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<ul><li>As demand for ice creams and cold beverages increases, <keyword id="3658" type="General" weightage="100" keywordseo="india" source="Orion">India</keyword>’s consumer companies are amping up their marketing activities and lining up new product launches.</li><li>Consumer companies are hopeful that the summer season will bring in cheer and serve as a respite from the pandemic-associated slumber.</li><li>Some leading companies have already witnessed a growth of over 50% this summer.</li><li>We speak to leading ice cream and beverage companies to find out more about their summer plans.</li></ul>The COVID-19 pandemic wreaked havoc on businesses of all sizes and kinds. Ice cream and cold beverages, however, were one of the most affected industries. The industry was severely affected due to several country-wide lockdowns and closing down of consumer marketplaces. A viral rumour linking ice cream to increased COVID-19 risk made the matters worse. While the <a href="https://twitter.com/PIBMumbai/status/1255693276415475718">World Health Organisation</a> did step in to address the rumours, the damage was already done. After melting under lockdown woes and its cascading impacts for two years, ice cream brands have a reason to cheer this summer. Consumer companies are seeing high demand for ice cream and cold beverages as consumers look for some relief from the sweltering heat. A spokesperson for <keyword id="6376312" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="mother-dairy" source="Orion">Mother Dairy</keyword> said that the company’s milk-based ice creams and dairy-based beverages have recorded over 50% growth in sales ‘on account of early summers and subsequent rise in temperatures, enhanced number of distribution assets coupled with the opening up of restaurants, offices, educational institutions, etc.’ The leading dairy company is optimistic that this summer, in its current progression, would likely add further momentum going ahead and is going to be ‘one of the best seasons for the ice cream and cold beverages industry.’ “This season, we are introducing 10 new variants of ice creams in order to keep our consumers excited and the highlight for this season is our shahi kulfi range wherein we are introducing four new royal Indian flavors namely Phirni, Paan, Malai and Pista. The offtake of dairy-based beverages is also being witnessed across all channels with thirst-quenching products such as chaach (buttermilk) and lassi (buttermilk) leading the pack,” said a company spokesperson. Milkshake and ice cream brand <keyword id="2972537" type="General" weightage="80" keywordseo="keventers" source="Orion">Keventers</keyword> also sees its biggest boom during the hot months of the year. Due to the early onset of summer, paired with intense heat waves across large parts of the country, Keventers’ co-founder Aman Arora said that the company clocked its ‘best sales’ in April this year. “We’ve seen a good jump in sales, and we’re hopeful this will continue. Our hottest products have been the cold coffees and chocolate milkshakes, but we are seeing some love when it comes to our newly launched ice creams as well. Our goal is to make Keventers something you enjoy year-round, not just during the summer,” said Arora. As restrictions on travel and social gatherings have been lifted, businesses have resumed across the country and people have started stepping out, out-of-home consumption of ice creams has also seen a small jump. As per industry experts Business Insider India spoke to, as out-of-home consumption is gearing speed, the surge in demand is skewed towards the impulse portfolio. Marketing and growth, both back on the fast track To make the most of this surge in demand, Ice cream and dessert brand <keyword id="693719" type="General" weightage="80" keywordseo="baskin-robbins" source="Orion">Baskin Robbins</keyword> is upping its marketing game to reach out to a wider set of consumers. Raghav Ravichandar, the general manager of marketing at Baskin Robbins said, “Our spends at the very least are likely to be 20% higher this summer than in earlier years. While our sales in 2020-21 were lower than earlier years, the recovery in 2021-22 has been both spectacular and also immensely satisfying. We are back on the fast track to high double-digit growth.” India has experienced a particularly <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/science/environment/news/is-indias-intense-heat-wave-a-sign-of-climate-change-and-global-warming/articleshow/91367952.cms">hot summer</a> this year. The hottest March in 122 years was followed by even more <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/science/environment/news/heatwave-in-india-what-is-wet-bulb-temperature-why-is-it-important-and-how-to-measure-it/articleshow/91306156.cms">intense heat waves</a> in April. As per the India Meteorological Department, April was the <a href="https://internal.imd.gov.in/press_release/20220402_pr_1551.pdf">hottest </a>month for northwest and central India and the third-hottest April the country has seen over the past 122 years, from 1901 to 2022. Due to this prevailing hot and humid weather in India, the ice cream and cold beverages industry is expected to grow significantly in the coming years. As per research and analytics firm <a href="https://www.expertmarketresearch.com/reports/india-ice-cream-market#:~:text=The%20India%20ice%20cream%20market,INR%20442%20billion%20by%202026.">Expert Market Research</a>, the Indian ice cream market is expected to grow at a CAGR of 14% between 2021 and 2026 to reach a value of approximately ₹442 billion by 2026.

