May 16-31, 2019 Volume 7, Issue 22 `100

THE CHALLENGERS RAHUL JAUHARI JOINT PRESIDENT REDIFFUSION The advertising-led streaming game in India is no longer a monopoly. While YouTube is still the biggest force in the business, it’s not the only one.

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This fortnight... Volume 7, Issue 22 an an advertiser run an online video-led campaign without YouTube in the EDITOR Sreekant Khandekar C media plan? About 12 months back, the answer would have been a resounding PUBLISHER May 16-31, 2019 Volume 7, Issue 22 `100 no. But today, maybe, just maybe, a brand can successfully run a digital campaign Sreekant Khandekar without using YouTube at all. Sure, no advertiser would, but one could. The fact EXECUTIVE EDITOR that we can even fathom this as a plausible digital plan is a big deal. And that’s Ashwini Gangal the clincher our cover story this issue is based on – the monopoly YouTube hitherto ASSOCIATE EDITOR Sunit Roy enjoyed is coming to an end, as other video streaming platforms enter the big league. The challengers, as we like to call them, have arrived. PRODUCTION EXECUTIVE THE CHALLENGERS Andrias Kisku RAHUL JAUHARI ADVERTISING ENQUIRIES JOINT PRESIDENT REDIFFUSION The advertising-led streaming game in Shubham Garg India is no longer a monopoly. While There are many theories about how and why YouTube and the online video YouTube is still a big force in the 81301 66777 (M) segment, it’s not the only one. streaming segment reached this point. While some believe YouTube’s trajectory is unremarkable and in line with the laws of a free market, others feel the platform might Apoorv Kulshrestha 9873824700 (M) 16 just have missed a trick or two but aren’t quite able to pinpoint exactly how. Still others Noida point to facts that have more to do with the ecosystem and realities therein than with Nikhil Jhunjhunwala 9833371393 (M) YouTube per se. For instance, as the head of one of YouTube’s challenger brands stated Mumbai in the story, in any discussion around brand safety, platforms – and consequently, their [email protected] advertisers – that run on curated or user generated content are at a higher risk than those MARKETING OFFICE with more regulated content. B 3, Ground Floor, Sector 4, Noida -201301 Uttar Pradesh

What makes all this hyper-competition between YouTube and other video platforms MUMBAI 302, Makani Center, 3rd Floor, even more intriguing is the fact that there is no universal consensus on what constitutes Off Linking Road, Bandra (W), ‘a view’; presently, there are as many definitions as there are platforms – and the range Mumbai - 400050 is laughable. In such a scenario, each platform’s elevator pitch to advertisers is based SUBSCRIPTION ENQUIRIES on a different set of promises around the kind of reach it affords. Consequently, each [email protected] platform’s conversation around advertising rates and a brand’s return on investment is Owned by Banyan Netfaqs Pvt Ltd and based on an entirely different foundation. Printed and published by Sreekant Khandekar, at 7-A/13, Ch. Ratan Singh Complex, Jawala Heri Market, Paschim Vihar, New Delhi-110 063.

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Ashwini Gangal Cover Design [email protected] Arti Virmani CONTENTS 10 6 LUX COZI Scented Vests to Beat the Heat The new campaign stars Bollywood actor Varun Dhawan.

PLUS PALLAVI CHOPRA 22 The Buzz CAMPAIGN TRAIL Around redBus Ads of the Fortnight 28 We spoke with Pallavi Chopra, senior brand WILD STONE 24 KAJARIA MOVEMENTS/APPOINTMENTS director - marketing head 30 at redBus, about the new Smell Like a Man Time to Rethink? Who’s Where campaign, the challenges We analyse the latest Wild Is Akshay ‘Patriot’ Kumar still and more. Stone talcum ad. an effective ambassador.

afaqs! Reporter, May 16-31, 2 0 1 9 5 e LUX COZI Scented Vests to Beat the Heat A campaign created by 82.5 Communications stars Varun Dhawan endorsing the new line of scented vests. By Aishwarya Ramesh and Abid Hussain Barlaskar

hen a man is being to launch a product, say an odour- macho in an ad, sweating free or odour-resistant vest, instead Wprofusely, beating up bad of a scented or perfumed banyan.” guys, you can be sure it’s an ad KV Sridhar or Pops (as he is fondly for vests. Most vests and innerwear called), founder and chief creative ads for men bank on selling hyper- officer of Hyper Collective (a cross- masculinity using celebrities. The disciplinary innovations company), ads tend to project these actors says “Brand like Lux Cozi and Rupa, as desirable, strong and tough. unlike say a Calvin Klein, are massy Sometimes these ads have elements and celebrity endorsements play of humour too. a significant role because of their Lux Innerwear’s annual company popularity. They are sold in hosiery report for 2017-18 says the innerwear shops and the celebrity’s picture textile industry is expected to reach also adorns the packaging of the `595 billion by 2023 at a 13 per cent items. That’s the market the brands CAGR. In the innerwear market, proposed by an agency finds its way good because it’s scented. It’s very are talking to and that’s also why mid and economy range products to the market.” ideally suited for a country like ours endorsements matter.” contribute 85-90 per cent of the On the phone, he clarified the where the weather is hot and sweaty, He says that talking of fragrant market, generally consumed in small idea of a scented vest was something irrespective of whether you’re products, it is far more believable cities and rural areas. The latest that came out during an informal indoors or outdoors.” when a detergent brand says so. entry into the innerwear segment is brainstorming session during a Anuraag Khandelwal, ECD and “Let’s say when you wash clothes an innovation that claims to keep the meeting with the client. “There was creative head, 82.5 Communications, with it, they smell like Jasmine. user smelling fresh all summer, no no brief; it was just an idea that said in a release, “Vests as a category Now, talking of a scented vest, how matter how hot it gets. Lux Cozi has came about. Many a time, people in has almost always focused on style long would the fragrance last when launched a range of scented vests. agencies suggest product ideas, but and comfort as its driving force. it is washed with another fragrant Pradeep Todi, MD, Lux the client at the end has to be able With this innovation, we wanted detergent? People may not take the Industries, said, “Lux Cozi is one to implement it. They instantly felt to change the way the country claim very seriously.” of the largest market shareholders “When it comes to in the economy to the mid-segment The innerwear textile industry is expected to undergarments, it’s all about fit of men’s innerwear. As part of and comfort and that’s why people our core business strategy, we are reach `595 billion by 2023 at a 13% CAGR. stick to their brand of choice. And open to innovation in our product then it’s another commodity with range. The introduction of scented it was something doable and it had looks at this age-old garment, while little differentiation across brands. vests within the fold of Lux Cozi value in the market. They worked keeping it relevant to the needs of The sellers will push the brand that will allow its users to remain fresh on it for a few months and actually the everyday Indian.” provides the highest profit margin. throughout the day in the scorching implemented it. So, brands need to provide handles summer heat. The scented vests are He added that in hindsight, EXPERTS SPEAK to consumers. A new celebrity is a made from 100 per cent cotton to the idea made sense because of Tarun Singh Chauhan, partner, handle, new advertising is a handle, ensure breathability and freshness.” the weather in a tropical country TSC consulting, says, “Lux is a big so is new product differentiation. 82.5 Communications was like India. “India as a country is and powerful brand. A product like Such a product will at least create Lux Cozi’s creative agency for hot and sweaty and we all tend to a scented vest is something like a some curiosity and put the brand the campaign and Sumanto start smelling in the hot weather. white cement that is as good as into consideration. Post that, it is all Chattopadhyay, Chairman and A scented banyan is a solution to regular cement, but only white. The about the product performance, the Chief Creative Officer, 82.5 that because instead of the banyan advertising is aimed to create top- scent may last a day or a month,” Communications, said in a press being soaked in sweat and starting of-mind recall and keep the brand Sridhar signs off. n release, “It’s rare that a product idea to smell bad, it would still smell exciting. A real innovation would be [email protected]

