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<ul><li>To join the bandwagon of offering healthy solutions to consumers, <keyword id="215445" type="COMPANY" weightage="20" keywordseo="Perfetti-Van-Melle-India">Perfetti Van Melle India</keyword>’s <keyword id="10113427" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="20" keywordseo="alpenliebe-juicyfills">Alpenliebe JuiCyfills</keyword> launched Liquid filled Candy with fruit juice and Vitamin C.</li><li>We speak to Rajesh Ramakrishnan - Managing Director, <keyword id="135659" type="COMPANY" weightage="20" keywordseo="Perfetti-Van-Melle">Perfetti Van Melle</keyword> India to understand the idea behind launching immunity-based candy, impact of lockdown on the company and goals ahead. </li></ul>Since the COVID-19 virus came into our lives, brands have tried to come up with out-of-the-box solutions to help people surf through the rough waters and fight the virus. From anti-corona fabric to antiviral paint, brands have come up with all kinds of innovative, and at times even bizarre solutions to deal with the virus. To join the bandwagon of offering healthy solutions to consumers, Perfetti Van Melle India forayed into the fruit candy segment with Alpenliebe JuiCyfills that is a Liquid filled Candy with fruit juice and Vitamin C. In these testing times, Vitamin C has seen its importance increasing in the market since it helps build immunity. So, the brand wanted to offer a fun and healthy option to kids and adults. It launched a TVC reminding people that sometimes bringing the inner child out can also bring happiness to a family. The TVC showcases a kid who relishes the fruity blast of the new Alpenliebe JuiCyfills and is suddenly hit by an idea to bring his bickering grandparents together. Bolstered with the fruity mischief the kid plays a prank that lands his grandparents in a sweet moment of reconciliation. The idea was to position itself as a candy that ‘brings hearts together.’ <div type="Youtube" id="LwCKsIcCfhU" title="Alpenliebe JuiCyfills - #ShararatKaPhalMeethaBhiHotaHai" thumbUrl="https://i.ytimg.com/vi/LwCKsIcCfhU/mqdefault.jpg"></div> However, since confectionery doesn't fall under essentials, there was a clear cut down on the consumption rate. Telling us how the lockdown impacted Perfetti Van Melle India, Rajesh Ramakrishnan - Managing Director, said, “The <keyword id="10113426" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="20" keywordseo="confectionery-category">confectionery category</keyword> falls under the larger Impulse category. We are highly dependent on footfalls on the street. Due to the lockdown from end of March, the traffic in the street significantly came down- schools, colleges, offices were all closed and this greatly impacted our business. April was tough and then May-Aug picked up slowly as the lockdown started easing a bit. The good part is that most of our portfolio is at Re 1 and hence it is an affordable treat for many, so the bounce back is also that much faster.” Increasing focus on e-commerce was another trend that the brand latched onto. “One of the key trends that we see is moving towards Fortification, especially in the F&amp;B category. Consumers are looking for products that provide health related benefits in these times. Another is the move towards greater in-home stocking leading to in-home consumption. There is also a greater shift towards e-commerce across categories,” said Ramakrishnan. Perfetti Van Melle had to cut down its ad spends in the beginning of the lockdown and is now slowly bouncing back. “We had also cut down our spends during the tough months. But now we are slowly getting back to spending to further fuel demand and support our new launches. TV still continues to be our mainstay medium, while our spends in Digital have gone up,” said Ramakrishnan. To minimise COVID’s impact further, the confectionery giant is also focusing more on its large packs for in-home consumption and target consumers via e-commerce. And like any other F&amp;B brand, festive season plays a key role for Perfetti Van Melle. Speaking about the initiatives lined up during the festive season, Ramakrishnan said, “The festive season between Aug-Dec is a key period for us as well, like it is for many F&amp;B products. We have several initiatives lined up for the festive season on Alpenliebe and Alpenliebe Juzt Jelly. We kicked this off with an interesting activation on Alpenliebe during Raksha Bandhan, where we encouraged families to come together to create DIY Rakhis.” The confectionery industry is roughly worth Rs 12,000 crore and was growing steadily before COVID. Ramakrishnan said that it will take a while for the industry to come back to its normal rate of growth, since that would also depend on footfalls in the street. Meanwhile, the brand will continue to focus on staying relevant and building trust. Ramakrishnan said, “Brand building is always a long-term proposition. Consumers consume products that fulfil their functional needs and they connect with brands at an emotional level. This is not likely to dramatically change during or post the pandemic. I believe that brands need to stick to the fundamentals – understand and anticipate consumer needs, offer differentiated products, build strong consumer engagement and drive distribution. In fact, we have observed that consumers become less experimental and prefer to stick to their trusted brands. Brands which have stronger connect are doing better during this period because of the trust they have built over the years. We at Perfetti, operate in a largely impulse category, and the different brands in our portfolio play different roles in the lives of the consumer. For example, Center fruit is all about 'mood transformation' which uplifts your mood and makes you happy, Alpenliebe is about 'Bringing Hearts closer' by getting the family closer to each other. These are very relevant spaces in general and especially in these times.” As a marketer, Ramakrishnan said that it is important to be empathetic to consumers, understand and anticipate their needs in these tough times, and meet those needs. Perfetti Van Melle is currently the market leader in confectioneries and will be focusing towards further strengthening its position during and post-COVID.

Why Perfetti Van Melle India decided to launch Vitamin C candies

Bengaluru, July 15 (IANS) SoftBank-backed InMobi on Wednesday announced the appointment of Jayesh Ullattil as Vice President and General Manager for India. Prior to joining InMobi, Ullattil was Vice-President of Sales in Hotstar and instrumental in building strategic partnerships with leading telecom, original equipment manufacturers, consumer durables and media brands. In his two decades of industry experience, Ullattil has worked with leading consumer brands that include Perfetti Van Melle, Nokia, Henkel, Blackberry and more recently, BCCL and Hotstar. In his new role, Ullattil will be responsible for growing the mobile advertising and marketing business for InMobi across its portfolio of products, including programmatic and performance businesses, and data and online research platforms. "We are glad to welcome Jayesh onboard the InMobi leadership team in Asia Pacific. These are crucial times for brands and marketers across the globe who are looking to transform their business and marketing digitally," Vasuta Agarwal, Managing Director, Asia Pacific, InMobi, said in a statement. "Under Jayesh's leadership, InMobi will continue to enable marketers and advertisers in India as they increasingly rely on and invest in mobile to drive real connections with their consumers." Ullattil will be a part of the Asia Pacific leadership team and will be based out of Bengaluru, InMobi said. "India is one of the most exciting and fastest-growing mobile markets across the globe and this is an opportunity to have an immediate and large impact on the future of the adtech industry. I am looking forward to expanding the business and growing market share and mindshare for InMobi in India," Ullattil said on his appointment. --IANS gb/na