Early summer brings cheer for ice cream brands in India

New Delhi, The BJP, the biggest beneficiary of electoral bonds with donations worth over Rs 6,000 crore in the last four years of the scheme, got funds from several corporates and individuals, including Megha Engineering, Future Gaming, and Reliance-linked <keyword id="21044437" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="qwik-supply" source="keywords">Qwik Supply</keyword>. Hyderabad-based Megha Engineering, which won several contracts for infrastructure projects, donated Rs 584 crore to the BJP, <keyword id="21047704" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="qwik-supply-rs" source="keywords">Qwik Supply Rs</keyword> 395 crore, and Future Gaming Rs 100 crore, according to data released by the Election Commission on Thursday. The BJP also got Rs 346 crore from Keventers Food Park, MKJ Enterprises and Madanlal Ltd -- three firms with the same <keyword id="19896626" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="kolkata" source="keywords">Kolkata</keyword> address, Vedanata contributed Rs 226 crore, and Haldia Energy Rs 81 crore. <keyword id="19919721" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="vedanta" source="keywords">Vedanta</keyword> was also a key contributor to the Congress with donations worth Rs 125 crore. The opposition party also received funds from <keyword id="21047706" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="western-up-power-and-transmission" source="keywords">Western UP Power and Transmission</keyword>, MKJ Enterprises and Yashoda Super Speciality Hospitals. The BJP also got donations worth Rs 80 crore from <keyword id="21047705" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="western-up-power-and-transmission-company" source="keywords">Western UP Power and Transmission Company</keyword>, and Rs 42 crore from Welspun. Industrialist Lakshmi Mittal donated Rs 35 crore to the BJP in individual capacity, while several other individuals donated funds in the range of Rs 10-25 crore to the ruling party. The Election Commission made public a fresh data set of electoral bonds, including their alpha-numeric numbers that can help match their purchasers with the political parties that received the funds. Two separate lists of the donors and the recipients were published by the poll panel on its website after the details were submitted to it by the State Bank of India earlier in the day as per a Supreme Court order.

