12th edition€¦ · snapdeal making a style statement the cult comedy makes a comeback on hotstar....

`100April 1-15, 2017 Volume 5, Issue 20

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Volume 5, Issue 20This fortnight...EDITOR

Sreekant Khandekar

PUBLISHER Prasanna Singh

EXECUTIVE EDITOR Ashwini Gangal

ASSOCIATE EDITOR Sunit Roy

PRODUCTION EXECUTIVEAndrias Kisku

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P L U SMOVEMENTS / APPOINTMENTS

Who’s Where 24

CAMPAIGN TRAIL

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Who says Ayurveda can’t be sexy, eh? At the 12th edition of the Buzzies, our annual voting-based report on a magical, elusive, somewhat noisy thing called

‘buzz’, Baba Ramdev’s power brand Patanjali has emerged as the Buzziest brand in India.

This is incredible for many reasons. One, last year Pantanjali was at No.34; in just a year, the brand has managed to beat the rest (brands, old and young, across product segments) hollow on this slippery scale that matters most – brand buzz.

Secondly, Patanjali is followed by a host of tech-based brands; at No.2 is Amazon (last year’s winner) followed by Jio (first-timer at the Buzzies), Paytm, Apple and Samsung.

This year, we had eight jurors who represented different pockets of our industry – Amarjit Batra (Olx), Avinash Pandey (ABP News Network), Rajan Bhalla (HT Media), Rohit Ohri (FCB Ulka), Sanjeev Handa (Maruti Suzuki), Shalini Raghavan (L’Oréal), Shivani Dhanda (eBay) and Suparna Mitra (Titan).

Incredibly, five of them voted for Patanjali. And mind you, the jury vote is entirely unguided.

Besides Patanjali, two other brands got this sort of overwhelming jury support – runner up Amazon and second runner up Jio. Three jurors voted for brand No.4 Paytm (that, by the way, was at No.53 last year).

This time, each of the top 10 brands got the support of at least one juror if not more... except for ITC’s Vivel; the brand made it to the No.7 spot solely on the back of the popular vote.

As usual, the jury vote got 30 per cent weightage. The popular vote got 70 per cent weightage.

This year, the number of valid voters was 2,424. Additionally, 1,562 voters participated in choosing the Buzziest Brands by category. Brands were classified under 24 product categories. Speaking of which, this time, we introduced three new categories – websites (Google topped), news (India TV) and retail (Big Bazaar topped).

Can’t wait for Buzzy Brands 2018!

`100April 1-15, 2017 Volume 5, Issue 20


12th Edition

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CONTENTS

Ashwini [email protected]

5afaqs! Reporter, April 1-15, 2 0 1 7

Launches 360-degree campaign, ‘har pata humein hai pata’.

10

6SNAPDEALMaking a Style Statement

The cult comedy makes a comeback on Hotstar.

Copywriter-cum-musician Keegan Pinto, who composed the music for Amul’s recent ‘Mother for mothers’ ad, gets candid.

KEEGAN PINTO Different Shades

MAPMYINDIAExploring New Roads

22

8

SARABHAI VS SARABHAIFamily Entertainer Returns

Snapdeal launches five new ads to further the ‘Unbox Zindagi’ thought.

advertising

With a fresh set of five 40-seconders, created by McCann WorldGroup,

Snapdeal furthers its ‘Unbox Zindagi’ thought. The familiar ‘Unbox Zindagi’ jingle, composed by Ehsan and Loy, accompanies all five ads.

The ads feature men and women of different ages at varying life stages, namely, the post-delivery ‘getting back into shape’ phase, the cusp of entrepreneurship, the girl-to-woman stage, the post-break up phase, and the classic one that’s been providing slice-of-life fodder to Indian admen and women for decades – marriage.

The common theme across all five films is the transformative power of fashion.

Snapdeal recently added 120 brands to its offering, including names such as United Colors of Benetton, Puma, Nautica, U.S. Polo Association and Steve Madden. Almost 40 per cent of Snapdeal’s overall sales come from the fashion segment, one that has grown by 50 per cent (year-on-year). Most of this growth has come from tier 1 and 2 cities.

Kanika Kalra, vice president - marketing, Snapdeal and FreeCharge, says, “Fashion as a category is growing exponentially at Snapdeal. We are constantly diversifying our fashion assortment to match the taste and preferences of the dynamic set of fashion consumers. Fashion is uniquely the most personal and yet the most public signal when you transition through life stages, relationships or mindsets. Taking forward the brand narrative on Unbox Zindagi - these films explore moments where fashion is instrumental in defining a new phase of life.”

INDUSTRY SPEAKWe asked the experts, “As

compared to the previous bout of Snapdeal’s ‘Unbox Zindagi’ ads, where do these stand?”

According to KV Sridhar, founder and chief creative officer, HyperCollective, the films will definitely touch an emotional cord as the insights are brilliant. He says that the lyrics make the films more memorable. However, the track and visual execution could have been better.

“I love the films as they really portray the unconventional ways of millennials today. To me, ‘Unbox’ is

gaining its real meaning. I have always applauded the idea from the time they launched the red box,” Sridhar adds.

According Ayan Banik, head brand strategy, Cheil India, Snapdeal has used a refreshing way to sell an extremely overused category - e-commerce fashion, and a peppy soundtrack with an upbeat mood and exuberant faces just add to the festivity around wearing new clothes.

“The good thing is the way a fashion proposition has been created out of a strong cultural insight. It is aptly captured through different films. That’s a refreshing way of selling fashion in the day and age of e-commerce, where due to round-the-year sales and discounts we actually take new clothes for granted and don’t attach much special treatment to them. So, the shift is really interesting from ‘jab mann kiya pehan liya’ to new beginnings in life deserve new clothes,” Banik says.

He however feels that the campaign is very close to Cadbury’s ‘Shubh Arambh’. “One can’t help but think of the similarity between ‘start something new on a sweet note’ and ‘start something new with new clothes’ - both working on the cultural insight of auguring auspiciousness,” he says.

CREDITSCreative Agency: McCann WorldGroupChairman, CEO, CCO: Prasoon JoshiVice Chairman, MD: Partha SinhaNCD: Pradyumna ChauhanCreative team: Navin Chawla, Sanket Pathare, Tarun Kumar, Surabhi Dave, Pritam Pal Singh, Mustafa Shaikh, Allita Crasto, Zeanne D’ cunha’Account management: Suraja Kishore, Sujala Martis, Pooja MuralidharaAgency Producer: Vrushali SamantProduction house: Electric Dreams Film CompanyDirector of TVC: Aniruddha SenProducer: Suparna ChatterjeeDirectorof Photography: Mitesh MirchandaniMusic Director: Ehsan and LoySingers: Prakriti Kakkar, Sukriti Kakkar, Nihal Shetty, Yatharth Ratnum. n

[email protected]

SNAPDEAL

Making a Style StatementSnapdeal launches five new ads to further the ‘Unbox Zindagi’ thought. By Sunit Roy

6 afaqs! Reporter, April 1-15, 2 0 1 7

Just because it’s going to be on the web this time around we’re not treating it any differently,

neither is Star,” assures JD Majethia, founder, Hatsoff Productions, the production house that’s working on ‘Sarabhai vs Sarabhai’, an erstwhile television show, a cult comedy that became hugely popular in the 2000s. A couple of days back, news that the show is making a comeback - in a new avatar - was broken. Since then, fans of the show and media professionals alike, have been able to discuss little else. Loyalists have been busy revelling in nostalgia and recalling hit dialogues from the show, online and offline. The modern day viewer, for whom comedy is either stand-up or roast, is busy wondering ‘What’s in it for me?’

The Star Plus sitcom will now be available on Hotstar, Star India’s video-on-demand platform. The show will retain its original star cast, but will have a few new characters on board. On Hotstar, a digital platform, audience preferences are expected to be very different from those of the TV viewer. “We are making ‘Sarabhai vs Sarabhai’ and it will be what it was. There won’t be a whole lot of changes. So the show won’t turn into something totally different. It will take a seven year leap, though. But the essence will be the same...” Majethia says.

“The show still gets viewed online, and I am hopeful that people will watch the new one and it too, will taste success.” he adds, “There are no definite number of episodes in mind yet, we are evaluating various options.” It is speculated to hit the streaming platform by May 2017.

Recently, in an interview with afaqs!Reporter, Ajit Mohan, chief executive officer, Hotstar mentioned that Hotstar Originals will be nothing short of a TV Drama, and after ‘Tanhayiaan’, ‘Sarabhai vs Sarabhai’ shows how he stands by what he said.

Asit Modi, founder of Neela Tele Films which produces ‘Taarak Mehta Ka Ooltah Chashmah’ tells afaqs!Reporter, “The brand was a successful one on TV when it used to air, the actors are good, the creators are good and it would be interesting to see how it works on digital.”

Another senior producer who prefers not to be named says, “Digital

in India is in a confused state now. While it is considered as the future and is definitely the future, no one is sure about what the present state is - who watches it, what works there, so it would be a challenge for ‘Sarabhai vs Sarabhai’ on digital.”

The producer also believes that the taste of India has changed a lot since the show went off air. “Now we have ‘The Kapil Sharma Show’, ‘Bhaabi

Ji Ghar Pe Hai’, ‘Taarak Mehta Ka Ooltah Chashmah’ for TV audiences and if you combine TV with digital, you have to consider the likes of AIBs (All India Backchod), so the sitcom will be exposed to a new set of modern day competition,” he adds.

As per a source close to the development, Hotstar won’t put the sitcom behind its paywall. This also means the platform will intend to rake in advertising revenue. In the interview mentioned earlier, Mohan shed light on the global scenario where brands never had the opportunity to associate with premium content on digital as Netflix being a subscription based platform never allowed such associations. “In India with Hotstar we provide brands the opportunity to associate with premium content, and brands are rapidly observing it,” is what he said.

BRANDS AND THEIR MEDIA CUSTODIANS

Foster’s in the past has associated with various web series, TVF’s ‘Humourously Yours’ being the last one. While ‘Sarabhai vs Sarabhai’ may not be a concept that Foster’s immediately wants to associate with, Arjun Kalra, head - Contemporary Brands (Foster’s and Miller) & Craft Beer portfolio at AB InBev India feels the ad break model is a very good one and way less risky compared to a web series integration model where the brand is a part of the story.