InMobi appoints Jayesh Ullattil as GM for India

<ul><li><keyword id="1587762" type="General" weightage="100" keywordseo="center-fresh" source="Orion">Center fresh</keyword> announces its marquee collaboration with <keyword id="55593" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="Dharma" source="Orion">Dharma</keyword> 2.0 for a series of two digital films. </li><li>The campaign collaboration has been facilitated by Wavemaker India, with support on creative front from <keyword id="531122" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="ogilvy-india" source="Orion">Ogilvy India</keyword>.</li></ul>Center fresh, the leading gum and mint brand from <keyword id="135659" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="Perfetti-Van-Melle" source="Orion">Perfetti Van Melle</keyword> is synonymous with its fresh approach to consumer engagement as it is with the brand positioning of ‘fresh breath confidence’. In-line with this approach, Center fresh announces its marquee collaboration with Dharma 2.0 for a series of two digital films. This collaboration brings to fore a unique treatment to digital films by leveraging the strength of a leading production house like Dharma. The campaign collaboration has been facilitated by Wavemaker India, with support on creative front from Ogilvy India. Dharma 2.0, as the name suggests, is the newly minted youth-focused arm of Dharma productions, that will exclusively focus on creating ad films. Having occupied a distinct place in Bollywood history and in the hearts of millions of fans with large scale dramas, mega star blockbusters to quirky, coming-of-age stories, Dharma Productions has made versatility its key USP by staying relevant with the changing times The brand is also known for its rom-com hits on the premise of first move confidence and hence synergizes very well with the brand promise of Center fresh. As part of this collaboration, Center fresh and Dharma 2.0 will release two digital films that will explore the possibilities and nuances of fresh breath confidence but with the Dharma twist. The brand’s proposition of fresh breath confidence will be at the core of the digital films, while the storytelling will have a distinctive Bollywood treatment that’s contemporary, fresh and relatable. This collaboration was announced on social channels by <keyword id="3778" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="Karan-Johar" source="Orion">Karan Johar</keyword> himself with an engagaing video, shot in his inimitable style conveying the seamless brand partnership. <div type="javascript" title="Instagram" contenttype="Video"><cdata><![CDATA[ ]]></cdata></div> The first digital film titled “Parda” in the series stars Anjali Sivaraman with popular actor &amp; dancer Shantanu Maheshwari in leading roles. In times when faces of people are not fully visible due to mask wearing protocols – how do you test the waters of attraction and initiate a conversation with someone you think you like. This is a prevalent question for our current times and also forms the very crux of the first digital film ‘Parda’. The storyline of this digital film revolves around the morning office-going ritual of two individuals with the female lead keen to break the ice and engage in a conversation with her fellow passenger in the lift. Center fresh mints with its instant fresh breath propostion is portrayed as the enabler of confidence for the lead protagonist. Her confidence backed by fresh breath, helps her eventually break the ice with the co-passenger &amp; bring alive the magic of first meetings in true Dharma style. Punit Malhotra and his team from Dharma 2.0 have been instrumental in the creative ideation of this premise. Commenting on the partnership, Rohit Kapoor - Director Marketing, Perfetti Van Melle, India said, “Pushing the envelope on the creative front with fresh breath confidence at the core is part of Center fresh’s DNA. Over the last few years, we have been putting out digital content across key digital platforms to engage with our core consumers on a medium relevant for them. Our collaboration with Dharma 2.0. is to marry the magic of boy-girl first meetings with the world of Center fresh’s fresh breath confidence and thereby create something unique for our young consumers to enjoy and retain the ‘freshness’ the brand offers.” <div type="Youtube" id="AR5p0H-8LUY" title="Center fresh &amp; Dharma Productions presents 'Parda' feat. Anjali Sivaraman &amp; Shantanu Maheshwari" thumbUrl="https://i.ytimg.com/vi/AR5p0H-8LUY/mqdefault.jpg"></div> Speaking about the film, Karan Johar said, “I am very excited to partner with Center Fresh for this latest intiative. Both Dharma and the brand Center fresh are known for their youth-focused appeal and initiatives and this collaboration further solidifies these very sensibilities. My goal has been to add the extra oomph of the unexpected, to this modern-day rendition of the plot. I look forward to our audience enjoying a little bit of the trademark Dharma moment with Center fresh.” Punit Malhotra – Director Dharma 2.0 says, “Dharma 2.0 intends to bring the same level of aesthetic quality and signature professionalism of the movie production business, and holds a competitive edge over other established players in its space just like Center fresh stands out loud in the confectionery sector. This 25+ years old brand is a flawless match for Dharma 2.0 as its core proposition of Fresh breath confidence is exactly what Dharma production depicts through its romantic movies. We are delighted to be associated with Center fresh, and connecting with the young audience of the brand.” Talking about the campaign, <keyword id="290291" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="karthik-nagarajan" source="Orion">Karthik Nagarajan</keyword>, Chief Content Officer, Wavemaker India said, “Center fresh with it’s fresh approach to creative communication has always associated with youth through its innovative campaigns. With this campaign, we have successfully established the connection of two young brands who share the same DNA and are poised to offer fresh content to the youth.” The Center fresh X Dharma 2.0 collaboration will also be amplified through social media promotions and by Karan Johar himself. Brand fans can look forward to the second film under this collaboration early next year.

Center fresh collaborates with Dharma 2.0 to give a new story treatment to 'fresh breath confidence'

<a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/searchresult.cms?query=smartphones&amp;sortorder=effectivedate">Smartphones</a> have made deep inroads in <a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/searchresult.cms?query=rural+india&amp;sortorder=effectivedate">rural India</a> and even they have a ‘selfie’ fetish, similar to urban kinds. 
 
The smartphone trend is rising in rural sector, so much so that the rural population is using money to recharge their phones to watch online videos than spending on low-cost <a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/searchresult.cms?query=FMCG&amp;sortorder=effectivedate">FMCG</a> items such as cold drinks, chocolates, etc. 
 
The ten-rupee recharge pack is a hit in rural India. 
 
"The 'selfie culture' is making consumers spend more on their phones rather than on fast-moving consumer products, which are discretionary," Suresh Narayanan, managing director of Nestle India, told ET. 
 
As per the <a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/searchresult.cms?query=iamai&amp;sortorder=effectivedate">Internet &amp; Mobile Association of India</a> (IAMAI), the mobile internet user base in rural India nearly doubled in 2015, while in urban sector, it increased by 71%. 
 
"Spends on mobile recharges - or low-priced entertainment options - have been replacing impulse buys in rural markets. It's been directly impacting a category like ours and we've been observing this for the past four-five quarters," Perfetti Van Melle's Managing Director Ramesh Jayaraman told ET. 
 
In a bid to attract rural population, <a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/searchresult.cms?query=coca+cola&amp;sortorder=effectivedate">Coca-Cola</a> and <a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/searchresult.cms?query=pepsi&amp;sortorder=effectivedate">PepsiCo</a> even went aggressive and slashed prices to Rs 5 per serving. 
 
"In rural areas, there was lesser money because of two years of deficit rainfall. Whatever little money was in their hands, rural consumers preferred to spend on mobile recharge rather than colas. In urban markets, extreme heat prevented consumers from stepping out and impacted our sales. Besides, there are other options like water and functional drinks which did better," ET quoted a person as saying. 
 
According to Hong Kong-based market tracker Counterpoint Research, almost a third of smartphone sales are in rural India, which is poised to double this year, whereas the total market is estimated to grow by 30%. 
 