Electoral bonds: Megha Engineering, Qwik Supply big donors for BJP

<ul><li>A single-product food service brand might find it difficult to scale up beyond ₹100 crore, says a <keyword id="20612802" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="redseer" source="keywords">Redseer</keyword> study.</li><li><keyword id="20612803" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="house-of-brands" source="keywords">House of Brands</keyword> like Rebel Foods, Cure Foods and Specialty Restaurants can see better success going ahead.</li><li>The share of organised players in the food service business is expected to grow to 55-60% by 2028 from 44% in 2023. </li></ul>Variety is the spice of life. Much more so in India where regional, local and personal tastes determine food choices. It makes an extremely difficult market for new and organized brands in the food service business to scale up beyond ₹100 crore, says a report by Redseer. Take for example, India’s all-time favourite dish — the biryani. The spiced and flavoured rice dish has multiple regional variations such as Lucknowi, Kolkata, <keyword id="20483891" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="ambur" source="keywords">Ambur</keyword>, and Hyderabadi. Since the choice is broken down, it cuts into the total addressable market (TAM) of a category, says the report. “In the ₹20,000-30,000 crore biryani category, a typical metro city may only have an organised market size of ₹800-1,200 crore. Thus, achieving a revenue target of ₹100 crore by operating solely in a single metro city within the organised biryani cuisine world, necessitates capturing 10-15% market share, posing a significant challenge for a standalone brand to overcome,” says Redseer. The same theory works across food categories, the report adds. It says that even popular brands like Pizza Express, Keventer and Burger Singh are ‘growth stage’ companies whose revenues are anywhere between ₹50-100 crore. Redseer’s estimates on a brand’s market share <table style="border-width: initial; border-style: none; table-layout: fixed; width: 468pt;" class="redcator-table-advance"></colgroup><tbody><tr><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">Food category </td><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">Organized size in a metro </td><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">Market share needed for over ₹100 cr </td></tr><tr><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">Biryani </td><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">$100-150 mn (₹800-1200 cr) </td><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">10-15% </td></tr><tr><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">Indian </td><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">$250-300 mn (₹2,000-2,500 cr) </td><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">&lt;5% </td></tr><tr><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">Asian </td><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">$150-200 mn (₹1,200-1,600 cr) </td><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">5-10% </td></tr><tr><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">Desserts </td><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">$500-600 mn (₹4,000-5,000 cr) </td><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">&lt;5% </td></tr></tbody><tbody></tbody><tbody></tbody><tbody></tbody><tbody></tbody><tbody></tbody></table>Source: Redseer House of Brands Not only is a brand expected to scale beyond a city, it must also expand its food options to bring in more customers that allows them to scale. The best way for organized players is to take the ‘House of Brands’ route, the report suggests. Successful House of Brands are characterized by their ability to build and scale multiple brands across diverse cuisines, which help them capture higher revenue, instead of dependence on an anchor brand. Also, they expand geographically with a consumer funnel, optimized capital &amp; operational expenditures, it adds. For example, Specialty Restaurants houses popular chains like Mainland China, Oh! Calcutta and Asia Kitchen by Mainland China. Cure Foods also has brands like <keyword id="20612804" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="frozen-bottle" source="keywords">Frozen Bottle</keyword>, Cakezone, Eat Fit. Or, <keyword id="20520699" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="devyani" source="keywords">Devyani</keyword> which has Pizza Hut, KFC as well as Vaango. There are also unlisted examples like Rebel Foods which has options like Lunchbox, Faasos, Oven Story etc. All these companies come under ‘large scale’ companies. “House of Brands, which owns multiple brands across various cuisines under a single umbrella, demonstrates an average revenue at least five times higher than standalone brands. This is partly due to their ability to target a larger TAM across cuisines and meal slots,” the research firm says. More power to organised players The food service business in India is extremely competitive and fragmented. The good news however is that India’s young and vibrant population is veering towards organised brands. The share of organised players in the food services market is expected to grow to 44% in 2023, as compared to 42% in 2022. As per Redseer’s estimates, it will grow at 8-12% in five years to make up for 55-60% of the share. Unorganized players’ share is expected to grow at 3-5% during the same period. There are other changes in consumer behaviour that augur well for new players. “Outside eating behaviour is now more habitual for Metro and Tier 1 consumers rather than being a luxury, which can be seen by the frequency of outside eating going up by 30% and 20% for students &amp; young adults and mid-lifers respectively compared to 2018,” the Redseer report reads. To capture this, however, players must expand their offerings to capture a wide share of the market as well as the Indian consumer palate.