6 afaqs! Reporter, May 16-31, 2 0 1 9

e UNIBIC Snacking on Paan In a bid to Indianise its offering, Unibic has introduced a paan flavoured variant. We spoke to the marketing head Aarti B Iyer about the product. By Aishwarya Ramesh

t started with the McAloo Tikki burger. It was a flavour Ipreviously unheard of, but made waves when McDonald’s debuted the flavour in India. McDonald’s is just one of many international brands that has had to introduce new flavour variants to appeal to the Indian palette. Another international fast food chain KFC had to introduce a whole new vegetarian menu to ensure that Indian sensibilities were catered to. Even ready to consume FMCG products To target their like Lays chips (with a consumers, Unibic magic masala flavour) and works with creative Tic Tac (with saunf and agency Plan B and raw mango flavours) are its media buying no strangers to this trend. duties are handled Kellogg’s India introduced by Mindshare. To three new cereal flavours promote Unibic’s this year in association with cookies and snack Chef Ranveer Brar – rose, bars, it has teamed badam, and kesar pista. The up with influencers latest brand we’ve spotted to We asked if the production across Instagram jump the Indian flavour bandwagon process of making unique flavours and has also partnered with Shilpa is Unibic, which first came to India in like the one that Unibic offers is Shetty Kundra’s YouTube channel 2004 from Australia. Its first offering very different from the normal to promote the digestive cookie was Anzac and Bradman cookies and manufacturing process, to which offering. we recently spotted Unibic offering she replied, “It’s not about spending We asked Iyer how she spent a meetha paan flavoured snack bar. more because it’s an Indian flavour. her marketing money. She admitted Meetha paan is about as Indian as Any cookie has the same kind of that a majority of the money spent it gets and the flavour seems quite process – you put the dough, the on marketing went towards TV and popular among Indian taste buds. sugar, the ingredients, and then get digital and whatever remained was Indian brand Havmor announced into baking. In this case, we just spent on outdoor. She also pointed the launch of its paan flavoured ice added a different kind of ingredient out that in certain regions, some cream this year and Durex India like we would add fruits or nuts. We types of content works better than announced a condom variant with a just started adding a little bit of chilli the other and the spending tended meetha pan flavour as well. Unibic’s “It’s for people like flakes, ajwain. That’s how we did it.” to be region specific. “We take a snack bar claims to have real gulkand She pointed out that some people secondary or tertiary medium in chunks, 13.4 per cent fibre content you and me who and positions itself as a healthier, tend to consume Meetha paan is about as Indian as it gets and hygienic and convenient way of consuming paan. This isn’t the only unhealthy or the flavour seems quite popular. outlandish Indian flavour that the fried foods in the company offers – it also dabbles in lean towards craving savoury flavours that region which will become the flavours such as chilli butter, ajwain, evening.” and when it comes to making cookies second most dominant feature of and jeera. AARTI B IYER or snack bars with unique flavours, our marketing efforts in that area. Aarti B Iyer, the marketing head of the company was careful not to go In some regions, digital might work, Unibic in India, told us that the main overboard and turn off consumers in but if it’s a cinema-led region where target audience is young adults and the process. people are eagerly waiting for new office-goers and the snack bars are benefits or hardcore gym-goers. It’s Iyer also spoke about how movies to come out, then it would aimed at satisfying evening hunger for people like you and me who tend different categories of Unibic had work for us to advertise in cinema pangs when people tend to gravitate to consume unhealthy or fried foods a different target audience. She halls,” she told us. She also informs towards unhealthy or fried food, in the evening.” Iyer said. She went informed us that while cookies are us that this helped the brand take a hence compromising on health. on say that the paan flavoured variant primarily consumed by people of 360 degree approach to marketing The advertising messages for the was on an experimental note. “It all ages, their digestive range of and it helps them target and speak snack bars are a reflection of this could have been treated as a mouth biscuits are consumed by the middle to members in the 18-35 age group messaging. “It’s not a 100 per cent freshner or as a snack bar or just as aged segment and that the older who are the primary growth drivers nutrition-driven offering. It’s not a snack. We thought let’s try and see people tended to gravitate towards for the brand. n for people who are seeking health how it works.” consuming sugar-free cookies. [email protected]

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PALLAVI CHOPRA The Buzz Around redBus n an attempt to capture and appeal to the national app. It’s convenient, and offers a whole breadth market, online bus tickets booking app redBus of options of bus operators, routes, services Ihas come up with a new 360 degree integrated all at your fingertips. There are also ratings marketing campaign starring MS Dhoni as Balbir and reviews that we have so it is that category Singh, the captain of a hockey team, and Gajraj Rao creation that enables a shift in behaviour from as Raja Babu, a politician. Previously, the brand ran doing things the old way to doing things the campaigns featuring south Indian actor Allu Arjun and new way. we’re told these campaigns helped redBus gain a strong foothold in the southern market. redBus boasts of nearly In your space, who are your competitors? 20 million active users every month, of which roughly Actually, the way I look at it, since we are 50 per cent are from Tier I markets and the remaining dominant in this market with a 70 per cent 50 per cent are from Tier II and III markets. online market share, we compete with the We spoke with Pallavi Chopra, senior brand old way of doing things. We compete with director - marketing head at redBus, about the new what happens offline. Beating competition to campaign, the challenges and more. Edited excerpts: us means enabling behaviour change – getting users to book tickets online when earlier they Who is your main TG? What is the profile were doing it offline or over the counter. of a typical redBus user? We target 2-3 kinds of people who travel for How do you retain new users and convert different purposes. They’re mostly first-jobbers them into returning customers? or students who are going back home. A lot of After we acquire a new user, our retention our travel is homebound travel by youngsters. marketing efforts kick in. The minute he The second category of travellers is businessmen “Our app is very specific becomes a new user, he enters a segment called or salesmen who travel for work. The last to bus booking so we try first to repeat communication program that category is that of low budget leisure travellers. is designed to build loyalty. We communicate and build features that to him regularly about the benefits of using What is the biggest challenge of marketing will help the customer redBus, reinforcing various features that we an app like redBus? have which we believe will draw loyalty for Our biggest challenge is when we’re talking throughout the duration of us. Features like live bus tracking, or the wake to audiences across the country – designing his journey.” up alarm – an alarm that goes off on the user’s a communication that resonates well with phone just before he has to get off at his stop. them. The reason we signed Dhoni as a brand PALLAVI CHOPRA Our app is very specific to bus booking so we ambassador is because he cuts across geography. try and build features that will help the customer We did extensive surveys to find out who the throughout the duration of his journey. We brand’s face should be and Dhoni was the face markets. South has been our strongest hold thus believe that all the things that we do which that resonated the best with different regions. far, so the challenge really has been to build makes the bus journey predictable is how we the brand in the west and north. That’s where retain consumers. What was your brief to McCann for this we feel our growth is going to come from, campaign? penetrating Tier II markets in the south. What is the biggest challenges of marketing When you want to penetrate markets outside The third is going after underpenetrated your product? of your core market, you have to focus on categories. If you look at the private bus market, First, connecting with audiences from category building efforts. If you look at one of it has about 45 per cent online penetration. different parts of the country. The consumers the strongest drivers of the category, it is seat While the state-run buses have only 10 per cent are similar, but also very different. The second selection. The ability to be able to select the seat online penetration. The headroom for growth is is how do you accelerate offline to online of your choice on the redBus app has been one immense. movement? Behaviour change is not easy and of the strongest category drivers for us – that’s If you look at it from a short term tactical requires a lot of investment. how the first film happened. perspective, our performance and growth drivers Essentially our marketing activities are The other big driver which lowers the barrier come from how we leverage our brand during focused on acquiring new users. Apart from to entry is price. As a platform, because of the key consumption periods - festivals, holidays, staying top of mind with users we’ve already scale that we have, we are able to offer good school and college vacations and long weekends. acquired, the challenge is how to continuously pricing. We wanted to talk about that as well – acquire new users. that’s how the second film happened. Category creation – what exactly does this phrase mean? What is the lead medium of communication What are the other big performance/growth It refers to how you build a category of you work with? drivers for redBus? online bus ticketing. Traditionally, tickets are Lead media is TV and digital. TV gives you Long term performance and growth drivers booked over the counter, through bus operator mass reach and digital because we are a digital are category creation. As a category leader, if we outlets or agents, who are usually present at native brand – our audience is right there. We invest in category creation, we benefit the most. boarding points. When I say category creation, do a lot of ambient media – outdoors, and Which is why the brand building efforts are I mean moving folks from doing things the partnerships with bus operators. We’ve also been centred around that. traditional way, to start doing things in the doing advertising on cinema (during breaks). n Second thing is going after underpenetrated new way – which is booking bus tickets on the [email protected]

10 afaqs! Reporter, May 16-31, 2 0 1 9

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CHERRY BLOSSOM Keep on Shining The shoe polish brand’s newest ad campaigns have an emotional touch. By Aishwarya Ramesh