“In a brand integration it all boils

down to the content creator, how the writer makes the brand a part of the story. If it is an ad break between a show it’s much safe. If someone wants immediate results, brand integration is a worthy risk. Otherwise ad slots are safe to bank on,” asserts Kalra.

Vikas Agarwal, general manager - OnePlus India, has his reservations when it comes to ad breaks on digital. He says, “An ad-break on the mobile screen interrupting the flow of the content can be intrusive and I don’t know if it will work on the digital platform. We have had associations in the past where we were part of the story (TVF’s ‘Humorously Yours’ and Arré’s ‘Official Chukyagiri’). We do not believe in the ad break system and won’t be a part of something which is intrusive.”

In conversation with afaqs! Reporter about how the move is Hotstar’s way of reaching a wider, more mass audience and consequently getting more advertisers on board, Vanita Keswani, CEO, Madison Media Sigma, says, “Like On Air with AIB and ‘Tanhaiyaan’, ‘Sarabhai vs Sarabhai’ is also being launched as a ‘Hotstar Original’. Tinder came in as a title sponsor of ‘Tanhaiyaan’, while ‘On Air With AIB’ garnered close to 1.5 million unique users, in 10 days, with Vivo and Carlsberg as sponsors. ‘Sarabhai vs Sarabhai’ is also one such initiative where they are trying to reach out to the masses, through fresh content under a popular title.” n

[email protected]

digital

Family Entertainer ReturnsSARABHAI VS SARABHAI

The show will retain its original characters. It will be aired on Hotstar. By Anirban Roy Choudhury

“The brand was a successful one on

TV when it used to air, the actors are good, the creators

are good and it would be interesting to see how it works

on digital.”ASIT MODI

8 afaqs! Reporter, April 1-15, 2 0 1 7

marketing

MapmyIndia, the map data, APIs, GPS Navigation, tracking, location apps

and GIS solutions provider, that has maintained a low profile on the ad-marketing front so far, is in the news for its recent mass market push - a 360-degree campaign, ‘har pata humein hai pata’.

Founded in 1992, the New-Delhi headquartered company, claims to have built the largest, most accurate and comprehensive map database for India. Today, it boasts over 5000 enterprise partners, including government organisations. Rohan Verma, executive director and chief technology officer, MapmyIndia, however, informs us that this campaign is targeted at both individuals and enterprises.

A Standford graduate, Verma, who worked on creating India’s first interactive mapping portal, mapmyindia.com in 2004 (thus founding brand ‘MapmyIndia’), says, “This is our first mass market campaign in a decade through which we want to address all stakeholders who can benefit from us.” The objective is to create more awareness and get consumers to try the brand’s services.

To give us an idea of the insight behind the campaign, he briefly runs us through the history of the company which began almost 25 years back with the vision of his parents, Rakesh Verma and Rashmi Verma. The two, even in the 90s, firmly believed that someday, 80 percent of data will have a location component to it. While this may be a reality today, back then it was dismissed as a pipe dream.

Naysayers didn’t give up even as late as 2004 when mapmyindia.com was launched or 2007, when the company launched the first all-India GPS navigator. While they had their doubts about who would use/pay for maps in India, today, with as many as 14 car manufacturers including the likes of BMW and Jaguar and 40 car models, 80 percent of all cars with built-in navigation use MapmyIndia.

The pointer here, insists Verma,

is to the fact that although Indians are easy going and accommodating people habituated to all things ‘good enough’, this accommodating behaviour is mainly because of lack of better, or perhaps, the best option. “Experience tells us that whenever consumers were given better services/value, they did adopt change. Hence, our campaign seeks to incite and inspire Indians to think of a better India,” he states.

Much like this conversation throughout which Verma wittingly abstained from naming the ‘good

enough solution’, which obviously is Google Maps, the campaign positions MapmyIndia as the best maps and navigation service without taking a negative approach to competition.

Though cognizant of the ubiquity and clout of Google Maps, especially among individuals, he believes that MapmyIndia’s India-specific and professionally created content will continue to have an edge over Google’s user-generated content which lacks accuracy and granularity. And articulating this exact difference or advantage is the campaign tagline,

‘not just roads, we take you to doors’.Last month, MapmyIndia also

announced the release of MapmyIndia eLoc, a nation-wide digital address which is basically a precise and ready-to-use unique 6-character code for any address across India. The company has privately invested close to 200 crores in the last 20 plus years in advanced mapping technologies and professional field surveys to create this digital address database, as a result of which over 2 crore and counting eLocs across 7000 plus urban towns and 6 lakh plus villages in rural India are already available for individual, business and government users to use instantly, for free.

Sharing MapmyIndia’s vision for eLoc, Verma says, “eLoc can have an impact as transformational on India as

Aadhaar; what Aadhaar is to people, eLoc is to addresses. Essentially, with eLoC we are democratising and giving rights to every location in India, be it a big bungalow in a city or a small hut somewhere in rural India. The way Aadhaar talks of the India Stack which is a set of APIs anyone can integrate for payments or financial verification, MapmyIndia Stack allows public and private sector developers to build apps around verified places/locations.”

The company also offers location ad-tech services to agencies and advertisers to facilitate planning and

decision making. While there’s no in-app advertising, MapmyIndia helps marketers with geodemographic analysis and similar location-based data classified on as many as 5000 different parameters.

Recently MapmyIndia also partnered with LetsVenture - a startup funding platform - to encourage startups and developers in India to leverage the company’s map and location technology stack to solve problems for Indian and global markets, and to get the opportunity to pitch for investments from leading angels and institutions that are part of the LetsVenture platform.

Announcing the partnership through a LinkedIn article, ‘How the Indian startup story will survive, and thrive!’, Verma insisted that the ‘Indian Startup Story’ will not just survive despite the headwinds but will also flourish, if only the “ecosystem realises that it has to understand and respect India for what it is, build businesses and guide portfolio companies following the Indian way.”

Verma says that although it is a 20-25 year-old-company, MapmyIndia is a fast-growing business at the cutting edge of technology. “There are around 1.3 billion people in India and 50 lakh businesses. Currently at 5000 enterprise customers, there’s still room for 100X growth for us! We are making efforts to get there and one part of this is using media.” he states. n

[email protected]

MAPMYINDIA

MapmyIndia also announced the release of MapmyIndia eLoc.

“This is our first mass market cam-paign in a decade

through which we want to address all stakeholders who

can benefit from us.”ROHAN VERMA

Exploring New Roadsafaqs!Reporter spoke to Rohan Verma, executive director and chief technology officer, MapmyIndia, about the brand’s recent TV outing and more. By Ashee Sharma

1 0 afaqs! Reporter, April 1-15, 2 0 1 7

AWARDS 2017FOXGLOVEPresents

*Agencies, production and design units.

The results of the 12th edition of India’s Buzziest Brands are out. This time, Patanjali has emerged as the Buzziest of them all, followed by Amazon and

Jio. Incredibly, all three brands are relatively new to the Buzzy Brands list. This is Amazon’s third, Patanjali’s second, and Jio’s very first outing at the Buzzies. Moreover, it’s brand No.4 Paytm’s second, and brand No.5 Apple’s fourth time here. So the top five Buzzy Brands of 2017 are all relatively new to the Buzzies.

This year, of the top 10 brands, two are from the FMCG segment (Patanjali, Vivel), four are from the consumer electronics/handset segment (Samsung, Vivo, Oppo, Apple), two are e-commerce players (Amazon, Flipkart), one is a mobile-based digital brand (Paytm) and one, a telecom brand (Jio).

Four of the brands on this year’s top 10, were also on last year’s top 10: Amazon, Apple, Samsung and Flipkart.

Note that mobile wallet brand Mobikwik has won a Special Award at the Buzzies this year; it has been named the Most Innovative Brand. Like other brands in its segment, Mobikwik is looking to make the physical wallet redundant. The brand team considers physical wallets -and not other brands in the space (Paytm, Freecharge)- its biggest source of competition. Mobikwik is known for its humour-laden TV spots.

12 afaqs! Reporter, April 1-15, 2017

In the 12th edition of India’s Buzziest Brands, Baba Ramdev’s Patanjali has topped. At No.2 is Amazon. At No.3 is Jio.In the 12th edition of India’s Buzziest Brands, Baba Ramdev’s Patanjali has topped. At No.2 is Amazon. At No.3 is Jio.

Patanjali is India’s Buzziest BrandPatanjali is India’s Buzziest BrandPatanjali is India’s Buzziest BrandPatanjali is India’s Buzziest BrandPatanjali is India’s Buzziest Brand

12th Edition

Growth Partner: Talent Partner:

All the winners on stage at the end of Buzzies night.

PATANJALI

Baba Ramdev-led power brand Patanjali has mastered the

buzz-asna. In just a year’s time, Patanjali has jumped from No.34 to No.1, in what might just be the biggest leap, and biggest upset, at the Buzzies, ever. Upset for last year’s buzz supremo Amazon, that has been pushed to the No.2 spot this time.

In a very short time, Patanjali has managed to make its presence felt in the consumer market as well as among its competitors; established giants like HUL, Colgate, Dabur and Emami have all taken turns re-looking their respective Ayurveda-based product portfolios.

What makes Patanjali’s victory even more special is the fact that 2016 was the first time the brand made an appearance at the Buzzies. No slow gradients for this brand; Patanjali believes in jumping straight into the big league. Over the past year Patanjali has been very active on the advertising front. In fact, the brand has not shied away from the blatant, we-are-better-than-them type of comparative advertising, something that’s landed the Acharya Balkrishna-led team in some serious ASCI-flavoured trouble more than once.

Of out eight jurors, five voted for Patanjali.Brand gurus and soothsayers are unanimous in their opinion that the

Ayurveda-based brand is set to further its buzz quotient in the days ahead, what with plans to market its products in China and other markets in Asia. But then again, one never knows. Will a hot new brand dethrone it at the Buzzies next year? Or will Patanjali manage to hold on to this precious buzz? Well, that’s the beauty of buzz, isn’t it? – it’s as transient as it is unpredictable.

Interestingly, on this year’s buzzy list, this victorious FMCG player is followed by five tech-backed brands, namely, Amazon, Jio, Paytm, Apple and Samsung.

By the way, Patanjali is as old as the Buzzies; the company was set up in Haridwar in 2006.

AMAZON

Last year’s winner Amazon has been dethroned, but not too

unceremoniously. Though it’s a big upset, the e-commerce brand hasn’t slipped too much; it still sits tight at No.2. In a world where buzz can vanish in a jiffy, that’s not too bad, we’ll say.