Many tastes, many brands: A single type of biryani won’t cut it in a market like India

<ul><li>Multiple applications, <keyword id="14497138" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="disparate-systems" source="Orion">disparate systems</keyword> and siloed data lead to inefficiencies in organisations. </li><li>Microsoft Dynamics 356 works on bringing the data together and building rich insights. </li><li><keyword id="3747480" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="dynamics-365" source="Orion">Dynamics 365</keyword> &amp; Power Platform are used by 500,000 organisations and 97% of Fortune 500 companies. </li></ul>Let’s consider two different scenarios at two of India’s leading enterprises. The first one - Keventer Agro, the largest FMCG company in East India that offers packaged, dairy and fresh food products. Keventer employed numerous Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) vendors. Each vendor worked independently at the assigned location on a distinct ERP platform. The distinct operations led to non-uniformity in processes, and impacted reporting and compliance procedures with manually generated statements. The second one - Larsen &amp; Toubro (L&amp;T), the multinational conglomerate with revenues exceeding $21 billion. L&amp;T was having challenges with transparency across the sales cycle and was struggling to support a digital-ready sales team that could sell from anywhere for L&amp;T-NxT, a digital start-up. None of these challenges are unique to these companies. Organisations often tend to use multiple applications to do their work, leading to disparate transactions, static products and siloed data that resides in fragmented, monolithic software suites. This introduces inefficiencies and conflicts. Microsoft is working with enterprises in India to help change this. Praveen Mellacheruvu, Business lead – <keyword id="123470" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="business-applications" source="Orion">Business Applications</keyword>, Microsoft, said, “Business Applications tend to become complex and not easy to use, creating an extensive learning cycle and adoption journey for enterprises. Data ends up being siloed when an enterprise uses an IT architecture that involves multiple such products from various vendors. At Microsoft, our aim is to bring this data together in multiple ways, to build rich insights and enable decision making.” One example, he said, is the concept of collaborative apps where team members can work on Dynamics 365 directly in Teams without even having to access Dynamics 365 directly. Another area of focus for Mellacheruvu and his teams is to work with organisations in transforming their sales and service functions. Modernising these functions is helping customers significantly enhance the effectiveness of their sales and service teams, helping them drive better customer experience. With AI-based tools like Dynamics 365 Customer Insights, enterprises can build a much better understanding and a 360 view of their customers, helping them serve their customers, Mellacheruvu argued. Both the companies cited as examples in the beginning leveraged <keyword id="3747797" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="microsoft-dynamics-365" source="Orion">Microsoft Dynamics 365</keyword> in the process. Keventer Agro has reduced the client software footprint by leveraging the Microsoft platform, which has led to distinctive benefits such as a unified platform with streamlined workflows and processes across the whole business. L&amp;T-NxT rolled out Microsoft Dynamics 365 Sales, Marketing, and Sales Insights in just 26 days during the global COVID-19 crisis, ensuring uninterrupted business operations. L&amp;T-NxT benefitted from better management of leads, increased sales agility and access to holistic data in one place, ensuring that its global sales force could easily access comprehensive customer history and other information from any location. Quite naturally, Microsoft has seen an uptick in the adoption of Dynamic 365 technologies. “Globally, companies like Cracker Barrel and Unilever predict disruptions using our technology. Businesses like Heineken and Siemens leverage Dynamics 365 for personalised customer engagement and service. Another example is L’oreal, which installed and managed manufacturing equipment remotely using Microsoft Dynamics 365 Remote Assist on HoloLens 2 – the mixed-reality smart glass.” Businesses are looking at immediate and tangible business outcomes from their