herry Blossom is back with two new ad campaigns – but Cthere is no black and white, silent-film feel to these ads. The new ads place shoe polish in a modern context in two different settings where making a good impression is important. The ads also lightly touch upon aspects of sincerity and hard work. “Over the last few years, we have witnessed a decline in the relevance of polishing shoes. As the market leader, the onus is on us to revive the habit. Our endeavour through this campaign is to increase the importance of polishing shoes in the consumer’s life, thus making the act relevant again,” said Sukhleen Aneja, CMO and marketing director, Hygiene Home, South Asia, Reckitt Benckiser. Cherry Blossom ads are known for “Our brief was to make the act of their vintage look and feel polishing shoes relevant again and an attempt to revive the simple habit do not associate with shoe polish of polishing shoes by linking it with anymore. the value of discipline. The vintage look and feel was a deliberate choice Neeraj Bassi, to invoke nostalgia, thus making the chief strategy officer and managing emotional response to the creatives partner, Publicis India more powerful. This is our first The ads are well executed with digital campaign for Cherry since our a certain status along with a dose to being a functional one. Meaning good performances but there are TG is mostly on social media today,” of entertainment. That’s when the consumers today consume a lot more some strategic aspects to think she told us. idea of using Charlie Chaplin as a content around ‘the right shoe’ and about. First, the repertoire of shoes It’s interesting to note that the character came about. I noticed that ‘shoe care’ than whether polishing has increased and now there are a brand has announced new ad films every Charlie Chaplin movie had at your shoe is related to your ‘attention number of shoe styles that do not after a gap of more than 10 years. least one shoe polishing scene, thus to detail’ at work for example. require polishing. But having said Before this, Cherry Blossom was I used it as leverage and weaved a It’s been a decade since Cherry that, there is still a segment of formal best known for Alyque Padamsee’s Cherry Blossom story around it.” Blossom did its last campaign and shoes, shoes that require polishing, ads. Padamsee was responsible for Considering that it has been nearly that’s a long time for any brand where unpolished/dirty shoes are creating a series of iconic ads that a decade since Cherry Blossom has not to speak with their consumer. noticed and do not project a good starred a Charlie Chaplin lookalike advertised, we asked experts to weigh But it also allows the brand to go image of the wearer. called ‘Cherry Charlie’. In KV in on the brand’s strategy and to beyond anything it has done before. The Cherry Blossom ads are Sridhar’s book ‘The 30 Seconds critique their current ads. This is We have seen this with iconic addressing that segment of the Thrillers’, the late Padamsee said what they had to say. brand communication ‘relaunches’ market, with a specific focus on that he created an ad that seemed like Royal Enfield, Vespa, etc. school children and office goers. And like a scene straight out of a Charlie Saurabh Mathur, Keeping that in mind, I feel the they have picked interesting insights Chaplin film and pointed out that head planning and strategy, VML India communication could have been of these consumers. I particularly it created a whole new affinity for If we were to look at the category, more adventurous and pushed the liked the line - sincerity should not Cherry Blossom. there are only a couple of brands boundaries a bit. However, the have a probation period. “In our research, we found that that have truly owned top of mind positive is that any communication Connecting the act of polishing the sale of Cherry Blossom was recall for the longest time. And that Cherry Blossom does will have shoes with personality attributes stagnant because the shoe polish the top amongst them used to be a positive effect on an already strong is an interesting way to bring the had already captured 90 per cent of Cherry Blossom. Why I say ‘used brand recall within the category. product in focus. I think they will the branded shoe-polish market and to’ is because the category itself Whether they are successful connect with the segment that is still youngsters had a weird perception has become irrelevant for the vast in making the brand relevant polishing their shoes. Whether the about polishing shoes. They felt ‘ki majority of Indians. again remains to be seen as the ad works or not, we will only know yeh to naukaron ka kaam hai’ (this When it comes to shoes, for most communication is based on a tried in a while! But it is good shot to is a servant’s job). I felt that the way urban Indians the conversation and tested formula of driving bring attention to a category that was to break this perception would be to around ‘shoe condition’ has moved responsibility and discipline which fading in public memory. n provide the act of polishing shoes on from being an emotional tug seem like triggers that consumers [email protected]

12 afaqs! Reporter, May 16-31, 2 0 1 9

l CELLOTAPE BRANDING Mistaken Identity Crisis Should food delivery brands like Swiggy, Zomato, Uber Eats and Foodpanda fret when ‘cellotape branding’ goes wrong? By Ashwini Gangal and Abid Hussain Barlaskar

or a food delivery brand, what is the moment of truth Fin the context of the end consumer? Is it the moment the app is installed on her cell phone? Is it the touchpoint at which she keys in a coupon code while placing the order? Or is it the point when the food is actually delivered to her doorstep by a uniformed delivery guy, the brand’s faceless proxy for that fleeting interaction? It’s all of the above, sure, but we have something to say about the third instance in particular. Frequently, the branding on the food package - specifically, the cellotape used to bind the tiffin - is of a rival brand. For instance, a Zomato deliveryman arrives with an order placed via the Zomato app... except, the tape used to wrap it is Swiggy’s. Why does this happen? Clearly, those who wrap the food in the kitchen of the food delivery brands’ non-exclusive restaurant partners Food packages ordered from various online food delivery platforms don’t use any discretion when it comes to tape selection. After all, trust being eroded.” will affect them in the long run.” consumers, it really doesn’t matter the red one is as good as the orange, He adds, “At the customers end, He adds, “This is because brands because from an end-user experience right? Not if holistic brand building it’s not something they like. This are using the same backend like pov there’s nothing dramatically is the goal. reminds me of a situation between restaurants/hotels/cloud kitchens. different in service - Swiggy, Uber One can imagine why rectifying Coke and Pepsi when each brand Even Uber and Ola drivers Eats and Zomato deliver food. There or preventing this is a potential would restrict sellers from storing interchange platforms. Brands can are no aggregator brand-specific logistical nightmare. It would involve the rival’s product. Now, Coke goes choose tamper-proof packaging; the differentiators that can be called large-scale and constant training as ahead and provides a refrigerator and last mile branding can be solved with ground-breaking or unique - the food apps bring new eatery partners once the seller refuses to follow the a QR coded pack which requires aggregators’ services have become on board all the time. It might ‘one brand’ idea, the Coke-branded scanning to complete the payment. strictly transactional.” even involve some sort of tech refrigerator also stores Pepsi. This That way the branding at the last For Viren Razdan, MD, Brand- intervention; the folks who do the might work in Coke versus Pepsi, mile will be taken seriously by the Nomics, a strategy consulting wrapping must know which app was but not in a Zomato vs Swiggy vs restaurants and they will not mix company, it is a serious conflict. “If used to order that food. Uber Eats.” the packaging. Regular training and the food was ordered from Zomato and the package is branded in Uber IN THE INTERIM, NEED Clearly, those who wrap the food in the Eats, the delight of the delivery goes THESE BRANDS WORRY? to the brand on the tape and not N Chandramouli, CEO, kitchen of the food delivery brands’ non- the brand that it was ordered from. Trust Research Advisory, a brand exclusive restaurant partners don’t use any Apart from food and the platform, intelligence and data insights consumers also look for issues like company, says, “The restaurant is like discretion when it comes to tape selection. fast delivery, neat packaging and a service vendor to these platforms efficiency and in a scenario like this, and the brands supply items like the Sanjay Tripathy, co-founder and communication of backend partners Uber Eats will score. The eventual sticker tape which help in serving CEO, Agilio Labs, a consultancy for will also help sort out this problem last mile is about the delivery. While better. If deliberately done, it might startups, says, “The brands should be in the long-term.” the brand on the sticker will enjoy the seem like an unofficial smart move, worried since a customer’s fondness According to communications positives, it will also suffer in case of a but it can be equally devastating. It develops gradually. People swear by consultant Karthik Srinivasan, bad experience.” “In such a scenario, is almost like Pepsi’s ‘nothing official a brand for experiences and this is it hardly matters. “It is more like the platform used for ordering has about it’ campaign that attacked part of the entire experience and finding an Ola sticker in an Uber to be worried because apart from Coca-Cola. While there is a positive needs to be seen very seriously. At cab I called via the Uber app. In both providing its efficient directory of side to the rub-off for the brand that present, these brands are unable to cases, service providers (restaurants restaurants and ease of use, it is is on the sticker tape, the same brand monitor the last mile in terms of and cab drivers) work with multiple missing out on the opportunity to will suffer if the food inside is bad. right branding. There won’t be much aggregators; this is already known and delight the customer.” n It comes with the dangers of brand brand depreciation initially, but it established in consumers’ minds. For [email protected]

14 afaqs! Reporter, May 16-31, 2 0 1 9

THE CHALLENGERS

The advertising-led streaming game in India is no longer a monopoly. While YouTube is still the biggest force in the business, it’s not the only one. By Anirban Roy Choudhury