This is Amazon’s third year at the Buzzies. In 2015, the brand was ranked No.25, after which it landed the top spot last year, after dethroning rival brand Flipkart (which by the way has slipped to No.10 this year). Though it doesn’t have the most forthcoming spokespersons, Amazon always manages to find itself in the news. Of late, the brand’s online video offering Amazon Prime has become a big buzz-generator for the parent brand.

On the advertising front, Amazon has been, for years now, cracking insight after Indian insight. From ‘Aur dikhao’ and ‘Kya pehnu’ to ‘Try toh kar’ and ‘Apni dukaan’, Amazon has consistently been generating buzz that readily resonates with the Indian e-shopper. Most recently, the company released a campaign titled ‘India ka naya prime time’ for Amazon Prime Video.

Just like the brands it is flanked by - Patanjali and Jio - Amazon has also fetched five juror votes.

BUZZY GOLD

BUZZY SILVER

13afaqs! Reporter, April 1-15, 2017

THE HONOURS BOARD RANK RANK RELATIVE 2017 2016 BRAND CATEGORY SCORE

1. Banking & Financial Services, Insurance 2. Cosmetics | Toiletries | Personal care 3 . Apparel | Fashion | Accessories 4. Confectionery, Chocolates

1 34 Patanjali FMCG 100.02 1 Amazon Ecommerce | Services 99.43 - Jio Telecom 99.34 53 Paytm Banking & Financial.. 1 61.75 7 Apple Computer & IT sector 51.66 4 Samsung Mobile Handset 46.07 28 Vivel Toiletries, Cosmetics...2 45.28 37 Vivo Mobile Handsets 39.99 41 Oppo Mobile Handsets 31.810 3 Flipkart Ecommerce | Services 31.611 2 Airtel Telecom 31.212 - Sunfeast Foods 31.113 40 Fiama Toiletries, Cosmetics...2 30.414 6 Maruti Suzuki Automotive 29.815 - Bingo Foods 25.416 36 Engage Toiletries, Cosmetics...2 24.217 38 Mahindra Automotive 22.818 27 Maggi Foods 21.519 - Yippee Foods 20.220 - Dettol Toiletries, Cosmetics...2 18.921 38 Savlon OTC 18.822 48 Nike Apparel, Fashion, ...3 17.523 12 Amul Foods 17.324 - Netflix Content Platforms 16.725 - OLA Ecommerce | Services 16.426 - Surf Excel Household Products 16.327 - Ariel Household Products 16.028 - Mobikwik Banking & Financial.. 1 15.829 - Vistara Airlines 15.529 21 Motorola Mobile Handsets 15.531 - Star Sports Entertainment 14.932 26 Lenovo Computer & IT sector 14.333 32 TATA Corporate 14.134 - ITC Corporate 13.335 25 Google Websites 12.435 44 Reliance Corporate 12.437 5 Gionee Mobile Handsets 10.938 - Hero Two-wheeler 9.639 13 Honda Two-wheeler 9.340 - Acer Computer & IT sector 8.841 - Sony Entertainment 7.842 - HCL Computer & IT sector 7.543 - Dell Computer & IT sector 6.544 - Axis Banking & Financial.. 1 6.144 - India TV News 6.144 - HDFC Banking & Financial.. 1 6.144 31 Coca-Cola Cold Beverages 6.148 - LG Consumer Durable 5.249 - Godrej Corporate 5.150 59 Xiaomi Mobile Handsets 4.951 - HP Computer & IT sector 4.852 - LUX Toiletries, Cosmetics...2 4.752 - Classmate Household Products 4.754 52 Idea Telecom 4.454 34 Vodafone Telecom 4.454 10 Micromax Mobile Handset 4.457 11 Cadbury Confectionery, ...4 4.357 57 Dove Toiletries, Cosmetics...2 4.359 - GE Corporate 4.060 8 Snapdeal Ecommerce | Services 3.9

Moved Up Moved Down New Entrant

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Growth Partner: Talent Partner:

JIO

A first-timer at the Buzzies, Jio, a brand from the house of Reliance Industries, has fared very well.

Right from the word go, Jio has been in the news for myriad reasons, of which the biggest one has been the free data carrot it used to lure the nation. Getting Shah Rukh Khan to play messenger only amplified the buzz.

Recently, Jio was written about in the context of TRAI. The telecom

BUZZY BRONZEfirst-timer at the Buzzies, Jio, a brand from the

4 | PAYTM

OIf buzz were a man, he’d probably look and sound just like Vijay

Shekhar Sharma, for a lot of Paytm’s buzz has to do with its verbose, candid and media friendly founder. And of course, to demonetisation.

Paytm debuted at the Buzzies last year at -brace yourself- No.53. Within a year, the hot, young mobile wallet brand, that was launched in 2010, has climbed to the No.4 position. The brand recently crossed the ‘200 million users’ milestone. The founder’s ambition to get 500 million users by 2020 only adds to the brand’s buzz.

This tech brand that looks to solve the country’s ‘Chuttay ki jhig jhig’ found wings when the prime minister recommended using it in a speech. Subsequently, the brand used PM Modi’s photos in a print campaign, got into trouble for it and apologised. Buzz has many hues, after all. (Jio did the same thing, remember?)

Paytm was quite popular with the jury as well – three jurors voted for this brand.

5 | APPLE

Score-wise a significant distance away from Paytm is Apple at No.5, with a couple of jury votes on its side. The brand has

gained buzz over the past couple of years; it’s 2016 buzz rank was No.7, in 2015 it was No.15. In its debut year, 2014, Apple finished fourth. Sometimes it’s maintaining buzz and staying on the list that matters more than improving the score year-on-

year. And Apple has stayed put since it first appeared on the list, so all’s well.Just the mention of Apple brings to mind the gorgeous ‘Shot on iPhone’

billboards that are part of a global campaign. In fact, the team has routinely been changing the images on the billboards. This has helped keep the buzz around the campaign alive.

THE JURY

Shalini Raghavan, chief marketing officer,

consumer products division, L’Oréal India

Amarjit Batra, chief executive officer,

Olx India

Shivani Dhanda, director, marketing,

eBay India

Rajan Bhalla, group chief marketing

officer, HT Media

Avinash Pandey, chief operating officer,

ABP News Network

Sanjeev Handa, vice president and head of

marketing, Maruti Suzuki India

Suparna Mitra, chief marketing officer, watches and accessories,

Titan Company

This time there was sharp polarisation and unanimity in the jury decisions. Usually, the jury tends to be very scattered.


If buzz were a man, he’d probably look and sound just like Vijay

Shekhar Sharma, for a lot of Paytm’s

Rohit Ohri, group chairman and

chief executive officer, FCB Ulka

regularity body got flak from telecom disputes settlement authority TDSAT for inadequately examining Jio’s tariff plans.

On the advertising front, the battle for buzz was fought by Vodafone’s pug (a mascot the brand revived recently), the ‘Airtel Girl’ Sasha Chettri, and the face of Jio – Shah Rukh Khan. Meanwhile, Idea Cellular advocated the idea that 4G is not just for the urban elite, but for one and all.

Interestingly, the gap between the top three brands is very marginal this time. The gap between the No.3 and No.4 brands, though -Jio and Paytm- is vast.

As mentioned above, five jurors voted for Jio.Can Jio maintain the buzz it has garnered thus far? Or will it fizzle

out once the data-related carrots vanish? Let’s wait another 12 months to find out.

Just an aside: A telecom brand that has, historically, done exceptionally well at the Buzzies is Airtel. The brand has topped the charts five times (2006-09 and 2012), has stood second once (2016) and has stood third once (2013). This time, Airtel has missed the top 10 bracket by a whisker; it’s at No.11. By the way, Vodafone is at No.56 this time. Idea Cellular is at No.55.

On the product front, Apple’s buzz has a lot to do with the relaunch of the iPhone 6 in India (at a cheaper rate), the e-commerce-led discounts around the iPhone 7, the company’s plans to manufacture in India, and of course, predictions around what the iPhone 8 will look like and offer.

Earlier this month, Apple was also in the news for its campaign aimed at promoting its subscription-based music streaming service Apple Music.

6 | SAMSUNG

Despite a global product failure, which led to the withdrawal of its faulty smartphone

Galaxy Note 7 -post which, for weeks, airline cabin crew made announcements to remind passengers that this is a dangerous, banned product- Samsung has retained its place in the top 10 Buzziest Brands list, albeit two ranks down from last year.

Earlier this year, Samsung put its most customer-friendly, humane foot forward by launching a touching, digital ad campaign, that featured a visually impaired protagonist, to underscore its after sales customer service.

Samsung has an interesting history at the Buzzies – the brand topped the charts in 2013 and 2014, only to be toppled to the No.2 position by Flipkart in 2015. Before entering -and sustaining- the single digit rank bracket in 2012, Samsung was a backbench-er for six years.

The brand didn’t garner much jury support this time; only one juror voted for it. Which means, it managed to stay in the top 10 thanks to the popular vote. We saw the same trend last year as well. The buzz on the wall is clear. Never mind the crisis Samsung faced on the product front... our voters continue to adore this brand.

7 |VIVEL

If one were to graphically plot Vivel’s performance at the Buzzies so far, one would

get a sharp, steep inverted ‘V’. The brand went from No.4 in 2015 to No.28 last year to No.7 this time. Before that it wasn’t on the charts.

As far as relative scores go, Samsung and Vivel are very, very close. The gap between Vivel and Vivo, however, is small yet fairly significant.

Vivel appears to have hit refresh on the communication front of late. Not too long back, the brand was spotted in a video produced by digital media company Culture Machine in which Amitabh Bachchan made a strong case for gender equality.

What’s most striking about Vivel’s presence in the top 10 Buzziest Brands this year is that not a single juror voted for it. The rest of the brands in the top 10 list have had the support of at least one juror if not more. This means Vivel has made it to the top 10 solely on the back of the popular vote.

8 | VIVO

Chinese handset brand Vivo has done very well. In just a year’s time, it jumped

from No.37 to No.8. And this is the brand’s second outing at the Buzzies.

Vivo has played its cards right in this market. Recall that it was Vivo’s association with the BCCI, as title sponsor of the IPL for two seasons (2016 and 2017), that first put it on the buzz map, over a year back. And then, the

brand went ahead and got the most buzzy celebrity ambassador on board – Ranveer Singh. Vivo’s ads starring Singh have been all over the place these past few months.