investments, said Mellacheruvu. And the tech giant has been making efforts to ensure this. “For example, Dynamics 365 for Customer Service reduces customer complaints by 80% and Dynamics 365 for Sales shortens the sales cycle by 3 months. This delivery of business value has helped us see increased adoption.” Dynamics365 and Power Platform are used by 500,000 organisations and 97% of Fortune 500 companies, he said. More than 4,500 organisations now use Dynamics 365 Commerce, Finance, and Supply Chain Management. The industrial metaverse is another opportunity that Microsoft is actively tapping into, using technologies such as IOT, Digital Twins, Dynamics 365 Connected Spaces, and Mixed Reality applications. “There has been a radical change in how, when and where people work in today’s highly distributed workplace. People want simple ways to collaborate and work from anywhere they want and Microsoft’s focus is to enable just that,” Mellacheruvu summed up. SEE ALSO: <a target="_blank" class="c-link c-message_attachment__title_link" href="https://www.businessinsider.in/tech/enterprise/news/five-occasions-when-a-cio-needs-to-function-like-a-business-head/articleshow/92978571.cms">Five occasions when a CIO needs to function like a business head</a> <a target="_blank" class="c-link c-message_attachment__title_link" href="https://www.businessinsider.in/tech/mobile/news/economic-slowdown-impacts-smartphone-industry-shipments-decline-by-9/articleshow/92972538.cms">Economic slowdown impacts smartphone industry, shipments decline by 9%</a>

How Microsoft Dynamics 365 is helping organisations ‘get IT all together’

<ul><li>Considering that we are still fighting a global pandemic, brands tried to tread the line between humorous and insensitive campaigns this year.</li><li>So, from <keyword id="6361865" type="ORGANIZATION" weightage="20" keywordseo="volkswagen">Volkswagen</keyword> (Voltswagen) to <keyword id="11029505" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="20" keywordseo="ola-airpro">Ola AirPro</keyword>, here are a few April Fool’s Day campaigns that almost had us fooled!</li></ul>With COVID cases on the rise again, we are all looking for a comic relief. This April Fool’s Day, brands have got your back. On the first day of April, brands usually pull a prank on their consumers by launching fake products, misdirect them into hoaxes or simply remind them to not be a fool. This year too, brands did not disappoint. They used their marketing campaigns to help their consumers giggle or drive home a bigger message through their pranks. On the other hand, experts applauded Google’s decision to put pause on its April Fool’s prank this year. The tech giant aims to express its solidarity with the healthcare workers and the grieving families recovering from the loss of loved ones. To help you forget the bigger prank life is pulling on all of us, here are a few light-hearted campaigns that caught our attention and made us laugh: Ola As fuel prices skyrocketed this year, Ola decided to launch a fully autonomous electric flying car called ‘Ola AirPro.’ The car is so light that you can lift it with one hand and you won’t ever need to worry about finding the perfect parking spot and worry about poor urban planning. Over the years, Ola has almost always played a prank on its users on April Fool’s starting from announcing Ola newsroom to Ola Restroom. With its clever campaigns, the brand never fails to drive home a bigger message and comment on the ever-changing socio-political environment. <div type="twitter" handle="bhash" handlename="Bhavish Aggarwal" image="http://pbs.twimg.com/profile_images/1133256267340713984/UaxcE0fi_normal.jpg" favoritecount="2298" retweetcount="555" status="Excited to unveil the world’s first and only fully autonomous electric flying car. The Ola AirPro. Ab har family bh… https://t.co/WEdjAhqK6f" createdat="1617259659000" id="1377512970196971524"></div> The ride-hailing company has also launched a <a href="https://olaairpro.com/" data-type="tilCustomLink">website </a>to track consumer interest. <keyword id="263363" type="COMPANY" weightage="20" keywordseo="MTV-India">MTV India</keyword> Ever fell for “Bas 12th nikal lo, ek baar college mil gaya toh maze hi maze?” Join the club, friend! This campaign will make you ponder upon a lot of bad decisions that you have made in your life. At least we took an unwanted trip down the unpleasant memory lane. MTV India’s April Fool’s Day campaign is an eye-opening comment on unrealistic standards that our parents often set for us. It