16 afaqs! Reporter, May 16-31, 2 0 1 9 oeo

n the month of April, YouTube mix of AVOD estimates as it is largely CEO Susan Wojcicki visited a social media platform,” says a media WHO SAYS WHAT India to attend the video on planning expert. demand platform’s marquee YouTube is seeing massive growth “Till a third party event ‘Brandcast’ in Mumbai. in the number of daily active users measurement body comes IThere she announced that YouTube (DAU) - more than any other online has 265 million monthly active users or offline platform today. In fact, into play, the entire AVOD (MAU) in India, which makes it India is home to YouTube’s biggest category will continue to be the largest player in the market. audience base and is also among its challenged.” Couple of weeks later, Uday Shankar, fastest growing markets worldwide. president, The Walt Disney Company The OTT space in India has witnessed Akash Banerjee, Asia Pacific, and chairman, Star and 3.5X growth in the last six years, from Head, advertising, VOD Disney India, at Disney’s Investor just nine players in 2012 to 32 in 2018. business, Voot Day, announced that Hotstar crossed With increasing mobile penetration in the 300 million MAU mark in March. non-metros and rural areas, there will A press note released by Hotstar after be many OTT-first consumers, who the end of the Indian Premier League have never consumed content on also pegged the platform’s user base TV. “However, with so many players “Measurement is a concern, at 300 million MAU. Not far behind in the market, the biggest challenge yes. In general, overall metrics is Times Internet’s video on demand will be to create stickiness for the of the OTT space need to be platform MX Player, which claims platform,” says Vikas Agnihotri, to have 175 million MAU streaming country director, Google India. defined more clearly.” content on the platform. Akash Banerjee, head, advertising, Karan Bedi, These revelations clearly signify video-on-demand business, Voot, CEO, MX Player that one no longer needs a telescope recollects boardroom presentations to spot the No.2 video streaming from early 2015 when the total platform, somewhere far behind number of online video viewers was YouTube, the category creator. estimated to reach 200 million by The battle for a slice of the digital 2019. But then came Reliance Jio, and advertising pie has now intensified. the game changed. All of a sudden, Sample these numbers: If we rewind the number of viewers consuming “As an advertiser on OTT to August 2017, Hotstar said it had digital video shot up, resulting in platforms, I am targeting only 66.7 million MAU, while YouTube disruption of the ad economy. While content, while on YouTube, it had 180 million tuning in from mobile the cost of fixed price inventories only and a total of 225 million. In has gone up, auction-based properties is content and consumer.” August 2018, Hotstar claimed to have have come under stress. YouTube’s Shamsuddin Jasani, 150 million MAU while market leader marquee property, the masthead, was Group MD, Isobar South Asia YouTube had 245 million in India. In sold at `75 lakh per day last year and April 2019, Hotstar said it had 300 Google doubled it to `1.5 crore in million MAU versus YouTube’s 265 2019. in India. There are other large players Last year, advertisers were paying in the market; SonyLIV says it has 70 around 60 paise per view (600 CPM “With the massive growth million MAU, while ZEE5 claimed or cost per mille/cost per thousand) of YouTube in India, brands 56.3 million at the end of December to YouTube, while Hotstar was now have the opportunity 2018. Viacom18’s Voot claims to have selling at 50 paise per view (500 55 million MAU. CPM). This year, both platforms to leverage it for full-funnel As per an EY report published have priced their regular buys at 40 growth, and not just upper in March 2019, 325 million people paise per view (400 CPM). Digital funnel brand metrics, as has viewed videos online in 2018, 25 media planning experts estimate a 30 per cent more than they did in 2017. per cent decline in CPM inventories traditionally been the case.” About `5,000 crore of advertising compared to last year. Advertisers Vikas Agnihotri, money was spent on digital video in targeting reach (impressions) through Country director, Google India 2018 and the number is estimated YouTube were paying `180 (CPM) to touch `10,500 crore in 2021. The in 2018, while this year, the figure digital ad spend in 2018 stood at has dropped to `120, as per industry “A lot of advertisers are now very Bedi considers that a competitive `15,400 crore and EY expects it to sources. particular that their ads appear in a advantage: “Unlike Facebook reach `30,090 crore by 2021. “Last year, 30-second ad slots brand safe environment. When we and YouTube, we are a premium during the IPL were sold between advertise with OTT players, we’re platform; most of our content is long- OPPORTUNITIES ARE `650 and `1,100 CPM; this year 100 per cent sure because it is all form and premium, be it TV shows, PLENTY… they were sold between `360 and created content and not curated or webseries or movies. That is a huge This explains the ad-renaline rush `700. Advertisers that committed `5 user generated content. But in the advantage when you compare us with we’re witnessing in India - a country crore got special rates… many such case of platforms that depend on user YouTube or Facebook, where most that can break all records when it parameters were obviously there,” generated content - like Tiktok, for of the content is either short-form or comes to scale and volumes. Whatever says a senior planner. example - it is clear that there is a user generated.” Hotstar claims its MAU base is, fact is When it comes to digital display problem - there will be advertisers on Team YouTube is trying hard YouTube continues to be the largest advertising, close to 85 per cent of such platforms, but most of the big to protect its users, advertisers and player in the market. “Fifty-five per the ad spends go to Google and advertisers today want a guarantee creators. The team has taken steps to cent of the digital video advertising Facebook, while rest fight for the that their content will not appear protect advertisers from inappropriate money is spent on YouTube; Hotstar remaining 15 per cent. But when it in an unsafe environment,” explains content and to ensure their ads run would command around 30 per cent comes to digital video, the gap has Shamsuddin Jasani, group MD, alongside content that reflects their and all other players fight for the rest. narrowed down and one of the big Isobar South Asia. values. YouTube’s efforts include: We are not including Facebook in the reasons for this is the environment. In fact, MX Player CEO Karan creating a more rigorous approach to

afaqs! Reporter, May 16-31, 2 0 1 9 17 oeo address controversial content on the Director Mix, TrueView and Video play, the entire AVOD category will between YouTube and the rest will platform (roughly 10,000 employees Ads Sequencing. With formats like continue to be challenged. We need narrow down even more as OTT are tasked with this), updating its TrueView for Action, advertisers an industry body, like the IAMAI players invest more in content, advertiser-friendly content guidelines can now create ads with interactive for instance, to intervene. There are which will remain the key. In 2017, to help creators make more functionality. This helps performance platforms like us who are willing large advertisers witnessed their ads informed decisions, establishing advertisers looking to optimise video to welcome it with open arms. We running on ISIS’ videos and decided stricter criteria for monetisation on for a specific user action, like signing know there are platforms that claim to go off the platform... a major the platform (previously, channels up for a service or buying a product. 10X the viewership they get…” goes ‘ad-pocalypse’ was thus evangelised. had to reach 10,000 views to be In fact, over 30 per cent of the his argument. But YouTube did manage to eligible for the YouTube Partner advertisers who used TrueView for MX Player’s Bedi concurs, win back trust gradually; it still Program or YPP; now channels Action were new to buying video ads “Measurement is a concern, yes. continues to get challenged every need to have 1,000 subscribers and on YouTube. Further, TrueView for In general, overall metrics of the now and then, though. Speaking 4,000 hours of watch-time within Action delivered more revenue in the OTT space needs to be defined more of challenging claims, the industry the past 12 months to be eligible first six months after its launch than clearly. There is already some work continues to debate Hotstar’s ‘300 for monetisation, including ads). any other YouTube ad product did in happening in BARC; centralised million monthly active users’ claim Developing better tools to help its a similar time frame. metrics are important and more so made by Uday Shankar a month advertising partners select content because video, unlike display, will not back. that is suitable for their brands, … AND CHALLENGES TOO be a two player market. Instead, there Overall, it is certain that while understanding potential reach While the headroom for growth will be five or six of them operating at the digital video market is not trade-offs. is huge when it comes to AVOD scale,” he asserts. as duopolised as the display ad If the lack of a closed and ecosystems, there are plenty of Another challenge for the AVOD space, where most of the spend controlled environment is a challenges too. Presently, there is space is advertisers’ perception. challenge for YouTube, the data no definition of ‘a view’ that all Banerjee explains, “Even that it can give advertisers access platforms unanimously agree on. now, they look at digital to is its biggest strength. “You can Facebook considers three seconds as the means to reach marry Google data with YouTube on a video to be a view, while out to the ‘top end’ of and come to an understanding… a lot more data is available with YouTube at the moment, compared AVOD platforms and their user base in India to other OTT platforms. As an advertiser on OTT platforms, I PLATFORM USER BASE (MAU) am targeting only content, while Hotstar 300 million on YouTube, it is content and YouTube 265 million consumer,” says Isobar’s Jasani. MX Player 175 million The digital media planning SonyLIV 70 million expert believes YouTube has ZEE5 56.3 million become as big a search engine VOOT 55 million as Google. “You want to buy a Source: As provided by the platforms smartphone, you go to YouTube The race between YouTube and Hotstar and watch an unboxing video, YEAR YOUTUBE HOTSTAR you want to buy a TV, you go to 2017 225 million MAU 66.7 million MAU YouTube. Two years back people 2018 245 million MAU 150 million MAU did not do it because they were 2019 265 million MAU 300 million MAU afraid it might drain their data, now Source: News reports published during that period that fear does not exist anymore. An *MAU=Monthly Active Users e-commerce platform on a Hotstar or a SonyLIV will only talk about the brand, while on YouTube, it is brand plus performance - the YouTube believes seven seconds the consumer pyramid – the top goes to Facebook and Google. video will have a ‘buy now’ link is the sweet spot. There are no four metros where people have high But in terms of data and targeting embedded in it.” common viewability metrics, no end smartphones. They still think mechanisms, YouTube is miles While Hotstar was unavailable third party measurement body nor is TV will help them reach the masses. ahead of the rest, given the fact for comment, a source close to the there any standardisation for brands But reality is quite different - Our that it can borrow from Google development tells us that Hostar to do an apple to apple comparison platform gets 10 billion minutes of whenever necessary. In terms of tied up with Flipkart to get access across platforms. The conundrums watch-time from 55 million monthly content, YouTube is finding it to its database. The OTT platform are plenty and some experts active users… that is not happening difficult to ‘catch-up’ as in this uses Flipkart’s database to better believe it is the digital agency’s on the back of the top four metros context it has lost to broadcasters’ customise its content for different responsibility to help the client only.” own OTT platforms. EY finds that target groups. understand and navigate through He feels platforms need to secure 70-90 per cent of consumption on Over the last five years, the the plethora of numbers. Turns higher retention rates in order to OTT apps of large broadcasters emergence of mobile video has out, agencies are discussing ways build scale. “Retention is the new comes from catch-up TV content. opened a huge opportunity for to experiment on video platforms acquisition,” as he puts it. Overall, Hotstar has managed to marketers. “With the massive growth with their clients and are also trying establish itself a big challenger to of YouTube in India, brands now to establish common metrics – after MILES TO GO… YouTube on the back of live cricket have the opportunity to leverage all, a common thread across all of In 2018, `35,500 crore of content, but the latter continues to it for full-funnel growth, and not the platforms will help matters for advertising money was spent on video, stay ahead. The question is - for how just upper funnel brand metrics, as all parties. of which online video constituted long? n has traditionally been the case,” says While digital agencies are doing `5,000 crore and `30,500 crore was Based on additional interviews with Google’s Agnihotri. their bit, Voot’s Banerjee believes spent on television. “Money from TV Vineet Sodhani, CEO, Spatial Access, Over the last few years, YouTube nothing but a third party measurement will gradually start coming to digital,” and Sumeet Batra, AVP, Spatial Access, has launched several new ad body can help matters. “Till a third says Bedi. among other industry experts. products, including Bumpers, party measurement body comes into Experts and analysts feel the gap [email protected]