(Image: BCCL)

For rural India, mobile recharges are important than colas, chocolates

<ul><li>"The heart wants what it wants and you can say whatever's in your heart with fresh breath confidence by popping in a Center Fresh," says the brand in its recent TVC.</li><li>The campaign is conceptualised by <keyword id="531122" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="ogilvy-india" source="Orion">Ogilvy India</keyword>.</li></ul>Center fresh has reinterpreted its popular ‘Fresh breath confidence’ positioning and takes it a step further to - “Dil Ki Baat Zubaan Pe” in its new TVC. The storyline of the new TVC showcases two young adults in a classroom where the female protagonist and her friend are trying to find keys of her bike. The male protagonist happens to see it lying on the floor but is hesitant to speak out because of his feelings for her. At this moment, Center fresh gum consumption not only helps him gather the confidence to approach her with the missing keys but also ask her to spend the history class next to him in a truly unexpected &amp; charming gesture! This sweet gesture helps the male lead get a positive acknowledgement from the girl apart from helping her get the keys back. This gum-induced confidence truly breaks the ice and helps him say what he feels out loud - “Dil Ki Baat Zubaan Pe”. The real impact of the TVC, conceptualised by Ogilvy India is in its execution in a relatable classroom setting for young college-goers and its clear call to action. <div type="Youtube" id="NZGcdzontpM" title="Center fresh | Dil Ki Baat Zubaan Pe | Hindi | 30s" thumbUrl="https://i.ytimg.com/vi/NZGcdzontpM/mqdefault.jpg"></div> Commenting on the new film, Rohit Kapoor - Director Marketing, <keyword id="135659" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="perfetti-van-melle" source="Orion">Perfetti Van Melle</keyword>, India said, “Center fresh has consistently emerged as India’s most trusted brand in the confectionery segment. Consumer love and adulation for the brand has helped it emerge from the challenges posed by the pandemic and reduced out-of-home consumption occasions of the last two years. Center fresh hence has started the year with a strong sales performance and we felt it was only appropriate to go one step further on our positioning with a new tag-line and theme communication. This ad spot duly brings alive a new tag-line “Dil ki Baat Zubaan Pe.” This new TVC will be on-air with a high impact TV plan on popular TV channels, followed by amplification on key digital platforms and an Out Of Home (OOH) campaign in key cities across India.” Anurag Agnihotri, Managing Partner-Creative, (Mumbai) Ogilvy, India said: How does a Gen-Z boy strike a conversation with a Gen-Z girl in a classroom where the session is about to start ? How about, “Will you spend the History class with me?” That’s what the new <keyword id="13201695" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="center-fresh-tvc" source="Orion">Center Fresh TVC</keyword> is all about, of course with a twist &amp; deeply rooted in reality. Firmly connected to the youngest of us, giving them confidence to say it like they feel it. In other words staying true to the new tag-line, 'Dil ki baat zubaan pe.'

Center Fresh aims to position itself as an enabler of confidence that helps to speak your heart out with latest ad

There is a new, shiny marketing trend in Indian FMCG industry. Be it a liquid soap or candies, facelift cream or premium biscuits, marketers are just adding 'gold' before or after the brand name, because of which consumers are attracted to it. 
 
Let alone the FMCG market, even the mobile phones that have 'gold' added to their names or the names of the colour variants, are a hit in the market. 
 
Take, for example, Colgate came out with a new toothbrush, priced it aggressively at Rs 77 per piece, and named it ‘360 Charcoal Gold Toothbrush’. The product was a hit in the market. The tagline, "Wake up to a gold morning... with the gold standard of whole mouth cleaning", hits at Indians’ undying love for gold, which contributed to its popularity. 
 
"The country is besotted with gold. That cuts across the literate and non-literate; it cuts across social, economic, political and religious divides," Harish Bijoor, brand consultant, told <a href="http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/industry/cons-products/fmcg/fmcgs-new-marketing-mantra-is-to-brand-products-gold-and-consumers-dont-seem-to-mind/articleshow/53292120.cms">ET</a>. 
 
Bijoor added that companies now shy away from using platinum and silver, having tried it in the past and failing. "Indians don't understand platinum. And silver remains a distant second to gold," he said. 
 
Some other products that have added ‘gold’ to their names are: Marico's Parachute Gold hair oil, Reckitt Benckiser's Dettol Gold liquid soap and bar soap, confectionery category leader Perfetti Van Melle's Alpenliebe gold candies, and Mondelez's premium biscuit Oreo's Golden Oreo variant. 
 
However, adding ‘gold’ to the name doesn’t always mean that pricing has to necessarily be aggressive since the metal is not always used in the products. Sometimes, companies just want to attract users by this name. 
 
However, every trend is ‘in’ for a limited period of time. Therefore, there are chances that companies might be overplaying with the gold thing. 
 "Marketers attach the gold name to brands to convey quality and premiumness but it needs to be done intelligently, linking it to a good, better, best in their portfolio. Otherwise it loses relevance as different marketers use the gold name for entry-level as well premium-quality products," says Devendra Chawla, group president, food FMCG and brands, <keyword id="44949" type="CITY" weightage="100" keywordseo="Future-group">Future Group</keyword>. 
 
It remains to be seen when the FMCG marketers realise this threat. 
 
<a href="https://mohitze.files.wordpress.com/2015/03/treasure_treasure_chest_euro.jpg">Image source</a>

Indians are so fond of gold that they don’t mind shelling extra money for FMCG products with ‘gold’ in their names

