ever, wait, there is more to it. The beer brand is also offering members of the public a chance to own a slice of the constellation, so long as they fulfill a particular set of criteria. Those with an ordinary name, who impress the John Smith’s team by showcasing a special talent, could be granted ownership of a star, and have it named after them. If any brand marketers are reading this, let me assure this you this one is going to be a sensation in India.
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Vodafone India, one of India’s leading telecommunications service providers, declared the winner of its “Win a Bike contest” offer. Vodafone customer Subhash Goyal from Pitampura was chosen as the winner of a brand new Honda Bike. To participate Vodafone customers simply had to dial 50404 or 5454502 and answer a set of question based on general knowledge, Politics, Bollywood, etc. Each right answer would fetch customer points. Winner of the contest was selected from the entries with highest score and minimum response time for submission. Speaking about the success of the experiential campaign Apoorva Mehrotra, Business Head – Delhi-NCR, Vodafone India said, “At Vodafone India, we are always on the lookout for innovative avenues to create and provide a fun and differentiated experience to our customers. The Vodafone “Win a Bike contest” was one such initiative that offered a value proposition as well as an opportunity to engage with our valued customers. I congratulate Mr. Subhash Goyal and wish him a long, happy and rewarding journey with Vodafone”. On expressing his pleasure Subhash Goyal, the Bike winner, said, “I am overjoyed on winning the bike contest. I thank Vodafone India for making my experience with them such an enriching and rewarding one.” The exciting offer was part of Vodafone’s customer connect program that offered a value proposition as well as provided a fun and differentiated experience to its customers.
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Tomorrowland, the electronic dance music festival which takes place in Belgium every year and sees a footfall of over 200,000 attendees, is set to celebrate its 10th anniversary this year. And the event offers Indians a chance to celebrate in style as well as a few days from now they will be treated to ‘Unite: The Mirror to Tomorrowland’, a live simulcast of the fest in Belgium right here in Mumbai. Held in association with Percept Live, the Live Entertainment division of Percept Limited, fans will get an opportunity to catch the likes of music legends Armin van Buuren, Martin Garrix, Dimitri Vegas & Like Mike live, albeit on a big screen. Tomorrowland has always been known a bridge to connect fans across the globe.This prompted the organizers to facilitate a satellite link up from Boom in Belgium (where the festival is being held) to reach the fans in India. With a healthy dose of Tomorrowland magic, an indoor event will be organised by Percept Live, offering Indians a chance to experience the festival firsthand, from this end of the world, along with additional local DJs and plenty of showmanship and fireworks thrown in to enhance the experience. The livestream and the timing of the fireworks and lights will adhere to a a very strict follow-up so that an exact same “activation” is created across Belgium, India and Mexico. Said Shailendra Singh, Joint Managing Director, Percept Limited, “Dance Music has the power to socially unite people around the world. It is a music of pure energy, without language and without borders. Tomorrowland has connected the entire world through the language of dance music, and has been a great source of inspiration for us. The Tomorrowland live stream experience will help take our mission statement to ‘UNITE THE WORLD’ one step closer.” Unite will be held on Saturday, July 25, 2015 from 11.00 pm onwards at the Dome, NSCI in Worli, Mumbai. Percept Live will be creating a Fan Park concept and elevate the experience on ground technologically. The Special Effects, Lights, CO2, Lasers, Pyrotechnics and Sound will be in sync with what is happening live at Tomorrowland. When the pyros and CO2 guns (air pistols) go off there, they will also go off at the NSCI venue in Mumbai. City fans will interact with fans in Boom. This will indeed be a unique, first time, virtual, digital live experience for all music lovers. Shailendra Singh, further said “The Live stream experience has the potential to unite many forms of Dance Music. It’s a creatively charged experience that can enhance and positively change the future of the Dance Music scene across our country. Our first edition of the Tomorrowland live stream has seen tickets selling out like a hot track to audiences pan India. It would be great to see people from all over the country UNITE to partake of this novel experience in Mumbai. Almost 10,000 Indians attend Tomorrowland every year; this Tomorrowland live stream is dedicated to those who can’t make it.”