18 afaqs! Reporter, May 16-31, 2 0 1 9

l GILLETTE Breaking Stereotypes A look at Gillette’s Indian rendition of ‘The Best Men Can Be’. Meet the barber girls from Banwari Tola, a village in UP. By Abid Hussain Barlaskar

ersonal care brand Gillette’s brand or the blade? The brand smartly latest ad film for its twin- shows that its philosophy applies to its Pedged blades is unlike any of lowest end product and its highest. If its previous razor ads. The ad plays the brand stands for something, all of out a warm story over two-and-a- its products stand for it. The idea that half-minutes instead of showcasing applies to the boy growing up in the macho men shaving and CG visuals village also applies to a boy in the city.” of blades scraping off facial hair that Speaking about the execution, are packed into a 30-second format. Swamy says that the ad’s copy, instead Conceptualised by Grey Group, of putting the onus of acceptance on the story is built around a saloon the razor, could have put it on the (barbershop) in rural Uttar Pradesh. father of the child who visited the The ad captures the story of two girls girls’ shop for a shave. - Jyoti (18) and Neha (16) - from Chetan Mane, VP - business and Banwari Tola village. After losing their father Dhruv Narayan to a with all. There’s also a core business paralytic attack, the girls defied social proposition and multiple messages, norms and started working as barbers chief among them is their positioning in his shop, in the guise of boys. - the best a man can be. It is good that The ad highlights the issue of Gillette is taking the high ground, but gender equality in the country and it is multiple stories around purpose how a child’s experiences influence that will help the brand stay more the man-to-be. It seems like a natural relevant than the “come and buy extension of the brand’s global me” campaigns. This will surely put #TheBestMenCanBe campaign pressure on their agencies,” he states. that recently took the ad-marketing “The platform fraternity by storm. This ad takes (safaltaapnimutthimein.org) on a host of evils from bullying shouldn’t end up as a tactic. It can be and objectification of women to a far more meaningful destination for mansplaining, and sexual harassment. consumers to witness actual action It picked on the sentiment of ‘boys and testimonial, instead of the single, will be boys’ and called on men to English-only html page of long texts Lakshmi Narayan Swamy, says, strategy at Whyness, says, “The core hold men accountable. and number claims. The platform “It is a beautifully made ad with of this communication is a very strong Also, with the twin-edged blade, can be used for men to make pledges amazing execution and is worlds social message that is absolutely the the barber and the ‘saloon’ in one and for more such stories of grit to apart from Gillette’s previous ads kind a men’s grooming brand should frame, Gillette has subtlety pushed come up. Gillette has the potential with the macho, go-getter male. But be propagating to bring about a change its B2B presence in India. “As to build a very engaged community the question is about the brand’s in the way Indian men think. While it leading manufacturers of double- here, if they have a long-term vision, commitment to the cause. It’s the doesn’t have the typical multi-blade, edge brands like Wilkinson Sword, as a purpose-oriented business,” brand’s shift from ‘the best a man get’ close-shave sequences, it will have a 365, and 7 O’Clock blades, used by Yesudas adds. to ‘the best men can be’ and that’s a long-lasting impact even on urban barbers all over, Gillette is proud to Speaking on the brand’s B2B play, big difference. My only concern is consumers compared to the typical have been part of their journey,” says he explains, “It is exactly how a typical that it’s a very quick and radical shift. Gillette advertising because of its eye- a press release. barber’s razor works; with half of the It would be unfortunate if the brand opening/disruptive messaging.” As part of its ongoing ‘Safalta Apni twin-edged blade. They have also just rides the wave and fails to live “The product placement is a bit Mutthi Mein’ programme, Gillette unnecessary. This communication is will be providing skill-set training for The ad highlights the issue of gender equality and all about the brand’s point-of-view styling and grooming to the Narayan about gender stereotypes. The rural, girls. “We will enrol them in top salon how a child’s experiences influence the man-to-be. lower SEC set up actually works for academies to get full-fledged training. Gillette and makes it look like an After this they will get a chance to work focused on the ability of the blade up to it.” inclusive brand that cares about issues in India’s most esteemed and well- to give a clean shave in just a single She adds, “The global ad was that matter to the entire nation. This recognised salon,” reads the Gillette swipe. But in such a piece of content more of a holistic sort of approach to is also in-sync with their wide product ‘Safalta Apni Mutthi Mein’ website. that creates involvement in the many issues (bullying, objectification line-up, which ranges from double story, only some elements of what’s of women, mansplaining, sexual edged blades to the high-end five- EXPERTS SPEAK around it are usually registered like harassment) with a possibility of blade razors. This communication will S Yesudas, co-founder and MD, the red and black colour of the foam future executions. In this case, I definitely help Gillette strengthen its Y&A Transformation, opines that container. Consumers then relate cannot see any such possibility and it B2B sales, especially in the lower end the ad is “all-in-all a winner” and to it during real exposure within a looks like a one-off story.” of the saloon category. They already is a way to reinvent the brand and very limited time frame, triggering a Speaking about the brand’s enjoy a share fair in the mid and upper stay relevant. “Although the set up purchase or pride of usage.” projection of the twin-edged blade, segment saloons,” Mane adds. n is rural, the execution will connect Brand and consumer expert Sita Swamy says, “Is the story about the [email protected]

20 afaqs! Reporter, May 16-31, 2 0 1 9

e

KAJARIA Time to Rethink? Experts say that Akshay ‘Patriot’ Kumar is still an effective ambassador for Kajaria, Canadian passport or not. By Abid Hussain Barlaskar

ollywood actor Akshay differentiation or superiority. The Kumar is in the news over brand can continue with him if he was Bhis nationality. He has been only being used for breaking clutter. heavily trolled on social media about There is still an opportunity to pick his image as an Indian patriot while other aspects of his personality that he is, on paper, a Canadian citizen. could tell stronger product stories.” Kumar’s patriot avatar was built as “From a brand point of view, if a result of his choice of movies - Ab Kajaria was trying to use nationalism Tumhare Hawale Watan Saathiyo, as a plank, the plank was just Holiday, Baby, Airlift and others. strengthened in some ways as Kumar He responded to the trolling with has garnered open support from the a clarification and a ‘so what?’ sort ‘nationalists’. Therefore, all those of post. This wasn’t the first time people will think better of the brand. his nationality was brought up. This If the brand had taken a stand, it just time around, it took an ugly turn got entrenched deeper. There is no following his interview with PM also has visuals of Kumar in army “I see no reason for Kajaria to reason for changing it,” says Suman Narendra Modi in what is arguably a attire. In another ad, released in 2018 discontinue Akshay Kumar for the Srivastava, founder and innovation highly-charged political atmosphere as a Republic Day special, the brand, controversy around his citizenship. artist at Marketing Unplugged, a due to the elections. through its ambassador Kumar, talks For all the technicality around his brand consultancy. This article is about the brands about how it will “never let the citizenship, this country has been “There is no issue with Akshay Kumar endorses. You might recall country down”. Akshay’s karmabhumi and it’s Kumar’s credibility. There are some how Snapdeal took a beating for “The celebrated actor, with his perfectly fine for him as an actor attacks on him, but it does not matter Aamir Khan’s remark about and Kajaria should not bother at all. ‘intolerance’ in the context of the Akshay Kumar has been trolled on social media He owns the space when it comes nation. While that was a different to ‘nationalism’ and ‘patriotism’. case and context, the fact is, a brand about his image as an Indian patriot. Kumar as a brand has been built over bore the brunt of something Khan 20-plus years and such controversy said in an unconnected situation. uber-fit personality, immense to bring alive the brand’s ethos won’t matter. After the Modi In the case of Kumar, one brand he popularity among Indian audiences ‘desh ki mitti se bani’,” says Abhijit interview, it is now actually better endorses comes to mind over other and innovative, patriotic choice of Avasthi, ex-Ogilvy hand and present- for the brand. The general public perhaps more popular or dynamic movies, makes for the perfect fit for day co-founder of Sideways, an and the end consumer don’t really ones - ceramic tiles brand Kajaria. the brand,” reads the brand’s website. advertising agency. care about the citizenship issue. Endorsed by Kumar, the brand Now that Kumar’s very nationality Consumer behaviour and In my career, I have realised that launched an ad campaign about its has come under the scanner, should brand strategy enthusiast Mythili Indians are really simple minded and ‘desh ki mitti se bani tile’ in 2016. the brand team be concerned about Chandrasekar (former JWT), says, don’t think in layers and angles,” says In the ad, the brand highlights being this association? Does - and should “The brand’s usage of Akshay Kumar Shubho Sengupta, a digital marketer “rooted to Indian soil as its global - this change anything for them? We in the first place was not deep enough (ex-Contract, JWT). n manufacturing base”. The campaign asked a few brand experts. and did not have enough product [email protected]