<ul><li><keyword id="501707" type="ORGANIZATION" weightage="20" keywordseo="PV-Sindhu">PV Sindhu</keyword> and <keyword id="753181" type="COMPANY" weightage="20" keywordseo="Baseline-Ventures">Baseline Ventures</keyword>, the agency that handles her, is taking over 20 brands to court for using her name and image on their marketing communications without permission.</li><li>We spoke to Yashwanth Biyyala, Director - Talent and Partnerships, Baseline Ventures who told us how most of these brands have not just flouted rules around the use of an individual's image with her permission, they have also blatantly flouted the Olympics guidelines around advertising. </li></ul>PV Sindhu made the nation proud last week by bringing home a Bronze medal from <keyword id="395647" type="SPORT" weightage="20" keywordseo="Tokyo-Olympics">Tokyo Olympics</keyword>, becoming the first Indian woman to win two Olympic medals. With her win came congratulatory messages on social media, from the government, individuals and even brands who wanted to jump onto the trend, making the most out of the moment. However, Sindhu and Baseline Ventures, the agency that handles the player, is taking over 20 brands to court, for using her name and image without the proper permissions. Baseline Ventures is seeking damages worth Rs 5 crore from each of the brands that have flouted the norms. Officially, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) has laid down clear rules about how athletes can communicate with brands during and after the games. The Rule 40 framework, according to the official Olympic website is aimed to enable ‘the Olympic Movement to fund all Olympic teams worldwide, Olympic sports and the Olympic Games themselves.’ The rulebook has clear guidelines about how players can engage with their Non-Olympic Partner personal sponsors. There is also a blackout period that the athletes are supposed to sign before the games. Apart from brands that are IOC)and Indian Olympic Association (IOA) partners, no other brands are allowed to push out communications with players. “Rule 40 clearly mentions that there is a blackout period between July 13 (when the Olympic Village opens) and August 10 (two days after the Closing Ceremony). All athletes have had to give their consent to Rule 40 which clearly states that their brands cannot promote them during this blackout period. In fact, even brands that are paying money to Sindhu are not using her in their marketing during this period. They have not even put out a congratulatory message,” explained Yashwanth Biyyala, Director - Talent and Partnerships, Baseline Ventures. Officially, only brands that are IOC partners, in this case, Bridgestone and <keyword id="6359421" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="20" keywordseo="visa">Visa</keyword>, are allowed to use the player in their communications during the tournament. Also, brands, like Amul, that have tied up with the IOA, are permitted to use the names of athletes. “Even the athletes themselves cannot put out a branded post during this time period. If brands want to put out content around athletes, they have to take a written consent, and none of them have done it. Close to 15 brands officially work with Sindhu, and since they have not taken IOA’s permission, none of them have sent out a single congratulatory post for her. And then we have brands that are blatantly flouting rules, on an individual athlete level as well as the Olympic rules,” added Biyyala. Having sent legal notices to 15 brands, the agency is in the process of sending notices to 5 more brands. The agency is asking the brands to pay Rs 5 crore and also remove the posts that have flouted the norms from their social media handles. The agency has already sent notices to brands including Happydent (<keyword id="135659" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="Perfetti-Van-Melle">Perfetti Van Melle</keyword>), Pan Bahar, Eureka Forbes, ICICI Bank, HDFC Bank, Vodafone Idea, MG Motor, UCO Bank, Punjab National Bank, <keyword id="6354731" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="20" keywordseo="state-bank-of-india">State Bank of India</keyword>, Kotak Mahindra Bank, Fino Payments Bank, Bank of Maharashtra, Indian Bank and <keyword id="5998660" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="20" keywordseo="Wipro-Lighting">Wipro Lighting</keyword> and is in the process of sending notices to a few more brands.

Baseline Ventures is sending notices to over 20 brands for using PV Sindhu’s image without proper permissions: Yashwanth Biyyala, Baseline Ventures

IIM Ahmedabad With 18 offers, e-commerce major Amazon has been the biggest hirer during the summer placements of the Indian Institute of Management-Ahmedabad (IIM-A). Amazon made the maximum 18 offers, followed by McKinsey &amp; Company with 15 in the consulting domain and Goldman Sachs with nine among the banks.In the general management cohort, Tata Administrative Services was the largest recruiter with 10 offers. In the consumer tech area, Sprinklr made nine offers. Good offers also came in for sales and marketing, with Hindustan Unilever making seven and Procter &amp; Gamble, SC Johnson and <keyword id="10591" type="CITY" weightage="20" keywordseo="Samsung">Samsung</keyword> making six offers each. Prominent recruiters in the investment banking and markets space included Citibank, Credit Suisse, JP Morgan, Kotak IB and Standard Chartered. Banking, financial services and insurance hirers included American Express, FinIQ, Fullerton and RBL. Accenture Strategy, AT Kearney, Bain &amp; Co, Oliver Wyman and the Boston Consulting Group represented the management and niche consulting domain. 
 
IIM Nagpur 
The highest stipend offer that was bagged by a student of the Post Graduate Programme (PGP) batch was of Rs. 1.6 lakh for a duration of two months.Vijay Phate, in-charge of placement office, said, "This year, the highest and the average stipend offered saw a significant jump. The highest stipend offered was Rs1.6 lakh, and the average stipend of the batch also increased by 24% to Rs56,900." This year more than 40 recruiters from across sectors have found IIM-N students suitable for the summer internship positions, the premier institute said in a press statement. IIM-N has seen a significant increase in number of first-time recruiters, even for the second batch of PGP students, it added. 
 
IIM Amritsar 
With Ernst &amp; Young as the top recruiter, IIM Amritsar witnessed 100 per cent placement for its largest ever batch. Ernst and Young was the top recruiter followed by ICICI Lombard, Maruti Suzuki, Shopclues, Toyota, SBI, EXIM Bank, Adani, DHFL Pramerica, PayU, IFFCO, Tega, RBI, Canara Bank and Choco-Swiss. A total of 51 companies had participated in the IIM Amritsar summer placement. While the highest stipend offered is INR 1.1 lakh, the average stipend offered is INR 49780 thus marking an increase in 49.64% in the average stipend on a year-over-year basis. 
 
IIM Shillong 
The season witnessed a highest stipend of INR 2,50,000 and an average total stipend of INR 81,000, a significant jump of 17% from the previous year. A total of 184 roles were offered across various functional domains. Sales &amp; Marketing emerged as the most sought-after domain with 36% of the total offers made to the candidates. Prominent recruiters such as Mahindra GMC, Aditya Birla Group, <keyword id="6355629" type="CITY" weightage="20" keywordseo="Google">Google</keyword>, Dabur, <keyword id="6358584" type="CITY" weightage="20" keywordseo="HSBC">HSBC</keyword>, Perfetti Van Melle, ICICI Bank, Amazon, <keyword id="28721" type="CITY" weightage="20" keywordseo="Cognizant">Cognizant</keyword> Business Consulting, Titan, GSK Pharmaceuticals, TATA Steel, Fidelity Management Research and Wipro continued to show faith in the caliber of the students. The Institute also played host to an array of new and eminent recruiters this year including ITC, <keyword id="6358918" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="Deloitte">Deloitte</keyword> S&amp;O, Kohler, Beiersdorf (Nivea), Yes Bank, Piramal Enterprises, Cummins, VMware, Aviva Life Insurance, Lava, and Metlife. Deloitte emerged as the largest recruiter in Consulting domain offering the highly coveted Strategy and Operations profile. HSBC made the maximum offers in the Finance domain while ITC, Tata Motors and Tata Steel made the highest number of offers in Sales &amp; Marketing domain. Apart from the increasing number of offers made in FMCG, Manufacturing &amp; Retail sectors, the season also saw participation of unconventional sectors such as Healthcare and Social Sector offering Strategy and Development roles. 
 
IIM Udaipur 
Of the 181 students in the batch, 157 sought placements through the Institute while 8 students opted for the summer entrepreneurship programme offered by IIMU. A total of 46 firms made offers for summer internships, an increase of 9.5% over the previous year. While regular recruiters like General Electric, RBL Bank, Amul, Xpress Money, NMC Healthcare, Snapdeal and ICICI Bank among others continued to show their faith in the potential of the students at IIMU, eighteen new firms joined the recruiters’ list. The average stipend offered stands at INR 52,653 while the highest stipend offered jumped to INR 1,60,000, a 10% rise over the previous year. The average stipend offered to the top 10 percentile increased by 5.3% over the previous year to INR 1,30,497. The average stipend offered to top 25 percentile students stands at INR 1,06,100 and for the top 50 percentile it is INR 81,366. All figures are for the entire duration of the internship. This year also witnessed a 100% increase in the number of international placements with 14 students bagging offers outside India. The average stipend for the international placements is INR 1,08,425 for the two months excluding benefits such as accommodation, travel, and flight-tickets. 
 