is about those parents who make your life, career and relationship decisions for you. “So, this April Fool’s Day, raise a toast with MTV and have a laugh for being the fools we never intended to be,” reads its caption. <div type="javascript" title="Instagram" contenttype="Video"><cdata><![CDATA[ ]]></cdata></div> <keyword id="8681398" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="20" keywordseo="Urban-Company">Urban Company</keyword> Ever made the mistake of snoozing your alarm and barely made it to your 9 am Zoom call? Urban Company has a solution for you! Its new #AlarmAtHome service will send a trained professional to wake you up from your sleep, no matter what. Jokes apart, some of us unorganised bachelors really need this. <div type="twitter" handle="urbancompany_UC" handlename="Urban Company" image="http://pbs.twimg.com/profile_images/1336196738294534144/rKe5BkVP_normal.jpg" favoritecount="12" retweetcount="2" status="Our new #AlarmAtHome service for those who take their sleeping a little more seriously! 😴Wherever you are, we prom… https://t.co/tOynAUWmC3" createdat="1617261511000" id="1377520736978362369"></div> <keyword id="6354742" type="COMPANY" weightage="20" keywordseo="Flipkart">Flipkart</keyword> The e-commerce giant gives you a glimpse of the future with its April Fool’s Day prank. It said that the platform will accept bitcoin as a mode of payment. While it is just a prank, it might be a possibility very soon! This social media campaign is conceptualised by Dentsu Webchutney. <div type="twitter" handle="Flipkart" handlename="Flipkart" image="http://pbs.twimg.com/profile_images/1267713887165485061/WUR4QXtd_normal.jpg" favoritecount="4825" retweetcount="1066" status="The future is here. We now accept Bitcoin as a convenient mode of payment. Update your app now. https://t.co/l3MlY2qwRd" createdat="1617211834000" id="1377312378061135872"></div> Volkswagen A brand that had everyone talking with its April Fool’s prank globally is Volkswagen. Carmaker Volkswagen published a press release announcing that its US operations will be changing its name to ‘Voltswagen.’ The move, read the release, was to signify the company’s commitment to electrifying its fleet. However, the auto giant has now announced that it was just a prank. <div type="twitter" handle="VW" handlename="Volkswagen" image="http://pbs.twimg.com/profile_images/1247872762317766657/oco3obe0_normal.jpg" favoritecount="6786" retweetcount="1978" status="We know, 66 is an unusual age to change your name, but we’ve always been young at heart. Introducing Voltswagen. Si… https://t.co/Kyd0An7wGt" createdat="1617106067000" id="1376868756782219266"></div> Keventers What does a brand do when Holi and April Fool’s Day are almost back to back? Shake it up for its fans with some well-intentioned fun, 'cos “Bura Na Mano, Holi Hai”. Keventers launched a limited time period ‘Bhang Flavoured Milkshake’, on the eve of the Holi long weekend; with a reveal on April Fool’s Day of how they had orchestrated a well-timed and aptly themed prank around a product that didn't really exist. The result of the campaign was to get more eyeballs and create social media chatter around the Bhang Flavoured Milkshake. It also gave the brand an opportunity to engage with existing audiences and reach out to new ones, while reminding them that Keventers is a brand that has a personality, a sense of humour, and a penchant for experimentation. The brand’s page saw a week-on-week jump in profile visit by 60%+ increase and its impressions hiked by 500%+. It also received 2K+ calls in their outlets across the country just asking for Bhang Flavoured Milkshake. <div type="javascript" title="Instagram" contenttype="Image"><cdata><![CDATA[ ]]></cdata></div> Ixigo Turbulence is a major cause of anxiety for travellers. So, this April Fool's, Ixigo decided to launch a smart seat that makes its travellers' trip turbulence-free. According to Ixigo, its anti-turbulence cushion is a result of our groundbreaking research in gyro sensors, hydraulic pistons and industry-grade shock absorption. With applied learnings from car suspension systems, earthquake resistance technology and NASA following their robotic suspension for the Mars rovers. Marking the company's foray into the air cushion packaging market, anti-turbulence cushion has already received 1,500 registrations. <div type="Youtube" id="Ilh1xVGOmBk" title="ixigo smart seat - anti turbulence cushion" thumbUrl="https://i.ytimg.com/vi/Ilh1xVGOmBk/mqdefault.jpg"></div>

April Fool’s Day: Brands that pulled the best pranks this year