AMUL Amul’s Cricketing Ties The brand is the official sponsor of the Afghanistan cricket team for the upcoming ICC World Cup. By Deepashree Banerjee airy major Amul will be the principal neighbouring country. Regarding the recent tie- sponsor of the Afghanistan cricket team up, RS Sodhi, MD of GCMMF, says, “The Asadullah Khan (2nd from L), CEO, Afghanistan Dfor the upcoming ICC World Cup hosted World Cup is a good opportunity to connect with cricket team; and RS Sodhi (2nd from R) by England and Wales. Amul was associated with the youth. At the same time, we have a very old The reason is, we do umbrella branding.” New Zealand and The Netherlands in earlier association with Afghanistan whose team is rated Throwing light on the company’s average World Cups. as the fastest-growing cricket team in the world.” marketing spends, he adds, “Our strategy is to The Gujarat Cooperative Milk Marketing Talking about the advertising and marketing keep the advertising spending as low as possible Federation (GCMMF) that markets dairy budget, Sodhi says, “We spend only 0.8 per cent as we don’t believe that by spending more you products under the Amul brand, exports around of our annual turnover on advertisements and can build the brand.”n `200 crore worth of products annually to the we’ve been following that for the last five years. [email protected]

22 afaqs! Reporter, May 16-31, 2 0 1 9 For sponsorship: Samarjit Singh: +91-9811436040 e WILD STONE Smell Like a Man We analyse the latest Wild Stone talc ad. By Deepashree Banerjee and Ashwini Gangal

bout a decade back, men’s done right, this can backfire for the grooming segment was brand. Ultimately, the campaign and Abeginning to come into its the messaging has to resonate with own. Today, it has exploded, and the brand’s DNA. If it stays true to there have been many attempts the brand and its core proposition, it at genderising otherwise neutral will be well received.” products like soaps and shampoos. Shivshankar shares that there are Wild Stone talc, a personal care brands that prefer what she calls a product marketed by McNROE, “creative stunt”. Despite knowing just released an ad that urges men the potentially negative outcome and to stop using women’s talc, lest the backlash they may face because they turn into women themselves. of their in-your-face approach, they Laced with humour, the ad titled are after the chatter it will generate. #GoodChoiceSister is about a “Such ads are not even a conference husband who uses his wife’s talc and turns into a woman, much to his wife’s disappointment. The wife gets her macho man back when he starts using Wild Stone instead. Hilarity aside, the message nevertheless brings an interesting argument to mind: While most brands across categories are trying to bust stereotypes, this one perpetuates the idea of genderising fragrance. While creating male and female variants of a single type of grooming product helps the cause of marketing and consumerism, is it in conflict with brands’ need to be ‘woke’? “Today, our Indian In a press release, the brand team says: This campaign advocates the consumers have EXPERTS SPEAK room joke these days! This ad, adoption of male talcum powder evolved and are Says Saritha Shivshankar, senior for example, isn’t unconsciously by showcasing the relevance of creative director, IdeateLabs, “What’s created. This is blatant and it looks androgynous fragrances in a very on the lookout for happening with this (Wild Stone’s) like the brand was looking to gather relatable way. products that suit piece of work is that it actually takes some eyeballs and become part of “Gender-neutral grooming the whole argument back by another conversations without having to do products were a safe option till their personalities.” decade. It belittles one of the sexes much. Maybe it helped them achieve consumers became more aware ARENDRA AGA to make the other look good. For that,” she says. and informed about their specific N D a brand to have to do that to stand Sunila Karir, founder and creative grooming preferences. Today, our out is just being creative for the partner, Boing!, has an interesting Indian consumers have evolved and sake of it. So when the brand sets take. “Men and women are chemically are on the lookout for products that household. Although an established out to do something different, it and naturally different, with different suit their personalities. Wild Stone male-grooming player, Wild Stone needs to be careful about how people skin and hair. The same goes for means to facilitate this evolution wittily acknowledges the concerns of are evolving. It’s not enough for the scents that they emanate. It’s a and create products that specifically women or the chief homemakers in the brand to be different; it has to primal instinct for all species in the address these choices,” says Narendra the narrative. be socially relevant as well. I am animal kingdom to be attracted to Kumar Daga, founder and MD, Daga adds, “Women are surprised a brand could go out and one another by distinctive male and McNROE, which entered the men’s intelligent shoppers and evaluate do this.” female scents. The brand has made grooming segment earlier this year. a product on several parameters, He goes on to say, “Presently, including its fragrance and appeal. Wild Stone wittily acknowledges the concerns of India boasts a `2,000-plus crore Wild Stone has deftly shown product women or the chief homemakers in the narrative. market size for talcum powder which relevance without appearing overtly is growing at a compound annual masculine.” So, what are the dos and don’ts use of this insight to create a gender- growth rate (CAGR) of about 10 per The marketer also gives us an really? “First and foremost, the specific product.” cent in terms of value in the short to idea about what the brand’s overall brand must identify the need for She adds, “Gender neutrality medium term. So, now our focus is media pie looks like, “The marketing it. Consumers are very perceptive and gender equality has absolutely to strengthen our brand position and spends amount to approximately `20 today about the communication nothing to do with making different increase our consumer base further.” crore annually,” says Daga, adding, they receive and any fabrication can products for different genders. It’s The TVC provides a ready “TV promotions make for 80 per lead to a massive backlash. Even if just a marketing strategy. As long as solution to the concerns of women cent of the total pie, while online one is challenging the norm, the the commercial is not offensive to battling the qualms of gender-neutral spends have roughly assumed a 20 means they use, the execution and any gender, in my mind, it works.” n personal care products in a regular per cent share in the recent past.” the messaging are all essential. If not [email protected]

24 afaqs! Reporter, May 16-31, 2 0 1 9 e

AIRTEL Airtel’s Throwback Ad ‘When I’m Gone’ spinoff is a throwback to ‘Har ek friend zaroori hota hai’. Well, at least it’s a break from the brand’s 4G girl, Sasha Chettri’s ads! By Deepashree Banerjee

he buzz that Vodafone’s optimistic world to break from the ZooZoos, its Pug or Idea’s visual context around us. A spot T‘What an idea, Sirji’ created of good cheer, slightly unreal but has proven unmatched for the relatable for its acoustic simplicity respective brands. Telecom operator and joy, while communicating a core Bharti Airtel’s ‘Har ek friend zaroori product offering was what we were hota hai’ campaign (released in 2011 aiming for,” says Dias. and Taproot Dentsu’s first piece of Interestingly, Sasha Chettri, the communication for Airtel) also holds quintessential ‘girl next door’, who similar recall value for consumers has been convincing everyone to when it comes to the service switch to 4G as the ‘Airtel Girl’, is provider’s category. still quite fresh in our memories. So, The new campaign highlights the what made the telecom brand opt for exclusive benefits Airtel customers get the #AirtelThanks campaign (giving as part of its #AirtelThanks program. us a throwback Thursday to the ‘Har The campaign takes a new sing-song too visible to ignore. The amount route and as the brand claims, has of jokes and jibes about the Trivago been inspired by the “When I’m man and Sasha are perhaps the real Gone” number (popularly known as feedback of those films.” “Cups”) by Anna Kendrick from the Similarly, the action and song 2012 film ‘Pitch Perfect’. combination in this ad, he says, is Airtel India’s relaunched mildly entertaining at best (unlike customer program #AirtelThanks ‘Har ek friend’, which was genuinely has now rolled out a new brand likeable and actually spoken about/ campaign across TV, radio, digital, quoted a lot as a pop-culture outdoor, and cinema. Conceived by reference). The communication is Taproot Dentsu, it highlights the functional, featuring a very good exclusive benefits of the provider as set of rewards and benefits. “The part of a three-tier system - silver, film falls short of communicating gold and platinum. As shown in the the value proposition of those ad, the app, renamed - Airtel Thanks offers (like three months Netflix - uses data-science and segmentation ek friend’ at this juncture)? restricting themselves to a restaurant. free, one-year Prime free, etc.) and algorithms to customise the user Dias says that it’s an internal call It’s not a cup, it’s a mobile phone,” instead, goes for a so-called ‘youth’ experiences based on their interests by the team whether to use her he states raising an interesting point. appeal tone that perhaps, doesn’t do and profiles. (Sasha) or not, as the face of the “Anna Kendrick’s voice could appropriate justice to the crux of the We asked Agnello Dias, chief campaign. “There have been theme have made this commercial a legend,” communication,” he explains. creative officer and co-founder, song-based campaigns before and he adds. Nevertheless, depending “The tone too is starting to Taproot Dentsu, what made him after Har friend zaroori hai. Airtel on exposure, he feels this new film seem adequately fake given how zero in on the popular “Cups” song has not used Sasha for all campaigns; carries the potential of becoming as unnaturally beaming all those people as an inspiration for the ad. “The many recent campaigns - Open popular as ‘Har ek friend’. are and the obviously false notes ‘Thanks Program’ consists of many Network, Airtel Promise or Airtel Although the song comes across as the actors put on just to create a benefits - some tangible, some non- TV - didn’t feature her.” catchy, communications consultant perception that they are normal tangible, some experiential, and This new commercial, with its Karthik Srinivasan feels that’s people trying to do the ‘Airtel’ some that money cannot buy. We potential feel-good, catchy musical, possibly owing to the familiarity of Cups-equivalent action with great knew we had to cover them all and difficulty and interest. That fake-ness yet launch one single thought. We The new ad highlights the exclusive benefits of is also very similar to the over-the- had already decided to use a dance the provider as part of a three-tier system. top enacting in the ‘try everything’ step and a song that would allow campaign where three ‘young’ us to present a list of things in an highlights the benefits Airtel using an already-famous song. people are talking about something engaging manner. While looking for customers get and says “Thanks” in “It aims to create a new viral as functional and commonplace as execution references, we stumbled an endearing manner. action of doing the cups-like hand their mobile connection as if they on the Anna Kendrick Cups song Says Santosh Mutalik, co-founder action and showing the phone are speaking about their first kiss. and thought it would be a good fit. and chief creative officer, Haapus screen at the end (which is the Airtel It’s time telecom brands realised that We tweaked what we already had Creative, “At last, Airtel breaks away customisation). But the success of users don’t adore or remember them to match it and bought the original from the same old 4G and hardcore the ‘viral’ is directly dependant on with such deep interest or devotion. rights, then re-choreographed the info-based communication route, the amount of money Airtel throws It’s simply a service and the more step to our needs,” he recalls. which almost started becoming a at showing the ad in repeat. The it is up, the less we remember the It was a brief that evolved together blind spot.” Trivago man and Sasha films were brand. The minute it goes down, we with the client (Bharti Airtel) team “Execution, however, could have not ‘Liked’ and ‘Famous’ - they were remember it and abuse it by name,” over a couple of sessions. “We wanted been better. They could have shot shoved in people’s faces in high he signs off. n to put out a bright, cheerful, positive, it in different places rather than frequencies on TV and they were [email protected]