IIM Trichy 
The average stipend offered for the internship period was Rs. 53,030 and the highest domestic offer was Rs. 2.50 lakhs. Roles were offered across various domains like Sales &amp; Marketing, Finance, General Management, Consulting, Strategy, Operations &amp; HR. Some of the major recruiters taking part in the process were Microsoft, Dabur, World Bank, Mahindra, Accenture, Cognizant, Deloitte, Yes Bank, etc. There was an even distribution in the companies visiting from various sectors like BFSI, Consulting, Manufacturing, IT &amp; Services, FMCG, Retail, E-commerce, Supply Chain &amp; Infrastructure. The average of the top 10% offers for the domains like Sales &amp; Marketing, General Management &amp; Finance witnessed a growth in the range of 20-25% compared to the previous year. The median stipend offered to the top 10 percentile of the batch was Rs. 1.31 lakhs and that offered to the top 25 percentile of the batch was Rs. 1 lakh.

Top summer placement offers at IIMs across the country

<ul class="summary-list"><li><keyword id="6391475" type="ORGANIZATION" weightage="60" keywordseo="coca-cola">Coca-Cola</keyword> has failed to meet many of its internal <keyword id="49089" type="ORGANIZATION" weightage="60" keywordseo="Sustainability">sustainability</keyword> targets, a report by the Changing Markets Foundation found.</li><li>The drinks giant pledged in 1990 to make its bottles from 25% recycled <keyword id="34567" type="PERSON" weightage="60" keywordseo="plastic">plastic</keyword> – but 30 years later, this target hasn’t been met.</li><li><keyword id="47638" type="COMPANY" weightage="60" keywordseo="Mars">Mars</keyword> promises to make 30% of its plastic <keyword id="6359921" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="packaging">packaging</keyword> from recycled content by 2025 through unproven chemical <keyword id="114175" type="PERSON" weightage="60" keywordseo="recycling">recycling</keyword>, which has severe climate consequences, the report said.</li><li>Coca-Cola told Business Insider it was committed to doing "more, faster," and said its missed recycling target was an "an opportunity to learn." Mars said it was "disappointed in the report and its assertions that Mars is not addressing this challenge."</li></ul>In 1990, Coca-Cola set itself a target of selling drinks in bottles made from 25% recycled plastic — but even after reducing that target and pushing back the deadline, its bottles still only contain 10% recycled plastic, 30 years later. The drinks giant, which is the world's largest plastic polluter, producing 2.9 million metric tons of plastic packaging every year, has failed to meet many of its internal sustainability promises, and has opposed new environmental laws, a report by the Changing Markets Foundation published on Thursday found.The foundation, which campaigns for sustainability within organizations, also found that some companies including food manufacturer Mars Incorporated rely heavily on unproven chemical recycling, which changes the chemical structure of used plastic so it replicates the properties of unused plastic. The report described this fast-growing alternative to traditional mechanical recycling as "a false solution" that can further damage the <keyword id="6356826" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="ENVIRONMENT">environment</keyword>.<a href="https://www.mars.com/sustainability-plan/healthy-planet/sustainable-packaging">Mars vowed in 2019 </a>to make 30% of its plastic packaging from recycled content by 2025 – but its packaging currently contains zero recycled content, the report said. The company says <a href="https://www.mars.com/sustainability-plan/healthy-planet/sustainable-packaging">on its website</a> the goal is "dependent on advancement of chemical recycling at pace," suggesting that if it can't scale up its chemical recycling facilities quickly enough, it may not be able to meet the target.Mars also commits to making all of its plastic packaging reusable, recyclable, or compostable by 2025, but currently this figure is only 19%. The report argues that, even if it reached 100%, many companies don't address the fact that "recyclable" products are not ultimately recycled. A lot of the plastic in the ocean is technically recyclable, it said.The report analyzed voluntary commitments from the 10 biggest plastic polluters: Coca-Cola, Colgate-Palmolive, Danone, Mars Incorporated, Mondelēz International, Nestlé, <keyword id="54572" type="CITY" weightage="60" keywordseo="PepsiCo">PepsiCo</keyword>, Perfetti Van Melle, Procter &amp; Gamble, and Unilever. The Foundation researched how environmentally friendly the companies' sustainability policies actually are, such as whether they are eradicating single-use plastics by simply replacing them with other single-use materials. For example, Coca-Cola pledged to stop using plastic straws by 2025, and Mars by 2020, but both appear to just be replacing these with other single-use materials such as paper, the report said.<h3>False promises "easily warped, reframed, or ignored"</h3>The foundation found varying levels of commitment between the companies, but concluded that, overall, they had heavily publicized a few small token projects to portray an illusion of sustainability. The report described this as "marketing greenwashing."The paper argued that "regardless of how ambitious voluntary commitments sound, most companies regard them as just paper promises, easily warped, reframed, or ignored while conveniently generating favorable headlines."Even when companies introduce sustainable practices, they often limit them to certain countries, the report said. Coca-Cola lobbied extensively against plans for a Scottish bottle deposit return scheme — where customers pay a small deposit on plastic bottles and are paid back when the bottles are returned — before changing its stance after heavy press backlash.It produces one in five plastic bottles in the world and continues to fight against the introduction of the system in Kenya and the US state of Georgia, the report said.PepsiCo also plans to make 50% of its plastic packaging from recycled materials in the EU by 2030, but has set a global target of only 25% by 2025, the report found.The foundation also questioned the effectiveness of group initiatives, especially those founded by companies themselves.Nearly 50 companies, including oil and gas companies, retailers, and consumer goods firms, have joined The Alliance to End Plastic Waste, founded in 2019. These members have committed $1.5 billion to the groups research, but invested more than 100 times this amount – $186 billion – into new petrochemical facilities between 2010 and 2017, and over a quarter of members generate an annual turnover of more than $45 billion, the report said.<h3>Coca-Cola promises to learn from missed targets</h3>A Coca-Cola spokesperson said the company is committed to do "more, faster" so that the business grows in the right way, and described missing its target to make its bottles from 25% recycled plastics as "an opportunity to learn."The company said it is "confident" about its goals to collect and recycle a bottle or can for every one it sells by 2030, make its packaging 100% recyclable by 2025, and use 50% recycled material in its bottles and cans by 2030. Coca-Cola says it will achieve the goals by learning from past experience and engaging in partnerships such as the Ellen MacArthur Foundation, which aims to develop what it calls a "circular economy" by reducing waste in product design and manufacturing.It added that bottles with 100% recycled plastic are currently available in 18 markets around the world, and that recently the local Coca-Cola businesses in Norway and Netherlands announced they are now using 100% recycled PET across their portfolio. In Great Britain, the Coca-Cola is preparing to announce that it has reached 50% recycled PET across its packaging, it said.A Mars spokesperson said the company is "disappointed in the report and its assertions that Mars is not addressing this challenge.""Mars is committed to playing our role in delivering more sustainable packaging and advancing our Circular Packaging Plan. This is focused on reducing unnecessary packaging, redesigning the remainder for circularity, and investing to close the loop to help scale up waste management infrastructure."Mars said that it is "is absolutely committed to addressing this issue.""We have not advocated for the use of just one single strategy to address the challenge. Further, Mars is publicly on record regarding our support for extended producer responsibility schemes as a critical piece in addressing the challenge. Our participation in membership organizations is illustrative of this point: we can't tackle this issue alone. The depth of the challenge demands partnership with other businesses, community and government to reduce packaging, to drive the system change required and maximize the collection, sorting and recycling of materials."PepsiCo did not immediately respond to Business Insider's request for comment.