<ul><li><keyword id="6357120" type="DEFINITION" weightage="20" keywordseo="paytm">Paytm</keyword> will soon launch its ‘order ahead feature’ through which users can place orders at a restaurant even before they have reached. </li><li>In an interview with Business Insider, <keyword id="1737063" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="Nikhil-Saigal">Nikhil Saigal</keyword>, Vice President, Paytm shares how the product was built in a month.</li><li>While Paytm had been working on the idea even before coronavirus, the execution was accelerated because of Covid-19.</li><li>But they also have one big challenge on the way – Zomato. </li></ul>Paytm recently launched its <keyword id="9073648" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="20" keywordseo="contactless-dining">contactless dining</keyword> feature and is already ramping up the product for <keyword id="34615" type="ORGANIZATION" weightage="20" keywordseo="restaurants">restaurants</keyword> in the post covid world. Through a unique QR code, the new feature lets users scan the code and browse the menus and place orders. And now, Paytm will soon launch its ‘order ahead feature’ through which users can place orders at a restaurant even before they have reached. “Through these new features, the only time the user has to walk up to the store counter is when the order is ready and stores/restaurants can manage queuing this way and the whole flow becomes controlled,” said Nikhil Saigal, Vice President, Paytm. While Paytm had been working on the idea even before coronavirus, the execution was accelerated because of Covid-19. “We were looking at it as a solution to eliminate queues at QSRs (quick service restaurants) but with Covid-19, we realized as restaurants start to open they would need a process that ensures social distancing within their stores and also offers the most hygienic way to place orders,” said Saigal. <div type="image" title="Paytm Scan to order" msid="76684051" hostid="261" caption="&amp;lt;p&amp;gt;Paytm Scan to order option in a restaurant&amp;lt;/p&amp;gt;"></div> They conceptualized the product in April and launched it in early June. Saigal says normally a product like this would have taken them 2-3 times of the current timeline in which they delivered the solution. Paytm now plans to onboard 100,000 restaurants by the end of the year. “We have started onboarding merchants over the last three-four weeks and multiple large brands have already signed up with us. We have seen extremely encouraging signs from across all formats of restaurants and even from malls and airports,” said Saigal. While Saigal mentioned that they have partnered with Costa Coffee, Barista, Keventers, Select Citywalk mall among others, reports say that Paytm has also brought on board Starbucks as its client for this. Paytm is also in talks with state governments to make contactless ordering a standard operating procedure. Saigal believes that a product like this would give users the confidence to walk back into restaurants. “We understand that the industry will take time to recover but its important that as normalcy sets in, restaurants are ready with a product like this to make users feel safe,” he said. But they also have one big challenge on the way – Zomato. Days before Paytm launched its contactless dining option, Zomato too had started offering the service to its restaurant partners. While Zomato being a foodtech leader would seem to have an edge, Saigal believes otherwise. “We have already been enabling digital payments and working with every small and large food brand across different formats. For us it’s really an extension of our payments and for the user to discover the menu and place the order on their phone. In terms of our relationship with our merchant partners we already have a huge reach,” he said. SEE ALSO: <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/business/corporates/news/h1-b-visa-impact-on-tcs-hcl-tech-infosys-wipro-and-cognizant-after-december-2020/articleshow/76681640.cms">Two ways the H1-B visa freeze could change things for TCS, HCL Tech, Infosys and other Indian IT companies</a> <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/india/news/ifb-agro-industries-sought-help-from-the-cm-mamata-banerjee-after-an-alleged-attack-on-one-of-its-distilleries-in-south-24-parganas/articleshow/76682327.cms">IFB Agro's share price falls by 6% as company says armed goons attacked its distillery in West Bengal</a>

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