afaqs! Reporter, May 16-31, 2 0 1 9 25 pooe Why Are Auto Sales on the Decline? We interviewed a doyen of the automobile business, an auto expert and a brand consultant to get different points of view. By Sunit Roy

RC BHARGAVA ROSHUN POVAIAH PRABHAKAR MUNDKUR chairman editor - tech and auto Brand strategy adviser Maruti Suzuki The Quint

THE CURRENT SLOWING IS THERE ARE MULTIPLE THERE IS A SLACKENING OF CYCLICAL AND SHORT-LIVED. FACTORS AT PLAY, WHICH DEMAND BOTH IN URBAN EXPERIENCE SHOWS THAT HAS LED TO A SLOWDOWN AND RURAL MARKETS DUE SALES SUBSTANTIALLY DROP IN THE INDUSTRY. HOWEVER, TO LIQUIDITY PROBLEMS. IN THE PRE-ELECTION YEAR I THINK THE DIP THIS AGRI-DISTRESS HAS ALSO (example: 2008, 2012) and then go quarter is primarily because car compounded the situation. This is up significantly in the election year. manufacturers have been rejigging their not unusual during elections. In 2009-10, it was around 20 per cent models because of the new mandatory Discretionary spending will definitely while in 2014-15 it was around 12 per safety and upcoming BS-6 emission norms. go down during uncertain times. A cent. From April 1, all cars have to comply with car is a big ticket item for individuals We don’t think anything major has new safety norms that include mandatory and families, and buyers will naturally happened in the economy. Before airbags, ABS, parking sensors, seat belt postpone buying decisions temporarily. elections, people usually stop buying reminders and speed warning alerts. By Until March, the impact may not have cars, but we are not clear why sales go October this year, they will have to meet been felt since before March; several up after elections. We are waiting to see the new crash test standards and by April people buy a car so that they can claim if the same pattern is repeated post this next year, BS-6 emissions standards. depreciation. year’s election. That’s led to many car makers pulling During elections, there is always a In our experience, a decline in sales some cars off the line or scaling down slackening of demand. Indian markets doesn’t continue for two consecutive production. This reflects in consumer are definitely concerned about the years. For manufacturers, the best way sentiment too where buyers are putting outcome of the elections. Consumers to counter this is to be flexible, to adjust off purchases in anticipation of better, are just holding back purchase decisions the production as per customer demand. safer cars and updated models coming until the elections are over. Any We are preparing accordingly; in 2019- out. In the Delhi NCR region, the change in government policy change can have a 20 we are expecting growth in the range registration norms - diesel cars can only huge impact on consumers’ earnings. of four to eight per cent. be registered for 10 years, as compared Once the politico-economic situation Advertising expenses are part of to 15 for petrol - has led to a sharp drop stabilises, I expect consumers to go the overall marketing efforts. Several in demand for diesel vehicles. People are back to normal slowly. It is possible initiatives, including ATL and BTL also putting off purchases until the general passenger car sales will also stabilise and activities, help drive sales. We will elections conclude, due to the uncertainty this temporary dip may not affect overall continue this focus. of government policies. annual figures.

26 afaqs! Reporter, May 16-31, 2 0 1 9 l

FACEBOOK “You Can’t Buy Engagement” Facebook and all of the brand’s apps have had an eventful few days. By Aishwarya Ramesh

t Facebook’s Mumbai platform. “Audiences on Instagram office, Instagram India held love shopping, sharing and Athe second edition of its searching,” he said. He went on to Instagrammer of the Year awards. The tell us that different brands have awards recognise influencers’ efforts different campaign objectives - such on the platform across categories as to create brand awareness or to such as the most followed, storyteller generate a certain action from the of the year, food and entertainment audience (for example, using a link accounts of the year and so on. The click.) “Other brands are looking at awards are meant to serve as an action points and Instagram allows acknowledgment of how effectively them different creative formats for the participating influencers engaged that,” he said. He also told us that with users on the app through its increasingly, brands are realising the various features. value of influencer marketing and The press release that was handed visual storytelling. out at the end of the show had some Meanwhile, internationally, interesting insights on the judging Instagram’s parent company process and how the winners were Facebook’s Saket Jha Saurabh (left) and the creators at the Instagrammer of Facebook held its annual F8 selected. The list was collated based the Year 2019 awards held in Mumbai recently developers conference and on internal data for the January- Instagram issue, but a larger issue and that ads shouldn’t impede the co-founder Mark Zuckerberg November 2018 period. The winner that all platforms are looking to user experience on the app. “When announced that the theme of the in the most followed category, solve “Brands have increasingly commercial messaging comes year is “The future is private”. actress Priyanka Chopra Jonas, was realised the value of engagement. on Instagram, it appears adjacent During the keynote, Zuckerberg selected based on the number of You can buy followers, but you to content. We want to give the announced updates to Instagram, followers she had (40 million at the can’t buy engagement. The smartest community the ability to say when Facebook Messenger and the core time of filing this story). While the brands that we see are going after it doesn’t feel connected to the ads. design of Facebook’s user interface. basis of selecting the winner in this authentic instagrammers who have Users have the ability to report an Adam Mosseri, the head of category seems to be an obvious real communities and a real voice. ad or hide it if they don’t want to product at Instagram, had some one, there’s more than meets the There may be an odd instance of see it. Our idea is to show relevant, interesting announcements that can eye when it comes to the amount change how users interact with each of followers that an influencer has The list was collated based on internal data for other and creators through stories. on Instagram. At the sidelines of the the January-November 2018 period. For instance, users will soon be awards show, we had the chance to able to shop for products that an interact with Saket Jha Saurabh, the a brand going after the vanity of contextual advertising to them. If influencer is wearing/using without head of entertainment partnerships followers, but we take great pains they don’t find value in the ads, we leaving the Instagram app. Instead at Facebook India. to explain to brands the importance need to build tools that allow them of taking a screenshot or asking We asked him what Instagram is of the authenticity of a community to voice their opinion.” for product details in comments or doing about influencers who buy (that follows an influencer).” Saurabh outlined that the reason Direct, a user can tap to see exactly followers and use that number to He went on to elaborate on brands are making a beeline for what the products are and buy it on collaborate with brands. He pointed how he felt it was important to Instagram is because they find the spot. n out that this was not purely an cater to the Instagram community engaged, real audiences on the [email protected]

2400/- 2016/-(inclusive taxes). 4800/- 3495/-(inclusive taxes).

afaqs! Reporter, May 16-31, 2 0 1 9 27 oee

BURGER KING TATA MOTORS NESTLÉ WILD STONE Through #FeelYourWay campaign, launched This Ramadan, Tata Motors released a three- Nestlé India launched a corporate Wild Stone talc has released an ad titled in partnership with Mental Health America, minute-long film directed by adman Vasan campaign to promote its health-specific AI #GoodChoiceSister that urges men to stop Burger King is promoting its new ‘unhappy’ Bala, as part of its ‘Connecting Aspirations’ tool - AskNestlé.in and the country’s first using women’s talc, lest they turn into meals. The brand has also lent support to campaign (launched two years ago). AI Assistant-NINA. women themselves. the issue of mental health in the process. Creative Agency: Ogilvy Mumbai Creative Agency: McCann Creative Agency: Brand David