Coca-Cola, PepsiCo, and Mars accused of 'warping, reframing, or ignoring' environmental commitments in major sustainability report

<ul><li>MMA and GroupM's report highlights the growing importance of accountability in marketing and why it is more critical at times like this.</li><li>As per the report, 34% of business respondents have increased digital media budgets while 23% have focused more on eCommerce selling.</li></ul>MMA in association with GroupM released its latest report ‘<keyword id="10441765" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="20" keywordseo="modern-marketer-reckoner">Modern Marketer Reckoner</keyword>’ –a detailed and conceptualized report keeping in mind the business and ecosystem situation in 2020. With the various shifts that have happened in 2020 as well as mobile always being an important part of our daily lives, this year’s report focuses on two major perspectives – the consumer lens and the marketer lens. The consumer lens focuses on the theme “Nothing Is Certain” and it captures the uncertainty and the changes which happened in 2020 at various levels from a consumer’s point of view. The first half of the report talks from a consumer sentiment perspective and the impact it has had at a socio-cultural level. It also highlights the media consumption perspective, with a special focus on digital and mobile app ecosystem. This looks at the growth in the mobile and digital ecosystem in the last few months and how it has leapfrogged. And lastly, it highlights the shopping perspective, focusing on how the shopping basket has changed for consumers, the shift towards essentials and the huge increase in eCommerce as a mode of shopping. While the second half of the report focuses on providing a modern marketing reckoner to marketers on the key strategic tentpoles they should look at, so to navigate the ambiguity and the uncertain business and economic landscape and is themed “Everything is Possible”. It highlights the strategic pillars of modern marketing which marketers should deploy to not only deal with the current uncertainty but is a reckoner, even beyond. This part focuses on how the way consumer content has been changing and therefore how the content ecosystem is seeing the emergence of new formats and trends. Thus, it showcases and discusses how brand communication has moved from creativity to proliferation and thereby what should brands do to retool their strategies. It also highlights the growing importance of accountability in marketing and why it is more critical at times like this. While the first section is more a data and reports led piece, the second section is more centred around best practices, guidelines, expert point of views. Speaking on the report, Prasanth Kumar, CEO, GroupM South Asia said, “The advertising and <keyword id="7678376" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="20" keywordseo="marketing-industry">marketing industry</keyword> has been encountering some fast changes in the past few years with the advancement in innovation and technology. In this current wave of uncertainty and ambiguity, it becomes even more critical for marketers to measure ROI and therefore, invest in data and technology to do the same. The pandemic has triggered a definite shift in the consumer and the business landscape but if we display rigour and foresight and use effective advertising and modern marketing models, we can help businesses stay on top. This year with the report we wanted to decipher the changing face of content and influencers, new communication formats and channels, and the ways to build powerful brands.” “The reckoner underlines the marketing industry’s certainty when it comes to the rapidly expanding mobile channel,” said Rohit Dadwal, Managing Director at MMA Asia Pacific. “The industry, on the whole, recognises that the modern era of the market is upon us and we need to embrace it. this new age of marketing is going to be built on tools and technology that this report helps to outline along with great examples through the lens of various industry leaders who are the torch bears of this change… helping @shapethefuture for marketers and agencies in India and abroad.” <keyword id="651159" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="Tushar-Vyas">Tushar Vyas</keyword>, President, GroupM South Asia commented, “One of the biggest areas of impact that has emerged is the digital ecosystem. It plays a huge part in the way the business landscape of today has unfolded. We believe that modern marketers will have an advantage if they can apply deep insights to understand the changing landscape. In this period of uncertainty, we need to be more outcome-driven and mobile aligned to usher hope and dynamism into the life of the consumer again. With this report, we wanted to address the huge changes in the industry and talk about the new ways to embed data into every part of the business and decode them to get powerful insights which in turn can help brands communicate better.” Rajesh Ramakrishnan, Managing Director, Perfetti Van Melle India commented “We have seen unprecedented changes in 2020 and this has an impact on consumer and shopper behaviour as well as on our media consumption habits. Yet, even as many things change, some things remain constant- for brands to stick to their fundamentals- develop relevant differentiated products, build iconic brands, expand reach, and create engaging communication. This report, as always is basis extensive research and nicely encapsulates the changing landscape and the key considerations that Marketers need to keep in mind as they navigate through 2021 and beyond”. Sandeep Bhushan, Director &amp; Head of GMS India, Facebook commented, “We are experiencing unprecedented shifts in consumer attitudes and behaviours due to the pandemic. A significant digital acceleration has happened on the back of social media, and with over 400 million Indians connected on the Facebook family of apps in India, mobile is now central to media consumption and business impact. To build on the opportunity, businesses need to adopt the immersive tools on the platform, pivot the media-mix and measure true incremental business outcomes. Our playbooks for the new normal in partnership with GroupM and Ogilvy are now available for all marketers to accelerate growth.” <keyword id="6812225" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="Moneka-Khurana">Moneka Khurana</keyword>, Country Head, MMA India said, “This report is an extremely holistic and robust report and has been written basis intensive research across multiple industry studies and reports, a lot of primary research which has been conducted in the past few months both by MMA and GroupM, POVs and contributions from multiple industry experts across multiple areas and verticals, POVs and contributions from GroupM leadership, GroupM subject matter experts and MMA board members.” Key highlights from the report: · 54% of businesses have been impacted by covid in India, of which retail, travel and tourism have been hardest hit. · 34% of business respondents have increased digital media budgets while 23% have focused more on eCommerce selling. · Almost 90% of people agree that they are more careful about how they are spending their money. · 50% of people have delayed big purchases and almost 38% have cut down on day-to-day expenses. · Hardest hit are the discretionary categories – 77% have reduced eating at restaurants. 55% have reduced buying clothing and fashion accessories and 48% have reduced spending on consumer electronics. What has seen a positive impact are the areas related to health and hygiene – 29% are exercising more at home, 24% are consuming more vitamins and supplements, 23% are spending more on groceries. · Among the digital-first timers - 45% streamed movies, 43% got WFH software, 33% used an e-learning app, 28% purchased grocery online and 22% consulted a doctor online.