Two jurors voted for Vivo.

9 |OPPO

Just like Vivo, this Chinese handset brand

has also had a great year. From No.42 last year -the brand’s very first year at the Buzzies- to No.9 this year, Oppo has gathered a lot of buzz along the way. And recently, just like Vivo, Oppo too has found its own pot of cricket-centric buzz by forging an association with the BCCI; the brand has won the sponsorship rights for Team India for the next five years, starting next month. This includes the right to display the brand logo on the players’ jerseys, among several other opportunities to associate with the cricketers.

Incidentally, Oppo won these sponsorship rights, by outbidding rival brand Vivo. Oppo and Vivo, by the way, belong to the same parent company BBK Electronics.

Actors Sonam Kapoor and Hrithik Roshan have also contributed to the brand’s buzz.

One juror voted for Oppo.

10 | FLIPKART

Though Flipkart is one rank below Oppo, its relative score

is very, very similar to Oppo’s. Flipkart has had an interesting run at the Buzzies over the years. The brand debuted with a bang in 2012 at No.3 and, after slipping to No.5 and No.10 in the next two years, respectively, jumped to the No.1 position in 2015. Last year, the brand finished third, after archrival Amazon and telecom brand Airtel, respectively.

Ongoing e-commerce wars (on the product launch, flash sale, discount and communication fronts) aside, Flipkart has also been in the news for changes on the investor and funding side of things. Flipkart reportedly raised around a billion dollars last week. Other than this billion dollar buzz, the company was talked about a lot when Tiger Global executive Kalyan Krishnamurthy was named CEO, earlier this year. Tiger Global is Flipkart’s largest investor.

One juror voted for Flipkart. Given the e-commerce player’s mass appeal, it’s no surprise that the public vote pushed it into the top 10. Given the rapidly changing e-commerce landscape, it will be interesting to see whether Flipkart manages to stick around in the top 10 next year or whether it slips away into oblivion.

Buzzy Sponsors: Presented by: National GeographicPowered by: Fox LifeGrowth Partner: SurewavesTalent Partner: Talentrack

[email protected]

get a sharp, steep inverted ‘V’. The brand went from No.4 in 2015 to No.28 last year to No.7 this

hough Flipkart is one rank below Oppo, its relative score

is very, very similar to Oppo’s.



1 1 Maruti Suzuki 1002 -

Honda

48.93 4 Hyundai 48.84 2

Mahindra 47.8

5 3

TATA Motors

40.2

Rank Rank Brand Relative2017 2016 Score

1 1 Apple 1002 2 Dell 86.93 3 Microsoft 71.44 5

Lenovo 64.1

5 4 HP

58.5


1 -

Hotstar

1002 1 Facebook 90.53 3 Youtube 87.54 -

Twitter 39.1

5 4

WhatsApp

33.6


1 2 2 3 3 5 4 1 5 5

Rank 2016

1 - Patanjali 1002 5

Fiama

97.53 - Engage 91.44 - Vivel 68.65 -

Gillette

36.5


1 -

National Geographic

1002 1 Colors 95.93 -

Sony

94.84 4 Tata Sky 79.45 2 Star 75.8


1 1 Surf Excel 1002 3 Good Knight 80.63 2 Fevicol 75.04 -

Vim 49.7

5 4 Tide

48.8


- 3 2

OLX

1 -

Himalaya

1002 -

Durex

99.82 1

Savlon 80.9

4 4 Volini 69.65 2

Patanjali

63.0


1 1 Flipkart 1002 2 Amazon 68.33 - OLA 47.64 5

Uber 36.7

5 - bookmyshow

34.7


1 1 Royal Enfield 1002 2 Hero 89.93 4 Honda 85.14 3 Harley-Davidson 58.45 5 Pulsar 53.3


10099

71.751.350.6

RelativeScore

1 1 Airtel 1002 2

Vodafone 88.3

3 3 Idea

76.24 4

BSNL 46.6

5 -

Jio

40.7


AUTOMOTIVE

COMPUTER|IT

CONTENT PLATFORMS

PERSONAL CARE . . . 3

HOUSEHOLD PRODUCTS

ENTERTAINMENT

Ecommerce | se rv i ces

OTC

TELECOM TWO WHEELERS

Notwithstanding a small seat-swap between the last two brands in the list of top five, nothing has changed in this segment. Indigo remains the unchallenged leader and no new brand has entered the top five. Wheth-er it is really on time or not, Indigo's owner-ship of this proposition on the communica-tion front has certainly paid off.

Titan, a prolific advertiser from the house of Tata, has topped this segment, with Jockey not too far behind. In fact, the top five brands in this segment have all fared well as far as in-category buzz goes and have fairly high relative scores each. Titan, though, has fallen off the face of the main buzzy list this time.

In the auto segment, Maruti has topped, by a humongous margin, just like it did last year. While Honda, Hyundai and Mahindra have stuck around in the top five, Tata Motors has kicked Audi out. Of late, Maruti has gained a lot of buzz thanks to its Nexa showrooms and accompanying print adver-tisements.

Hot, young, digital brand Paytm -a mobile wallet, an e-commerce destination and as of last month, a payments bank- has topped this segment by a big margin. The rest are all 'traditional BFSI' brands. State Bank of India has kicked Axis Bank out of the list. On the main buzzy list, Paytm has finished fourth.

Not much change in the refrigerator either. The fizz and buzz have remained largely unchanged. Coca-Cola, Thums Up and Paperboat (much to the dismay of many a cynic) have retained their No.1, No.2 and No.3 positions, respectively. While Pepsi has managed to stay in the top five, there's some movement on the mango drink front – Maaza has replaced Frooti.

Apple finished fifth on the main buzzy brands list and has retained its category leadership position as well. Evidently, the buzz around the iPhone has not diminished. And that's not the only thing that has stayed constant; in this segment, there are no new entrants in the list of top five brands. HP and Lenovo keep their tradition of interchanging ranks going.

Cadbury Dairy Milk remains unchallenged as segment leader. Moreover, there's a huge margin between the leader and the next brand on the list, Snickers. Like last year, Cadbury Dairy Milk's parent brand Mondelēz has been represented twice; the second brand this time is Cadbury 5 Star. Popular candy brand Pulse has made it to the top five this year.

This is pretty fantastic. Consumer electronics brand Samsung, that has finished sixth on the main buzzy list, has retained its spot as leader in the consumer durables segment this year. Sony and LG have also retained their No.2 and No.3 ranks, respectively. This time, Godrej and Syska have replaced Philips and Havells (that has been hanging by a thin wire, oops, thread).

WhatsApp, a brand that has become hugely popular among consumers and marketers alike, has emerged as the category leader, followed by its parent brand Facebook (last year's leader). YouTube has retained its No.3 spot, Twitter has lost a rank and ScoopWhoop is out. What's interesting is the presence of Star India's video-on-demand platform Hotstar.

ITC reigns supreme in the corporate brand category. The No.2 brand on this list, Tata, is miles away from ITC in terms of relativescore. Last year, interestingly, Tata topped this list and ITC was at No.4. While Reliance has stayed in the top five, HDFC and Maruti Suzuki have tossed Microsoft and Aditya Birla Group out.

All hail Baba Ramdev, yet again! Patanjali has topped this segment too. P&G's Gillette is not too far behind. Incredibly, the other three brands here, Engage, Vivel and Fiama -all perched quite far from one another, score-wise- are from ITC. Last year, not a single brand from ITC made it to this list.

Of the top five brands in this segment, four were present on last year's list as well. The only change is – RB India's toilet cleaning brand Harpic has replaced P&G's detergent brand Tide. Surf Excel has retained its buzz and top spot. The brand generated a lot of ad-related buzz when Lowe India created an ad for Surf Excel Pakistan last Ramadan.

Sony, a brand that wasn't on this list last year, has topped this time. Sony has pushed last year's winner Colors to the No.2 spot. The gap between the scores of these two channels is slim. Star has slipped from No.2 to No.5. National Geographic is in; Discovery is out. Tata Sky has retained its buzz.

This is both surprising and expected. iPhone has retained it's crown. Samsung and Motorola have also maintained their respective positions at No.2 and No.3. Surprising because the handset market is a dynamic and ever-changing one. Chinese handset brands Xiaomi and Oppo have kicked OnePlus (also Chinese) and Micromax (homegrown) out.

Master of cracking uniquely Indian consumer insights on the advertising front, e-com-merce brand Amazon has topped this list, followed by Flipkart; score-wise, there's a big gap between the two. Symbolic of the massive growth in the segment they belong to, Ola and Uber have made it to the top five. Bookmyshow seems have retained its buzz.

Buzz queen and 2017 winner Patanjali has topped the OTC category too. Very few brands do equally well on both the main buzzy list and their respective category list. This is because the methodology for the two is so starkly different – unguided recall-led voting for the main buzzy list versus selection from a list of brand names for the in-category voting. It is noteworthy that Savlon missed the top spot in this segment by a very narrow margin.

The top three brands on this list are the same as last year's top three, albeit with a seat-swap between the No.1 and No.2 brands; last year, Domino's stood first and McDonald's finished second. KFC has stayed put at No.3. While Pizza Hut has slipped from No.4 to No.5 this time, Subway has managed to kick Starbucks out of the race to infiltrate the top five.

Not much has changed in this segment. All the brands that were in the top five last year are still around this year. Moreover, Royal Enfield and Hero have retained their respec-tive No.1 and No.2 positions, though the gap between them has increased slightly. Honda, Harley-Davidson and Pulsar have played musical chairs among themselves.