CHERRY BLOSSOM SWIGGY SAMSONITE MCDONALD’S Cherry Blossom has launched a new The food delivery platform’s latest ads In an election-themed spot To encourage young voters, Hardcastle campaign that places shoe polish in a released under ‘Swiggy karo, phir jo chahe ‘#EkDinKiChutti’, luggage brand Samsonite Restaurants, the master franchisee of modern context where making a good Karo!’ umbrella are a refreshing take on takes up a relevant cause and implores McDonald’s in West/South India, launched a impression is important. the everyday lives of new-age families. youngsters to vote. social activation titled #MakeYourChoice. Creative Agency: Tilt Brand Solutions Creative Agency: Lowe Lintas Creative Agency: Autumn Worldwide Creative Agency: DDB Mudra Group

SPOTIFY SAVLON STAR SPORTS ALTO Spotify is pushing its Indian playlists in a This World Hand Hygiene Day, Savlon Star Sports has released its campaign for Maruti Suzuki released an ad for the new big way. And its latest advertising draws Swasth India Mission introduced the Germ the ICC Cricket World Cup 2019, which starts Alto. It showcases how the car is a big part emphasis on the playlist offering with 40 Fu video – inspired by martial arts. It is an later this month. The film portrays the trophy of human relations and helps individuals million tracks to choose from. exciting new way to teach kids a new way of as the ‘crown of cricket’. connect and build fond memories. Creative Agency: Leo Burnett washing hands while having fun! Creative Agency: Ogilvy Creative Agency: Dentsu Aegis Network

BAJAJ ELECTRICALS REDBUS AQUAGUARD BISLERI Bajaj Electricals has released a campaign RedBus has launched a campaign, featuring Eureka Forbes, the marketer of Aquaguard, With its latest campaign, Bisleri’s camels titled #HawaKiDawa to promote India’s MS Dhoni. It highlights key propositions of the has launched a TVC under the ‘Har Water are back in a new avatar and they have first anti-germ ceiling fan. The brand claims platform with a strong narrative, delivered Purifier Aquaguard Nahi Hota’ umbrella to a message for all the lovely mothers and that the fan gives protection against 99.2 by Dhoni, who was recently appointed as the promote Aquaguard New Copper Ionic RO. their kids - ‘#HarPaaniKiBottleBisleriNahi’. per cent germs. brand ambassador of redBus. Creative Agency: Taproot Dentsu Creative Agency: 82.5 Communications

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

28 afaqs! Reporter, May 16-31, 2 0 1 9 o

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afaqs! Reporter, May 16-31, 2 0 1 9 29 people

A round up of some major people >> MOVEMENTS/APPOINTMENTS<< movements in the last fortnight

ADVERTISING DIGITAL

Havas Creative Prodigious Housr as an independent consultant to Mayur Hola, former national creative Prodigious, a Publicis Groupe Saurabh Srivastava, former several brands and businesses for director at Havas Creative, has recently company, has appointed Varun Shah CMO of Jabong and Mobikwik, almost three years. Srivastava has joined OYO as head of creative, India as head and senior VP. He joins has joined Housr, a social over 19 years of experience and and SE Asia. Previously, he worked Prodigious from Dharma 2.0: Dharma hub of mega co-living spaces has worked at several big brands as executive creative director and Productions, where he was executive that foster communities, as and agencies such as GroupM, executive VP at Contract Advertising. producer working on branded content CMO and product head of the DDB Mudra, Dainik Jagran, Hola has also worked with Nescafe, creation and production, and managing organisation. Prior to joining Maruti Suzuki, Goodyear, ixigo, Tata Docomo, National Geographic, its roster of film directors, including Housr, Srivastava was working besides Jabong and Mobikwik. Truecaller, KFC, Pan Vilas, Dominos, Karan Johar, Punit Malhotra, Shashank Droom, and Truly Madly. Khaitan, etc. Earlier, Shah was a producer at Love & Faith Films where MARKETING IcubesWire he led ad-film production with director iCubesWire, the digital marketing Milind Dhaimande. solutions and concepts provider, Bajaj Auto Television Group and promoted Nishant Sharma to chief DAN Consult Two-wheeler marketer manager at Star India. business officer. This latest development DAN Consult, the consulting Bajaj Auto has reshuffled its came as a strategic move to strengthen division from the house of Dentsu top management. Sumeet BBC GoodFood India the organisation while leveraging upon Aegis Network (DAN), has roped Narang, former VP - urbanite BBC GoodFood India has the best resources deployed. In his in Karl Gomes as partner - customer business, has taken over as strengthened its top-level new role, Sharma will play a crucial experience (CX). Gomes will be based VP - probiking business unit management by appointing role in ensuring a steady pace across out of Mumbai and will report to (PBU), replacing Amit Nandi, Sabeer Ahluwalia to spice business verticals. He will be leading Lalit Bhagia, CEO, DAN Consult. As who quit the company after a up the luxury quotient and an extensive team of digital innovators, partner - CX, his chief mandate will 12-year stint. Nandi was the consolidate its presence in marketers, creative geniuses and tech be to help lead a client-facing customer president of PBU since its print, digital, TV, social media wizards to leapfrog the future of digital experience and build platforms and creation in 2011. In another and events. Ahluwalia is marketing one stride at a time. content-strategy practice. major development, Sarang presently COO of the BBC Kanade has joined as president GoodFood India. He has an - motorcycle business unit in expertise in engaging multiple place of Eric Vas. At Bajaj luxury brands and creating Auto, Vas will now lead the an IP through adrenaline- MEDIA urbanite business unit as pumping dynamic and president. powerful brands. 9X Media Viacom18 9X Media has appointed Kavita Vohra Viacom18 has appointed Gourav IndiaFirst Life Insurance Visa as VP - ABC Sales, North & East. Rakshit as COO - Viacom18 Digital IndiaFirst Life Insurance Visa has appointed Sujatha V Audience Brand Connect (ABC) is a Ventures. He will be reporting to Company, promoted by Bank Kumar as head of marketing specialised division that helps brands Sudhanshu Vats, Group CEO and MD, of Baroda, Andhra Bank and for India and South Asia. to create intellectual properties and Viacom18. A University of Rochester others, has promoted Sonia She will be driving overall narrate their stories beyond the and IIM Ahmedabad alumnus, Rakshit Notani to the position of chief marketing strategy and 30-second ad format. Vohra will help started his career with Nestle and marketing officer, effective execution, including brands to connect with their consumers took two more stops - Planetasia and May 1, 2019. Notani will consumer, retail and digital by offering innovative brand properties Infosys Consulting - before joining now spearhead the company’s marketing initiatives for with better shelf lives. She will report to People Group. At Planetasia, he had marketing, products, customer India and the emerging chief revenue officer Pawan Jailkhani. his first brush with the media and tech experience, PR, strategic markets of Sri Lanka, industry, and at Infosys he successfully alliances, direct and digital Bangladesh, Nepal and Star Vijay led consulting engagements for diverse sales functions. the Maldives. Prior to this, The Hindu’s Abilasha Anish moves on consumer organisations, including she was with Google as from the daily broadsheet to join Star Apple, Wells Fargo and Safeway. Imagine Entertainment head - brand & reputation, India’s Tamil general entertainment American film and TV marketing and strategy. She channel Star Vijay TV. Anish was head CNN International Commercial production company Imagine brings to Visa over 20 years brand strategy and marketing at The CNN International Commercial Entertainment has roped in of experience and extensive Hindu and now joins Star Vijay as (CNNIC) has appointed Phil Nelson Swati Shetty as Executive knowledge of consumer assistant VP, marketing. She had joined as COO to lead CNN’s operational and VP, International Content. insights, brand development, The Hindu in 2016 and stayed with international growth initiatives outside Previously, Shetty was with go-to-market approaches, the organisation for around three years. of advertising sales. Nelson will oversee Netflix, where she was category management, retail Before that, she had a two-year stint CNNIC’s business development and responsible for building strategy and promotions. with FCB Interface as account director strategy, finance, strategic planning the company’s catalogue Kumar started her career - strategic planning. Anish started her and international sales operations as and originals’ slate. Prior to at Procter & Gamble and, career in 2006 with The Times Group well as its content sales and licensing. that, Shetty was president over the years, has gathered as senior officer - marketing, before Nelson will continue to be based out of at Ekta Kapoor’s Balaji rich experience in sales and moving to PricewaterhouseCoopers Singapore and will be part of CNNIC’s Telefilms, executive director marketing across companies (PwC). She joins Star Vijay with a senior management team, reporting - Walt Disney International such as Gillette, Nokia, The professional experience of more than directly to the president Rani Raad. Productions - India, associate Royal Bank of Scotland and 13 years. director at the Disney ABC Coca-Cola.

30 afaqs! Reporter, May 16-31, 2 0 1 9

Our videos have got INDIA's attention.

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