54% of businesses have been impacted by covid in India, of which retail, travel and tourism have been hardest hit: Report

<ul><li>Our weekly virtual chat features some of the most loved creative heads and directors who take us on a walk down memory lane, talking about some of the most talked-about and well-appreciated ads they have worked on.</li><li>In the latest episode, <keyword id="271660" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="Ram-Madhvani">Ram Madhvani</keyword>, Founder and Director, Equinox Films spoke to us about Amazon’s Kindle Paperwhite film, <keyword id="2510610" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="Airtel-Wynk">Airtel Wynk</keyword>’s ad and Happydent’s well-known Palace campaign.</li></ul>For Ram Madhvani, Founder and Director, Equinox Films, the world of advertising has been a great teacher. While the ad world helped people meet people who have all become a very important part of his life, including his wife, Madhvani, during a recent conversation said that advertising had also taught him work ethic. “I get a sense of responsibility from the world of advertising. Here things happen on time. Apart from that, I have also learnt a lot about communicating with the audience and the idea that its about what you say, how you say it and how you make people feel. I have learnt a lot of the craft of reaching out to the public, thanks to advertising,” said Madhvani, on the latest episode of BTS with Insiders. Madhvani who is known for his feature films including Neerja and Let’s Talk is also credited with directing some of the most loved ads in recent times that include multiple ads for Airtel including Har Ek Friend Zaruri Hota Hai, DOcomo, Coca-Cola, Asian Paints and Bisleri among many others. On BTS with Insiders, Madhvani spoke about 3 ads that he holds dear. <div type="javascript" title="Facebook" contenttype="Video"><cdata><![CDATA[]]></cdata></div> Amazon’s Kindle Paperwhite More than a year after Amazon launched Kindle in India, it came out with a campaign to introduce Indian consumers to the e-reader through a long-form film. The ad was a celebration of people who love stories and books and depicts the joy of reading through the journey of a young man who travels to a village to leave children spellbound with the stories he narrates to them, the same stories he reads on his Kindle device. Speaking about why the campaign was special for him, Madhvani said, “Since Kindle is all about stories and filmmaking is all about stories, the Kindle film was a demo film about stories. And that’s how we sold it to the client. It was a tremendously exciting opportunity for us too. The film had amazing music by Tajdar Junaid with lyrics and the voice of <keyword id="21050" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="Swanand-Kirkire">Swanand Kirkire</keyword>. The ad has been shot real, without any lights. Many of the shots have been done without permissions, even the one on the plane. I was scolded by a lady on the plane too. We wanted to make the shots real. My producers were able to set this up in a way that we were able to do this in a very small unit.” The intent was also to make the film feel real and more like a documentary. “While the ad is shot in Sri Lanka, its not meant to look like Sri Lanka. We had to shoot there because we didn’t get permission in Lakshadweep. But I have this quest for the Indian eye. I wanted to understand what an Indian aesthetic is and I realized when you’re framing stuff, apart from it being emotional, its chaotic. The West has told us about the S curve, the rule of thirds or about minimal framing. I had all these conversations with <keyword id="3945289" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="raj-deepak-das">Raj Deepak Das</keyword> who is a great motivator. He said, ‘We need a new language.’ So we decided all our frames should have foreground, mid ground and background and all the compositions are going to be chaotic,” he shared. The ad was well received and had over 5.3 million views on Amazon’s official Youtube channel in just 7 days and today Kindle is seeing a huge adoption among Indian readers. Airtel Wynk In 2014, Madhvani worked with Taproot on a campaign for Airtel’s music streaming app Wynk. The setting of the film was larger-than-life. It brought together over 700 musicians under one room and featured around 14 different genres of music. All the music featured in the ad were original compositions. The campaign also featured Sanya Malhotra. “A lot of this is thanks to Agnello Dias, Gopal Vittal and others from the marketing team of Airtel who allow us these acts of madness, believe these ideas and embrace them. That only comes due to the relationships you build with people. Great work comes from a certain creative greed and I can’t lead that. I can only smell that greed. I have realized great creative directors who want great work, people like Dias, Das, Prasoon Joshi and Sajan Raj Kurup, are all mast in their own creative zones and all I did was held on to their tail. In a way they are my co-directors,” added Madhvani. The film was shot in a day. All the musical parts were rehearsed and pre-recorded. “There were so many people, we had a lot of rushes and so many different genres of music. So it was a lot to handle. However, the entire team handled all of that really well and <keyword id="194866" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="Hemant-Chaturvedi">Hemant Chaturvedi</keyword>, our director of photography, gave it a rock concert feel. It was also Sanya’s first ad. She came with a completely spontaneous, unfrazzled talent and I would love to work with her again,” added Madhvani. Happydent’s ‘Palace’ In 2015, Happydent’s Palace commercial was named as one of the World's 20 best ads of the 21st century by the Gunn Report. The ad was conceptualized by Prasoon Joshi and directed by Madhvani. Speaking about how Joshi’s grand vision was executed, Madhvani said, “Its great working with Prasoon because he has a poet’s mind. It was meant to be a montage film and we had presented a commercial in Delhi which wasn’t a great commercial. And I had thought he would never give me Happydent. But it was really nice of him to trust me. I asked him if we could make a narrative film rather than a montage and he agreed. It was tough. The music was done by <keyword id="73991" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="Shantanu-Moitra">Shantanu Moitra</keyword> and the song was sung by Kailash Kher. Composers Vishal-Shekhar were in the next studio. When the duo came to see the commercial, they said they wanted to be a part of it. So they ended up giving the Qawwali claps in the film,” added Madhvani with a laugh. He also shared the day after the ad was released, Madhvani visited the Ogilvy office and he got a standing ovation there. “That was a really sweet moment. Also, Sameer Suneja (who is now the global CEO of Perfetti Van Melle) really supported us. We showed him an 85 as well as a 60 seconder because originally it was originally supposed to be 60 seconds long. But after watching the 85 seconder, he said he did not want to watch the other version. It took a lot of courage from the client as well as from Prasoon to back the idea and back me. So I take no credit except for just made sure that I executed it in a cussed kind of way,” explained Madhvani. While the shoot was supposed to happen in some palace in Rajasthan, it finally happened in Panvel due to lack of funds. However, that hardly affected the final outcome and the ad is still one of Happydent’s most iconic ads.

I take no credit for the Happydent Palace ad, except for making sure I executed in a cussed kind of way: Ram Madhvani