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Select Citywalk, one of the premier shopping centres in Delhi has decided to pay tribute to Armed Forces of India with an astute sense of patriotism and belongingness. The government of India has been commemorating Kargil Diwas every year on 26th of July so that the countrymen do not forget the bravado, courage and supreme sacrifices made by our gallant soldiers in defending the icy heights of Kargil in 1999. This year Select Citywalk too has joined celebration by paying homage to Kargil Diwas with the tagline “Kargil…Lest We Forget”. The shopping center through this initiative plans to commemorate and remember the supreme sacrifice of all courageous sons. As part of the tribute the mall will be setting up exhibitions of war equipment, rare pictures of the war, war movies, Art on Army vehicles and Air Force fighter plane models on display, Newspaper archives, photo-ops and more from the 24th July onwards. A special stall for Army War Widows will also be a part of the tribute. On July 25, 6 pm onwards the shopping centre will feature the Indian Air Force band display that will depict the life of a soldier through music. A large number of NCC cadets are also expected to join the display. On the final day of the Kargil Diwas celebrations, July 26, the Indian army band will be at display and the families of martyrs with the Cadets of the National Cadet Corps will be honoured.
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KidZania Mumbai, a Global Indoor Theme park that inspires, educates & empowers children, helping them understand & manage their world better; have partnered with Nutella and Bajaj Electricals Ltd for the culinary School in KidZania, Mumbai. The children get a delectable opportunity to play chef and prepare yummy recipes with Nutella, the Italian hazelnut chocolate spread as the key ingredient and Bajaj Electricals’appliances. Nutella has created a recipe booklet containing some quick and easy breakfast recipes that will be given to all participating children. The recipes will change every month thus showcasing the versatility of the Nutella brand and inspire children to innovate and savour different Nutella dishes. Speaking on the new launch, VirajJit Singh – Chief Marketing Officer, KidZania India, said, “The experience of being a chef at the KidZania Mumbai Culinary School complements a lot of what kids learn in class today while triggering Cognitive & Psychomotor Development. We are excited to have Nutella a brand that we grew up on join Bajaj Electricals at the culinary school.” Speaking about the launch, EmanueleFiordalisi, Vice President, Marketing, Ferrero India said, “We are excited to partner with KidZania on such a unique concept built around education and entertainment for children. Our partnership with KidZania helps provide us with an innovative platform to engage with children in a fun environment. It will allow children to learn delicious recipes with Nutella on multiple breads like chapatti, idli, dosa etc. Not only will the creation of Nutella recipe is a fun experience for children but also will help them discover and showcase their culinary skills.” Speaking about the partnership, “Beena Koshy, Vice President & Head Advertising and Brand Development, Bajaj Electricals Pvt Ltd, said “Children these days can convert simple & amazing stuff into something very creative and our association with KidZania for more than a year has shown us just that. We are proud and excited to partner Nutella, and congratulate them on this association. Bajaj Electricals and Nutella, with this partnership, will bring about just the right mix in the kids and make them little master chefs in this culinary journey.” At KidZania Mumbai brands that have sponsored 36 activities are: Amity University, Bajaj Electricals Ltd., Big Bazaar, Birla Sunlife Insurance, Cadbury, Kokuyo Camlin, Central, Coca Cola, Club Mahindra, DHL, E-Zone, Furtado School of Music, Godrej Securities, Hardy’s, Healthspring, Hyundai Motors, Kellogg Chocos, MOD, Nerolac Paints, Nutella, Parachute, Parle Agro, Parle Biscuits, Pepperfry, Radio City, Sbarro, Shiamak, Star TV, Times of India, Toonz Animation, Yes Bank, Zespri
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