1.APPAREL, FASHION, ACCESSORIES | 2. CONFECTIONERY, CHOCOLATE | 3. COSMETICS, TOILETERIES, PERSONAL CARE

IN-CATEGORY PLACEMENT(How the brands ranked within their respective categories)

112 3

354

RankRank Brand20152014

1 1 IndiGo 1002 2 Jet Airways 67.83 3 Air India 62.24 5

Emirates 56.5

5 4 SpiceJet

45.3

Rank2017

Rank2016

Brand Relative Score

AIRLINES

1 -

State Bank of India

1002 2 HDFC 68.73 1

ICICI 65.2

4 3 LIC

55.95 4

Paytm

52.0


BFSI

1 1 Cadbury Dairy Milk 1002 3

Kit-Kat 47.5

3 2 Snickers

43.44 -

Cadbury 5 Star 39.9

5 - Pulse

39.2


CONFECTIONERY . . . 2

1 4 ITC 1002 1 TATA 59.13 - HDFC 42.94 3 Reliance 41.44 - Maruti Suzuki 41.4


CORPORATE

1 1Samsung

1002 2

iPhone 77.5

3 3 Xiaomi

45.04 -

Motorola 42.8

5 - OPPO 41.0


MOBILE HANDSETS

1 1 Domino’s

1002 2

McDonald’s 98.7

3 3 KFC 87.94 4

Pizza Hut 71.4

555

- Haldiram’sCafe Coffee Day

63.563.563.5


QSR

Subway

2 100

Nike

96.34 Raymonds 89.13 87.7- Bata 78.6

Rank Brand Relative2016 Score

APPAREL |FASHION. . .1Rank201712345

1TitanJockey

1 1 Coca-Cola 2 2 Thums Up 3 3 Paper Boat 4 -

Pepsi

5 3 Maaza

Rank Rank Brand 2017 2016

COLD BEVERAGES

10074.569.363.360.5

RelativeScore

1 Samsung 1002 Sony 88.93 LG 72.5- Godrej 49.6- Syska 42.7


CONSUMER DURABLES

12345

Rank2017

- 3 2

OLX 1 1 Royal Enfield 1002 2 Hero 89.93 4 Honda 85.14 3 Harley-Davidson 58.45 5 Pulsar 53.3


10099

71.751.350.6

RelativeScore

1 1 Airtel 1002 -

Vodafone 88.3

3 2 Idea

76.24 3

BSNL 46.6

5 4

Jio

40.7



1 2Domino’s

1002 1

McDonald’s 98.7

3 3 KFC 87.94 -

Pizza Hut 71.4

555

4 Haldiram’sCafe Coffee Day

63.563.563.5


QSR

Subway

1

Reliance Fresh

1002

Pantaloons Fashion& Retail

59.12

Lifestyle Retail 51.3

4 Shopper Stop 49.65

Big Bazaar

44.7


1 Google

100

2 Times of India

61.2

3 Cricbuzz

36.2

4 Economic Times

34.4

5 Yahoo!

25.8

Rank Brand

Relative

2017

Score

WEBSITES

RETAIL

Rajat Sharma-owned Hindi news channel India TV has topped the news category -that includes television and print news media brands- on the buzz scale. However, this media brand is way down at No.46 on the main buzzy list -one it has appeared on for the first time this year- that takes into consideration brands across product segments.

This is an exciting category. Search engine giant Google has topped; the brand was conspicuous through its absence in the 'Content Platforms' category. News media brand Times of India is next; it has scored way less than Google, though. In sync with the nation's obsession with cricket, Cricbuzz has secured the third place here.

Big Bazaar has emerged victorious in this category... by far. The Future Group-owned retail brand owes a lot of its recently gathered buzz to sales, discounts and offers. In the day and age of e-shop-ping and e-retail, that's a good way for an offline retailer to stay popular and relevant.

1 NDTV

1002

India TV 62.0

3 The Times of India

60.04

Times Now 52.8

5 Aaj Tak 42.3


NEWS

Though it has slipped out of this year's list of top 10 on the main buzzy charts, Airtel has retained its leadership in its segment. The 'new' entrant this time is, no points for guess-ing, is Jio; last year, its parent brand Reliance was on the list. With 4G and online video related buzz surrounding it, telecom has become an interesting category to observe.

1 1

Bingo

1002 -

Maggi 96.8

3 -

Yippee

94.34 -

Patanjali

75.35 -

Sunfeast

69.5


FOOD Interesting, yummy stuff here. While a triumphant Maggi has retained the top spot, buzz queen Patanjali has climbed from No.5 to No.2. The other three brands in the list of top five -Bingo, Yippee, Sunfeast- all belong to ITC. Amul, Britannia and Tata Salt are out of the top five this year.

The brands in this steaming segment have pretty much retained their buzz and relative ranks, except for one small change – Hindu-stan Unilever's coffee brand Bru has ousted Red Label, tea brand from the same company, to claim the No.5 spot this time. Note that the top two brands in this segment, Nescafe and Tata Tea, have both had a great year.

1 1 Nescafe 1002 2 Tata Tea 75.73 3 Bournvita 60.04 4 Horlicks 56.44 5 56.4


HOT BEVERAGES

Bru

IN-CATEGORY PLACEMENT


HOW THE POLL WAS DONE

• This time there were eight jurors for the Buzzies (more than usual; typically we have around five jurors) and each of them had five votes to cast. In line with Buzzy tradition, the jury vote got 30 per cent weightage and the popular vote got 70 per cent weightage.

• The number of valid voters in Buzzies 2017 was 2,424. Additionally, 1,562 voters participated in choosing the Buzziest Brands by category. This year, the brands were classified under 24 product categories.

• The jury votes were entirely unprompted; that is, each juror used the unguided, free recall method to put down the names of five brands she/he thinks are Buzzy.

• As for the popular vote, voters were given the freedom to type the names of five brands they deem Buzzy; as they began typing, though, in the interest of helping them get the spelling right, they were prompted with a list of brands the names of which began with the letters they typed, much like Google does when one begins to key in a word in the search bar. The voting process was water-tight and all voters were given a verification link via email.

• For the category voting process, voters were required to select three brand names from a list, the length of which varied from category to category. They also had the option of adding a name they felt was missing from the list. The jury did not weigh in on this leg.

1 1 Maruti Suzuki 1002 -

Honda

48.93 4 Hyundai 48.84 2

Mahindra 47.8

5 3

TATA Motors

40.2


1 1 Apple 1002 2 Dell 86.93 3 Microsoft 71.44 5

Lenovo 64.1

5 4 HP

58.5


1 -

Hotstar

1002 1 Facebook 90.53 3 Youtube 87.54 -

Twitter 39.1

5 4

WhatsApp

33.6


1 2 2 3 3 5 4 1 5 5

Rank 2016

1 - Patanjali 1002 5

Fiama

97.53 - Engage 91.44 - Vivel 68.65 -

Gillette

36.5


1 -

National Geographic

1002 1 Colors 95.93 -

Sony

94.84 4 Tata Sky 79.45 2 Star 75.8


1 1 Surf Excel 1002 3 Good Knight 80.63 2 Fevicol 75.04 -

Vim 49.7

5 4 Tide

48.8


- 3 2

OLX

1 -

Himalaya

1002 -

Durex

99.82 1

Savlon 80.9

4 4 Volini 69.65 2

Patanjali

63.0


1 1 Flipkart 1002 2 Amazon 68.33 - OLA 47.64 5

Uber 36.7

5 - bookmyshow

34.7


1 1 Royal Enfield 1002 2 Hero 89.93 4 Honda 85.14 3 Harley-Davidson 58.45 5 Pulsar 53.3


10099

71.751.350.6

RelativeScore

1 1 Airtel 1002 2

Vodafone 88.3

3 3 Idea

76.24 4

BSNL 46.6

5 -

Jio

40.7


AUTOMOTIVE

COMPUTER|IT

CONTENT PLATFORMS

PERSONAL CARE . . . 3

HOUSEHOLD PRODUCTS

ENTERTAINMENT

Ecommerce | se rv i cesEcommerce | se rv i ces

OTC


Notwithstanding a small seat-swap between the last two brands in the list of top five, nothing has changed in this segment. Indigo remains the unchallenged leader and no new brand has entered the top five. Wheth-er it is really on time or not, Indigo's owner-ship of this proposition on the communica-tion front has certainly paid off.

Titan, a prolific advertiser from the house of Tata, has topped this segment, with Jockey not too far behind. In fact, the top five brands in this segment have all fared well as far as in-category buzz goes and have fairly high relative scores each. Titan, though, has fallen off the face of the main buzzy list this time.

In the auto segment, Maruti has topped, by a humongous margin, just like it did last year. While Honda, Hyundai and Mahindra have stuck around in the top five, Tata Motors has kicked Audi out. Of late, Maruti has gained a lot of buzz thanks to its Nexa showrooms and accompanying print adver-tisements.

Hot, young, digital brand Paytm -a mobile wallet, an e-commerce destination and as of last month, a payments bank- has topped this segment by a big margin. The rest are all 'traditional BFSI' brands. State Bank of India has kicked Axis Bank out of the list. On the main buzzy list, Paytm has finished fourth.

Not much change in the refrigerator either. The fizz and buzz have remained largely unchanged. Coca-Cola, Thums Up and Paperboat (much to the dismay of many a cynic) have retained their No.1, No.2 and No.3 positions, respectively. While Pepsi has managed to stay in the top five, there's some movement on the mango drink front – Maaza has replaced Frooti.

Apple finished fifth on the main buzzy brands list and has retained its category leadership position as well. Evidently, the buzz around the iPhone has not diminished. And that's not the only thing that has stayed constant; in this segment, there are no new entrants in the list of top five brands. HP and Lenovo keep their tradition of interchanging ranks going.

Cadbury Dairy Milk remains unchallenged as segment leader. Moreover, there's a huge margin between the leader and the next brand on the list, Snickers. Like last year, Cadbury Dairy Milk's parent brand Mondelēz has been represented twice; the second brand this time is Cadbury 5 Star. Popular candy brand Pulse has made it to the top five this year.

This is pretty fantastic. Consumer electronics brand Samsung, that has finished sixth on the main buzzy list, has retained its spot as leader in the consumer durables segment this year. Sony and LG have also retained their No.2 and No.3 ranks, respectively. This time, Godrej and Syska have replaced Philips and Havells (that has been hanging by a thin wire, oops, thread).

WhatsApp, a brand that has become hugely popular among consumers and marketers alike, has emerged as the category leader, followed by its parent brand Facebook (last year's leader). YouTube has retained its No.3 spot, Twitter has lost a rank and ScoopWhoop is out. What's interesting is the presence of Star India's video-on-demand platform Hotstar.

ITC reigns supreme in the corporate brand category. The No.2 brand on this list, Tata, is miles away from ITC in terms of relativescore. Last year, interestingly, Tata topped this list and ITC was at No.4. While Reliance has stayed in the top five, HDFC and Maruti Suzuki have tossed Microsoft and Aditya Birla Group out.

All hail Baba Ramdev, yet again! Patanjali has topped this segment too. P&G's Gillette is not too far behind. Incredibly, the other three brands here, Engage, Vivel and Fiama -all perched quite far from one another, score-wise- are from ITC. Last year, not a single brand from ITC made it to this list.