<ul><li><keyword id="501707" type="ORGANIZATION" weightage="20" keywordseo="PV-Sindhu">PV Sindhu</keyword> and her agency Baseline Ventures is taking over 20 brands to court for using her image and name for moment-marketing, without her consent or proper permissions.</li><li>The agency is seeking damages of Rs 5 crore from each of the brands.</li><li>In wake of the incident, we speak to experts to understand how brands can be careful and avoid such legal complications when using <keyword id="6813822" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="20" keywordseo="Moment-Marketing">moment marketing</keyword> as a strategy.</li></ul>Last week, ace shuttler made the country proud by becoming the first Indian woman to win two Olympic medals. The country came together to congratulate her on her historic achievement and brands joined in, as much to congratulate her as to ride on the trend that Sindhu had created with her win. However, Sindhu is now said to be exploring legal options to take a lot of these brands to court, for using her name and image for their marketing purposes without proper authorization. In the past few years, we have seen many brands build their social presence with the help of moment marketing. We have seen brands jump in on topical conversations with their own take on something that is trending. In doing so, they have many-a-times, used individuals and their names to make the most of the trending moment. The benefits are obvious, while coming up with content that many relate with, they are also able to become a part of the conversation, making it easier for them to grab eyeballs and become a part of the conversation. However, with Sindhu taking an objection to the way her name has been used by brand, there is a chance that brands will become more careful about how they use a public personality's image or name in their content. Sindhu, who is managed by sports marketing agency Baseline Ventures, is reportedly seeking damages worth Rs 5 crore from brands that have used her name and images without her consent. Speaking on what is wrong with the way these brands have handled things, Yashwanth Biyyala, Director - Talent and Partnerships, Baseline Ventures said, “The fact that these brands used PV Sindhu’s images and name on their posts is a clear infringement on the player’s privacy. Moreover, they are also clearly flouting the norms of the International Olympic Committee (IOC), that has put together clear guidelines around advertising during the tournament. In fact there was a blackout period between July 13 (when the Olympic Village opens) and August 10 (two days after the Closing Ceremony) when even brands that sponsor the player are not allowed to post about them. Only IOC and the Indian Olympic Association (IOA) partners are allowed to post about the players.” In total, Baseline Ventures is taking close to 20 brands to court for flouting the rules, out of which legal notices have already been sent to 15. The brands that have already been sent notices include Happydent (Perfetti Van Melle), Pan Bahar, Eureka Forbes, ICICI Bank, HDFC Bank, Vodafone Idea, MG Motor, UCO Bank, Punjab National Bank, <keyword id="6354731" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="20" keywordseo="state-bank-of-india">State Bank of India</keyword>, Kotak Mahindra Bank, Fino Payments Bank, Bank of Maharashtra, Indian Bank and <keyword id="5998660" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="20" keywordseo="Wipro-Lighting">Wipro Lighting</keyword>. Over the years, we have seen many brands build a huge social media following on the back of moment marketing. In fact, Amul is one brand that has garnered immense love for their take on almost everything topical. Amongst new-age brands, we have seen the likes of Dunzo and Zomato churn out relatable, topical content time and again. So following this incident, will agencies need to be doubly careful about how they go about communicating on topical issues, when using the names and images of individuals? Sharing his view on the development, <keyword id="244384" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="Lloyd-Mathias">Lloyd Mathias</keyword>, Business Strategist and former Marketing Head of HP Asia, Motorola and PepsiCo India said, “Moment marketing is fantastic in itself and brands that have their own take on topical issues do get consumers attention. However, when a brand uses a specific individual and his/her achievements to gain commercial mileage without prior permission or getting into a contract with that individual, then it is unfair. Brands should display more maturity and seek permission from athletes or their agents before using them overtly or covertly.Most Indian sportspersons outside cricket could benefit from a brand association that may provide them support – that could be monetary, or in terms of exposure or facilities.” To ensure brands do not infringe upon the privacy of celebrities, the <keyword id="120108" type="ORGANIZATION" weightage="20" keywordseo="Advertising-Standards-Council-of-India">Advertising Standards Council of India</keyword> (ASCI) already has a code in place. The code says "Advertisements shall not, without permission from the person, firm or institution under reference, contain any reference to such person, which confers and unjustified advantage on the product advertised or tends to bring the person, firm or institute into ridicule or disrepute. If and when required to do so by ASCI, the advertiser and the advertising agency shall produce explicit permission from the person, firm or institution to which reference is made in the advertisement," and ads that do not comply with this requirement may be in violation of the ASCI Code. On how brands need to tread in situations like the current one, Manisha Kapoor, Secretary-General, ASCI said, “Brands need to be careful and calibrated about everything that goes into an ad, right from the visuals, the words, and the implication of their messaging. Advertisements are made with high involvement of strategic and creative resources, and it goes without saying that they must pay keen attention to aspects that can be challenged.” Moment marketing is all about coming up with relatable posts when something is making news and reaping the benefits of joining the trend. Agencies usually have very less time in which to churn out content that is relatable and shareable, which is possibly why a few miss out on checking on the legal aspects of putting up such posts. However, in the wake of this incident, agencies will need to be doubly careful, said <keyword id="11806503" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="20" keywordseo="Rajni-Daswani">Rajni Daswani</keyword>, Director – Brand Experience, So Cheers. On how agencies can avoid getting into trouble, Daswani said, “Agencies should definitely educated themselves on what they are and aren’t allowed to do because if they are providing that service to their clients, it is their responsibility to cross checking at their end. Secondly, brands can simply be creative without using individual names, image .You want to be a part of the moment, but you also don't want to get stuck into the legal implications. There are a lot of creative, indirect ways to do it and the internet is full of people who understand such indirect references.” Sharing a similar thought, Manesh Swamy, Sr VP - Creative, Social, PR, Marcom, <keyword id="3900173" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="Logicserve-Digital">Logicserve Digital</keyword> said, “The IPLs and the World Cups have stricter copyright laws and hence you don't see pictures of cricketers but victory silhouette poses in branded posts. The Golds and Silvers are still rare for us, so people and brands go a little overboard genuinely to celebrate the Olympic feat. If the brand is just celebrating these small moments of joy without selling anything, I guess it shouldn't be harmful. To ace moment marketing considering the current situation, the best move would be to do surrogate advertising and play with the essence of the moment.” On what could be a simpler way of getting around issues like this while also being a part of the moment, Sushant Vithaldas - Head of Business, Schbang Bengaluru said, "For the larger audience of viewers and consumers, it’s very difficult to distinguish between a direct association and a congratulatory post or show of support by a brand. Significant progress is being made in the way influencers endorse a product with callouts for “#PaidPartnerships” or #Ad. A simple fix like this that carries the words “#MomentMarketing” on such posts is a far more easier way to address the issue and let brands and marketeers celebrate the moment in its true spirit." So can this incident lead to the way moment marketing is done in the future? Sanjay Mehta, Joint CEO of Mirum India said, “For the time being, since ASCI has come down heavily on brands that used these stars without permission, other brands will be sensitive to this idea, and won't use any names if they don't have the rights. Just like brands have got tuned to not abuse the IPL property and the cricketers' rights and privileges. Considering that these non-cricket sports and the sportspeople do not get much visibility ordinarily, these controls will unfortunately, make them even less visible, and brands will not err to the side of caution. They may not even mention a wrestling hero or a woman golfer, for not knowing if they have any other brand engagements and could create conflicts! Moment marketing around events of this kind, will get constrained and may be limited to acknowledging the sport and not the star. These are challenging new areas to tread on, in the digital age, and reforms to these rules, so that guidelines have a reasonable balance, will emerge, ultimately.”

As PV Sindhu takes 20 brands to court for using her name and image without permission, here's how agencies and brands can be careful with moment-marketing in the future

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For rural India, mobile recharges are important than colas, chocolates

BI India Bureau

Center Fresh aims to position itself as an enabler of confidence that helps to speak your heart out with latest ad

BI India Partner

Indians are so fond of gold that they don’t mind shelling extra money for FMCG products with ‘gold’ in their names

BI India Bureau

Baseline Ventures is sending notices to over 20 brands for using PV Sindhu’s image without proper permissions: Yashwanth Biyyala, Baseline Ventures

Samarpita Banerjee

Top summer placement offers at IIMs across the country

Anushree Singh

Coca-Cola, PepsiCo, and Mars accused of 'warping, reframing, or ignoring' environmental commitments in major sustainability report

Grace Dean

54% of businesses have been impacted by covid in India, of which retail, travel and tourism have been hardest hit: Report

BI India Partner

I take no credit for the Happydent Palace ad, except for making sure I executed in a cussed kind of way: Ram Madhvani

Samarpita Banerjee

As PV Sindhu takes 20 brands to court for using her name and image without permission, here's how agencies and brands can be careful with moment-marketing in the future

Samarpita Banerjee

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