Of the top five brands in this segment, four were present on last year's list as well. The only change is – RB India's toilet cleaning brand Harpic has replaced P&G's detergent brand Tide. Surf Excel has retained its buzz and top spot. The brand generated a lot of ad-related buzz when Lowe India created an ad for Surf Excel Pakistan last Ramadan.

Sony, a brand that wasn't on this list last year, has topped this time. Sony has pushed last year's winner Colors to the No.2 spot. The gap between the scores of these two channels is slim. Star has slipped from No.2 to No.5. National Geographic is in; Discovery is out. Tata Sky has retained its buzz.

This is both surprising and expected. iPhone has retained it's crown. Samsung and Motorola have also maintained their respective positions at No.2 and No.3. Surprising because the handset market is a dynamic and ever-changing one. Chinese handset brands Xiaomi and Oppo have kicked OnePlus (also Chinese) and Micromax (homegrown) out.

Master of cracking uniquely Indian consumer insights on the advertising front, e-com-merce brand Amazon has topped this list, followed by Flipkart; score-wise, there's a big gap between the two. Symbolic of the massive growth in the segment they belong to, Ola and Uber have made it to the top five. Bookmyshow seems have retained its buzz.

Buzz queen and 2017 winner Patanjali has topped the OTC category too. Very few brands do equally well on both the main buzzy list and their respective category list. This is because the methodology for the two is so starkly different – unguided recall-led voting for the main buzzy list versus selection from a list of brand names for the in-category voting. It is noteworthy that Savlon missed the top spot in this segment by a very narrow margin.

The top three brands on this list are the same as last year's top three, albeit with a seat-swap between the No.1 and No.2 brands; last year, Domino's stood first and McDonald's finished second. KFC has stayed put at No.3. While Pizza Hut has slipped from No.4 to No.5 this time, Subway has managed to kick Starbucks out of the race to infiltrate the top five.

Not much has changed in this segment. All the brands that were in the top five last year are still around this year. Moreover, Royal Enfield and Hero have retained their respec-tive No.1 and No.2 positions, though the gap between them has increased slightly. Honda, Harley-Davidson and Pulsar have played musical chairs among themselves.

1.APPAREL, FASHION, ACCESSORIES | 2. CONFECTIONERY, CHOCOLATE | 3. COSMETICS, TOILETERIES, PERSONAL CARE

IN-CATEGORY PLACEMENT(How the brands ranked within their respective categories)

112 3

354

RankRank Brand20152014

1 1 IndiGo 1002 2 Jet Airways 67.83 3 Air India 62.24 5

Emirates 56.5

5 4 SpiceJet

45.3

Rank2017

Rank2016

Brand Relative Score

AIRLINES

1 -

State Bank of India

1002 2 HDFC 68.73 1

ICICI 65.2

4 3 LIC

55.95 4

Paytm

52.0


BFSI

1 1 Cadbury Dairy Milk 1002 3

Kit-Kat 47.5

3 2 Snickers

43.44 -

Cadbury 5 Star 39.9

5 - Pulse

39.2


CONFECTIONERY . . . 2

1 4 ITC 1002 1 TATA 59.13 - HDFC 42.94 3 Reliance 41.44 - Maruti Suzuki 41.4


CORPORATE

1 1Samsung

1002 2

iPhone 77.5

3 3 Xiaomi

45.04 -

Motorola 42.8

5 - OPPO 41.0


MOBILE HANDSETS

1 1 Domino’s

1002 2

McDonald’s 98.7

3 3 KFC 87.94 4

Pizza Hut 71.4

555

- Haldiram’sCafe Coffee Day

63.563.563.5


QSR

Subway

2 100

Nike

96.34 Raymonds 89.13 87.7- Bata 78.6


APPAREL |FASHION. . .1Rank201712345

1TitanJockey

1 1 Coca-Cola 2 2 Thums Up 3 3 Paper Boat 4 -

Pepsi

5 3 Maaza

Rank Rank Brand 2017 2016

COLD BEVERAGES

10074.569.363.360.5

RelativeScore

1 Samsung 1002 Sony 88.93 LG 72.5- Godrej 49.6- Syska 42.7


CONSUMER DURABLES

12345

Rank2017

- 3 2

OLX 1 1 Royal Enfield 1002 2 Hero 89.93 4 Honda 85.14 3 Harley-Davidson 58.45 5 Pulsar 53.3


10099

71.751.350.6

RelativeScore

1 1 Airtel 1002 -

Vodafone 88.3

3 2 Idea

76.24 3

BSNL 46.6

5 4

Jio

40.7



1 2Domino’s

1002 1

McDonald’s 98.7

3 3 KFC 87.94 -

Pizza Hut 71.4

555

4 Haldiram’sCafe Coffee Day

63.563.563.5


QSR

Subway

1

Reliance Fresh

1002

Pantaloons Fashion& Retail

59.12

Lifestyle Retail 51.3

4 Shopper Stop 49.65

Big Bazaar

44.7


1 Google

100

2 Times of India

61.2

3 Cricbuzz

36.2

4 Economic Times

34.4

5 Yahoo!

25.8

Rank Brand

Relative

2017

Score

WEBSITES

RETAIL

Rajat Sharma-owned Hindi news channel India TV has topped the news category -that includes television and print news media brands- on the buzz scale. However, this media brand is way down at No.46 on the main buzzy list -one it has appeared on for the first time this year- that takes into consideration brands across product segments.

This is an exciting category. Search engine giant Google has topped; the brand was conspicuous through its absence in the 'Content Platforms' category. News media brand Times of India is next; it has scored way less than Google, though. In sync with the nation's obsession with cricket, Cricbuzz has secured the third place here.

Big Bazaar has emerged victorious in this category... by far. The Future Group-owned retail brand owes a lot of its recently gathered buzz to sales, discounts and offers. In the day and age of e-shop-ping and e-retail, that's a good way for an offline retailer to stay popular and relevant.

1 NDTV

1002

India TV 62.0

3 The Times of India

60.04

Times Now 52.8

5 Aaj Tak 42.3


NEWS

Though it has slipped out of this year's list of top 10 on the main buzzy charts, Airtel has retained its leadership in its segment. The 'new' entrant this time is, no points for guess-ing, is Jio; last year, its parent brand Reliance was on the list. With 4G and online video related buzz surrounding it, telecom has become an interesting category to observe.

1 1

Bingo

1002 -

Maggi 96.8

3 -

Yippee

94.34 -

Patanjali

75.35 -

Sunfeast

69.5


FOOD Interesting, yummy stuff here. While a triumphant Maggi has retained the top spot, buzz queen Patanjali has climbed from No.5 to No.2. The other three brands in the list of top five -Bingo, Yippee, Sunfeast- all belong to ITC. Amul, Britannia and Tata Salt are out of the top five this year.

The brands in this steaming segment have pretty much retained their buzz and relative ranks, except for one small change – Hindu-stan Unilever's coffee brand Bru has ousted Red Label, tea brand from the same company, to claim the No.5 spot this time. Note that the top two brands in this segment, Nescafe and Tata Tea, have both had a great year.

1 1 Nescafe 1002 2 Tata Tea 75.73 3 Bournvita 60.04 4 Horlicks 56.44 5 56.4


HOT BEVERAGES

Bru

(How the brands ranked within their respective categories)


1. Apparel, Fashion, Accessories; 2. Confectionery, Chocolates; 3. Cosmetics, Toiletries, Personal Care;

1. Apparel, Fashion, Accessories; 2. Confectionery, Chocolates; 3. Cosmetics, Toiletries, Personal Care; 5. Online Media, Services, Ecommerce


MEET THE SPONSORS

FOX Life, India’s favourite lifestyle channel, is known to unravel the world of fashion, food, travel, music and lifestyle, is the ultimate curator of authentic experiences as it takes its viewers on exciting journeys. The channel showcases exciting content - from exploring a mouth-watering array of food from around the world, to fashion, to music, to party, to reality, to sexy destinations - giving viewers a variety of content. Innovative content served in a fresh style along with striking hosts/talent, great visuals and high energy are the ingredients of any FOX Life show, irrespective of the genre. Each show has its own personality that inspires viewers to do more in life.

FOX Life is a global brand, the flagship lifestyle channel in the FOX Networks Group portfolio. FOX Life reaches out to audiences in India and various South Asian countries including Nepal, Bhutan, Bangladesh, Pakistan and Sri Lanka. The channel is available in four different languages- English, Hindi, Tamil and Bengali and is also available in High-Definition.

SureWaves is a next-generation technology and media company that is mapping, aggregating and consolidating audiences across diverse consumption markets and consumers across India, through information technology and knowledge tools. SureWaves has been at the forefront of many technology driven firsts in the media industry. It has pioneered cable television advertising, with its platform – SureWaves Spot TV Network, which aggregates the audiences of more than 500 local cable TV channels, across the country. As a giant leap in its journey, it has launched its next-generation platform – ‘Skynet’, world’s first end-to-end Programmatic Television Advertising Marketplace, to cater to the needs of mainstream broadcast television in India. Skynet represents a paradigm shift in TV advertising and is poised to bring sweeping changes to the world of television advertising. (www.surewaves.com and www.skynet.tv)

National Geographic is one of the most iconic brands in the world that believes in the power of science, exploration and storytelling to inspire, illuminate and change the world through entertainment. The channel globally undertook a rebrand exercise and embraced a new tagline “Further” that embodies the ethos and spirit that has defined the National Geographic brand for over 129 years. Embracing the company’s purpose to cement its position as the leading premium content destination for science, exploration and adventure, it underlines the vision of a brand that has always championed the cause of a better and deeper understanding of the world around.

National Geographic reaches to 139 million television viewers in India every month. The channel is available in 5 languages, and on all distribution platforms in the country.

Reach 1.5 lakh professionals from the media, entertainment & creative community via talentrack

As India’s largest talent-hiring and digital-content production platform for the media, entertainment & creative (MEC) industry, talentrack recently announced its electronic direct mailer service. Being the country’s biggest aggregator of the MEC sector, talentrack has a captive user-base of over 1.5 lakh professionals from the industry. This user-base comprises an eclectic mix including filmmakers, brand managers, advertising agencies, production houses, fashion designers, actors, models, TV channels, singers, photographers, musicians, venture capital firms, CXOs and more.

talentrack’s EDM service is aimed at supporting brand managers, marketers and advertisers, who wish to reach this high-influence target audience with their brands and marketing initiatives. Since each and every user of talentrack has self-registered and is on-boarded only after a rigrous OTP verified process, the 1.5 lakh strong email database of the platform is both current and authentic. talentrack EDMs deliver a consistent and high open-rate, allowing brands to roll-out highly effective email marketing campaigns.

The company’s web and mobile advertising inventory and email marketing services have been recently utilised by leading brands including Daikin, Hewlett Packard, Aaj Tak, Zomato, Pocket Films and Ola. talentrack has also been engaged by leading media franchises like The Voice (EndemolShine), Femina Miss India and Dil Hai Hindustani (Star Plus) as branding and talent partner. talentrack recently won the AAFT Award as the Best Hiring Platform for the Media & Entertainment Industry, and the company’s Founder, Vineet Bajpai, was felicitated as the Entrepreneur of the Year 2016 by a leading global publication.

For advertising and email campaign enquiries, please write-in to [email protected] or [email protected]


Patanjali secures the top position

Amazon wins second position Paytm stood fourth Apple secured fifth position

Samsung secured sixth position Vivel stood seventh OPPO secured ninth position

AND THE BUZZIEST BRANDS ARE...



MobiKwik wins Most Innovative Brand Award

Maruti Suzuki was the winner in AutomotiveIndiGo Airlines was the winner in Airlines Paytm was the winner in BFSI

Coca-Cola was the winner in Cold Beverages Apple was the winner in Computer and IT sector Samsung was the winner in Consumer Durable

WhatsApp was the winner in Content Platforms ITC was the winner in Corporate Patanjali was the winner in Cosmetics, Toiletries, and Personal Care

Sony Entertainment Television was the winner in Entertainment

Maggi was the winner in Foods

Apple iPhone was the winner in Mobile Handsets

BUZZY TIMES

Nescafe was the winner in Hot Beverages Surf Excel was the winner in Household Products


Amazon was the winner in E-commerce and Services

India TV was the winner in News Patanjali was the winner in OTC McDonald’s was the winner in QSR

Big Bazaar was the winner in Retail Airtel was the winner in Telecom Royal Enfield was the winner in Two-wheeler

Google was the winner in Websites

National Geographic photo booth FOX Life cocktail bar

BUZZY TIMES

ON THE SIDELINES...



profile

If you thought the archetypal copywriter — pony, tattoo, guitar — is a figment of yore,

think again. Meet Keegan Pinto, 37, creative head (West) and national creative director - branded content, FCB Ulka.

afaqs!Reporter decided to interview him after his recent ‘Mothers for mothers’ ad for Amul got a fair deal of buzz online. And when we say ‘his ad’, we don’t mean ‘an ad he wrote’ (Ulka’s chief creative officer, Swati Bhattacharya wrote it); we mean an ad he composed the music for. Pinto, who has spent 15 years in advertising, and has been with Ulka for almost six months, has been nurturing a parallel music career, one we decided to peek into with this profile.

Recently, Pinto wrote and composed music for the song ‘Bhaag Milky’ from Running Shaadi.com, a Hindi feature film (starring Taapsee Pannu of Pink fame). Ads that he has composed music for in the past

include ICICI Prudential’s ‘Bande Achhe Hain’, music for Onida AC’s ‘Hum heat mein dheet hain’ (his very first, while at Lowe Lintas) and ‘Khaali khaali haathon se kitna de jaati hai Maa’ (an ad written by his present day boss Swati Bhattacharya) for Horlicks.

Apart from these, Pinto has also scored music at MTV, where he worked as creative head before joining Ulka, through promo videos. Prior to MTV India, where he spent two years, he was associated with

Colenso BBDO New Zealand, Publicis Ambience, Ogilvy & Mather India and Lowe Lintas.

So how did his music career begin? “I was in a band in college (RD National’s College, Mumbai) which I had to move away from to get a job,” he says. But that’s where the clichés end. He then went to New Zealand to get a PG degree in advertising. “I thought there is no money in rock music. As a young person you can get dissuaded because you are not mature, you don’t know the right network, you don’t know about the right genre of music... you need guidance.”

After getting his PG degree from Ad School, New Zealand, he worked with Colenso BBDO, New Zealand, briefly, before coming back to Mumbai. “I came back and started the journey of cold calling for the job of a trainee writer, junior writer and senior writer...” he says. Soon enough, Pinto landed a job with Ogilvy, where he spent three

years, before moving to Lowe Lintas where he spent three years. “Lowe is the best training ground,” he says, dubbing his journey at these two agencies as “deadly.”

During this time, he also found expression for his music through the ad films he worked on. “Music wasn’t happening in a big way until I began employing music in my ad films...” he says.

About his first music outing — an Onida ad titled ‘Hum heat mein dheet hain’, which he also wrote —

he says, “I cracked a jingle around the way Indians are stubborn - seeing how they eat mirchi, wear sarees/blazers, drink hot tea - despite the heat and zeroed in on ‘Dheet logon keliye dheet AC’... I scored the music under R Balki and Amer Jaleel at Lintas.”

The music for the ‘Bande Achhe Hain’ ad for ICICI Prudential was created by Pinto but later recomposed by Shantanu Moitra. Pinto wrote the lyrics, which were later peppered by Swanand Kirkire. “Balki believed in getting in Bollywood people and I can’t fight the word of R Balki and Lowe,” he recalls.

Satisfying as it was to make music for ads, Pinto was secretly waiting to scratch the Bollywood itch. He got his chance when he met Amit Roy, cinematographer of the movies Sarkar and Sarkar Raj.

“I was on an ad film set with Amit Roy who was directing a film for Lifebuoy Sanitizer. The base line was ‘Tiffin Ka Best Friend’. That’s where I met Amit. He was working on his movie ‘Running Shaadi.com.

I told him, ‘If the movie is not yet done, give me a chance... I am a musician...’”

Fortunately for Pinto, Roy liked his song and made it part of the recently released movie.

“... Prasoon Joshi is an advertising-to-Bollywood lyricist... I think I am the first advertising-to-Bollywood music composer,” he smiles.

In the days ahead, Pinto wants to focus on mainstream music, rather than giving music for ads. “The percentage of music I give to films versus ads would be 90:10,” he says.

Currently, he is collaborating with seven to eight singers for a “kickass music project” that’s due to go live in two to three months.

At the end of the day, though, Pinto admits he’s an advertising guy first and a musician later. “I am always a creative guy first. I am always an NCD. I always write the copy for the idea and strategy and if it needs music we will start making it... first one tries to crack a brief with an idea...” he signs off. n

[email protected]

KEEGAN PINTO

Different Shades afaqs!Reporter profiled copywriter-cum-musician Keegan Pinto, who composed the music for Amul’s recent ‘Mother for mothers’ ad. By Suraj Ramnath

Pinto wrote & composed music for the song ‘Bhaag Milky’ from Running Shaadi.com


jobswitch

Post: Web DeveloperCompany: Coconut Media Box LLPProfile: We are seeking an individual with an expert level experience with PHP, HTML, CSS, JS and WordPress to enhance, improve, and implement web solutions. The ideal candidate will have both architecture and design experience along with hands on development experience. Exp: 1 to 2 yearsLocation: MumbaiEmail: [email protected]...........................................................

Post: Graphic DesignerCompany: Alaukik GroupProfile: Meet with clients or the art director to determine the scope of a project; advise clients on strategies to reach a particular audience; determine the message the design should portray; create images that identify a product or convey a message; develop graphics and visual or audio images for product illustrations, logos, and websites. Exp: 3 to 5 yearsLocation: Mumbai Email: [email protected]...........................................................

Post: Senior Visualiser (Graphics /Print)Company: Adworth Media Pvt LtdProfile: Campaign conceptulisation, brand architecture, designing, knowledge of preparing printable files.Exp: 3 to 5 yearsLocation: New DelhiEmail: [email protected]...........................................................

Post: Event ConceptualiserCompany: Hexagon Events Pvt LtdProfile: Ability to ideate event ideas and themes that best fit clients brief.Copywriting of concept taglines, AV scripts, emcee scripts in line with the central theme for a given project will be an added advantage.Exp: 1 to 2 yearsLocation: MumbaiEmail: [email protected]...........................................................

Post: Branch Head / Head Business DevelopmentCompany: Adgear Media Pvt LtdProfile: The candidate would be responsible for profitability and overall operation of the Northern Region. S/he should be team player with excellent communication skills; be a strong link between clients and creative / media department. Preference would be given to the candidates from advertising /media industry. Exp: 5 to 10 yearsLocation: BangaloreEmail: [email protected]...........................................................

Post: Business Development ExecutiveCompany: Sphinx Creative Communications Pvt LtdProfile: Client management, communication strategy, business development and operations. Exp: 2 to 5 yearsLocation: MumbaiEmail: [email protected]...........................................................

Post: Administrative Assistant /Computer OperatorCompany: Centum Advertising & Marketing Pvt LtdProfile: The candidate will have to handle administrative work for government clients such as filling e-tenders, tender documentation preparation, bills, e-mails, etc. Good knowledge of computer hardware and software is required. English/Hindi typing is a must.Exp: 3 to 4 yearsLocation: New DelhiEmail: [email protected]...........................................................

Post: Content WriterCompany: Boch & Fernsh Inc.Profile: Writing content for websites and portals with limited inputs from the client; editing and proof reading the content provided by the client and making sense out of the information; provide short and quirky headers for banners; understanding client requirements and making a site-structure; proof reading the copy on the website before launching it.

Exp: 2 to 7 years Location: MumbaiEmail: [email protected]...........................................................

Post: Senior Account Manager Pharma Vertical (4 Vacancies)Company: Aspire CerebroProfile: Operate as the lead point of contact for any and all matters specific to your customers; build and maintain strong; long-lasting customer relationships; negotiate contracts and close agreements to maximise client engagement; develop a trusted advisor relationship with key accounts, customer stakeholders and executive sponsors; ensure timely and successful delivery of our solutions according to customer needs and objectives.Exp: 4 to 7 years Location: MumbaiEmail: [email protected]...........................................................

Post: Client Servicing / Account ExecutiveCompany: Quotient Communications Pvt LtdProfile: Sales driven strategising, day-to-day interaction with clients, understanding briefs and executing them in the most creative yet solutions-oriented manner. Exp: 1 to 2 yearsLocation: MumbaiEmail: [email protected]........................................................... Post: Art DirectorCompany: Collateral - The Storytellers Profile: Creating concept and strategies as per the brief understanding; ensuring that the desired client time lines are being met; ability to work /think independently, and lead a team, as well as ideation qualities and is passionate about delivering solutions. The candidate must have knowledge of print and designing softwares.Exp: 5 to 7 yearsLocation: MumbaiEmail: [email protected], [email protected]...........................................................

Post: Business Development Manager Creative Brand CommunicationCompany: Rego AdvertisingProfile: Getting new clients for mainline advertising and digital services; identifying new sales leads; pitching products and services; maintaining relationships with customers; day-to-day duties include: researching organisations and individuals online new leads and potential new markets, researching the needs of other companies and learning who makes decisions about purchase planning and overseeing new marketing initiatives.Exp: 3 to 7 years Location: Mumbai / Chennai / NagpurEmail: [email protected]...........................................................

Post: Senior Visualiser / Assistant Art DirectorCompany: Pathfinders Profile: The candidate should be a thinker who can translate ideas to visuals. S/he should have experience of working with all creative softwares. Exp: 3 to 4 yearsLocation: New DelhiEmail: [email protected]

TO ADVERTISE, CONTACT:

Abhilash Singh Ph: 09999989454

Email: [email protected]

Aakash Bhatia Ph: 09650544122

Email: [email protected]

[email protected]

To view other jobs in Marketing,Media and Advertising, log on to:

www.jobswitch.in

Join us on : facebook.com/jobswitch

EVEN GOOD CAN

GET BETTER!

2 3afaqs! Reporter, April 1-15, 2 0 1 7

peopleA round up of some major people

movements in the last fortnight>> MOVEMENTS/APPOINTMENTS<<ADVERTISING

Percept/H In a recent announce-ment, Maneeza Ahuja has been appointed as the branch head for the Delhi branch of Percept/H with the addi-tional responsibility of leading the North India portfolio of Percept One.

Ahuja will be respon-sible for spearheading and ensuring growth, infusing strategic thinking and innovation across all P One communication corridors (creative, experiential and PR) in New Delhi. With her core mandate of growth, she will help grow the overall business even as she creates stickier and integrated client engagements that help percolate and propel the Percept One phi-losophy, mandate and benchmark.

DDB Mudra GroupMadhukar Kamath, Group CEO and MD, DDB Mudra Group, has stepped down announc-ing a phased leadership transition for the Group. Effective April 1, 2017, Vineet Gupta, former chief digital officer, DDB Mudra Group was appointed as Group CEO (designate) and Aditya Kanthy, former chief strategy officer, DDB Mudra Group was appointed as group managing director (designate). Effective July 1, 2017, Gupta and Kanthy will formally take over as Group CEO and Group managing direc-tor respectively. To facilitate a seamless transition, Kamath will continue to work closely with them as executive chairman of the DDB Mudra Group, till end December, 2017.

Dentsu Webchutney In a recent announce-ment , Dentsu Webchutney, the digi-tal agency from Dentsu Aegis Network has roped in Anil Kumar as executive vice-pres-ident and branch head. He will be based in Delhi and will report to Sidharth Rao, chief executive officer and co-founder, Dentsu Webchutney. Kumar will lead key accounts such as Airtel, IndusInd Bank, Canon, Tetra Pack, Hike, Payback, DS Group and ITC amongst others. Kumar is a marketing professional with over 18 years of work experi-ence in advertising agencies such as FCB, Grey, TBWA, Contract and Lintas. This long stint was followed by another five years as executive direc-tor, Millennium Spire, a Singapore based FDI fund that he helped grow from $20 million to a $1 billion operation.

Salt Brands SolutionsSalt Brand Solutions has appointed Namrata Nandan as chief business officer (CBO). Nandan will manage all existing businesses and drive growth for the organisation. An English Literature graduate from Sophia College, Bombay, Nandan joins Salt Brand Solutions with over 23 years of experience in advertising industry. Prior to Salt Brand Solutions, Nandan worked as the co-founder of Conviction Brandworks. She has also worked with leading advertising and mar-keting firms such as McCann Mumbai as senior vice-president and GM, McCann Erickson India as vice-president and GM, J Walter Thompson as account director, O&M Advertising as group account manager, and Y&R Brands as account manager.

MullenLowe Lintas GroupMullenLowe Lintas Group has announced the leadership for its flagship agency — Lowe Lintas. Arun Iyer, chief creative officer, Lowe Lintas will now operate as chairman and chief creative officer of the agency. Lintas veteran, Raj Gupta, currently president and Mumbai office head, Lowe Lintas will now operate as chief executive officer of the agency. Iyer has been with Lowe Lintas for over 15 years and has been the cre-ative mind behind many campaigns for Surf Excel, Idea, Tanishq, Axis Bank, Paperboat, Freecharge, Hotstar, Google, OLX, Fastrack, Flipkart, Hike and many others.

Famous InnovationsIn a recent announcement, Famous Innovations has appointed Namit Prasad as head of planning. Prasad comes with over 10 years of experience in brand planning and strategy, having lead brands such as Vicks, Pepsodent, Closeup, Oral B, Ambuja, Park Avenue, Nerolac, Symphony, HDFC MF, Havmor, Century Ply and Paras Pharma in agencies such as DDB Mudra, Lowe Lintas and Publicis. Prasad was previously work-ing with Aditya Birla Financial Shared Services as chief manager insights.

Viacom18In a recent announcement, Viacom18 has appointed Rahul Chakravarti as business head of Colors Bangla and Colors Odia. With over two decades of experience across FMCG, management consultancy and advertising, Chakravarti has worked across multiple con-sumer focused categories in his career. He will be responsible for driving ratings, developing innovative content and increasing the reach and share of voice of the channels in the markets.

MEDIA

MANEEZA AHUJA

MADHUKAR KAMATH

ANIL KUMAR

MARKETING

FreeChargeDigital payments platform, FreeCharge has announced the elevation of Ankit Khanna as chief operating officer of the company. As part of his expanded role, he will be manag-ing product, user growth, user experience and business development at FreeCharge. Before taking charge as COO, Khanna was chief prod-uct officer with the company. Prior to this, he was senior vice-president, product at Snapdeal. Over time, he led the product development team from scratch and helped build scalable and complex products encompassing buyer experience, seller ecosystem, supply chain man-agement, payments as well as content and catalogue systems at Snapdeal.

In a recent announce-ment, Snapdeal announced the appointment of Jason Kothari as chief executive officer of FreeCharge and a commitment to invest an additional $20 million in the company. In addition to taking on the new role, Kothari will continue his key leadership role as chief strategy and investment officer at Snapdeal. He will also join the board of direc-tors of FreeCharge. Kothari had joined Snapdeal in January 2017. Commenting on his new role at FreeCharge, Kothari, says in a press release, “The digital payments space in India is fore-casted to be over $1 trillion by 2025. I’m excited to join the talented team at FreeCharge at such a high-growth and dynamic time in the industry and expect FreeCharge to continue to play a key role in this digital payments revolution.”

DIGITAL

LavaLava International has appointed Sunil Raina as its chief marketing officer (CMO). According to the press release shared by the com-pany, Raina has taken over the new posi-tion from Solomon Wheeler, who has decided to pursue other career opportunities outside Lava. Raina was senior vice-president and business head at XOLO, and has been associated with Lava for close to seven years. He held several leadership roles through his tenure at the company, and has successfully lead XOLO’s growth journey as its business head while additionally spearheading the mar-keting and communication function for Lava.

ARUN IYER

SUNIL RAINA

JASON KOTHARI


New campaigns across television, print, out-of-home and digital media.

Got some great campaign that has been published recently? Upload it on afaqs! for the world to see.Visit: www.afaqs.com/advertising/creative_showcase

campaigntrail

HEXAKeeping up with the credo of doing the impossible no matter what it takes, the latest campaign by Tata Motors’ Hexa is a montage of individual stories that run parallel to visuals of the Tata Hexa captured in different terrains including rocky paths, snow covered mountains, rivers and city roads. Creative Agency: FCB Ulka

GIONEETo announce the launch of A1, the first flagship model under #Selfistan — a collective term for models with the selfie flash and an embodiment of a world where people can express themselves freely through selfies — Gionee has come up with a new campaign featuring brand ambassador Alia Bhatt. The campaign is well placed to take the world of ‘selfie’ forward.Creative Agency: Mullen Lintas Delhi

RELIANCE TRENDSApparel retail chain, Reliance Trends has launched a nationwide brand campaign to announce its new brand positioning and visual identity. The ad ‘Trends begin with you!’ is replete with youthful, contemporary and a more fashionable imagery.Creative Agency: Lowe Lintas, Bangalore

TITAN EDGE CERAMICUnveiling Edge Ceramic — the latest collection under the Titan Edge series — is the brand’s new ad film which puts forward the product’s claim of being the world’s slimmest ceramic watch. The highlight of the ad is Titan’s signature symphony being played on the Indian percussion instrument, Jaltarang.Creative Agency: Ogilvy & Mather, Bangalore

GODADDYGoDaddy — the cloud platform dedicated to small, independent ventures — has released a new campaign to educate small size Indian businesses about the value of going beyond traditional marketing and the importance of being visible on the Internet. It drives home the simple message, ‘Internet ko kaam pe lagao’ or ‘Make the internet work for you’.

VIDEOS

BIBAEthnic wear brand, Biba has launched its first television campaign that articulates its belief that there is more to a woman than just her looks. This is what inspires conversations about her and prompts everyone to ask ‘Who’s that girl’, which is also the campaign tagline and the thought behind Biba’s Spring Summer 2017 collection.Creative Agency: Lowe Lintas, Bangalore

UBER Uber’s new ad for its ride-sharing service, UberPool, informs readers in Delhi-NCR that they can travel anywhere for just `49 for the first eight Kms; of course, T&C apply. ‘UberPool = Paisa Vasool’, goes the copy.

HONDA ACTIVA‘Because every generation in India is doing something new, this is the new generation’, says Honda Activa’s print campaign. The ad also highlights the scooter’s different features.

PRINT

AMULButter brand Amul captured the Vodafone-Idea merger with this witty print ad. The copy reads, ‘Voda !dea, sirji! Merger with bread!’


12th edition€¦ · snapdeal making a style statement the cult comedy makes a comeback on hotstar....

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