Author: Kashmeera Sambamurthy

Gold Spot: When ‘The Zing Thing’ restored the brand’s lost market share

The commercials were rolled out on national TV broadcaster Doordarshan in both Hindi and English. The 1985 campaign was immensely popular and became one of the most successful for soft drinks by Rediffusion. The campaign helped Gold Spot make a grand comeback and restore its lost position in the market. A notable aspect of the series of commercials was that none of them featured celebrities. (Stills from the ads)

Can nostalgia help Gold Spot if it were to be brought back today, just as Campa was? Back in the 1980s, Gold Spot was perceived as a drink for children but after the arrival of Rasna, it started to lose market share. Storyboard18 got in touch with the creative folks who then successfully repositioned Gold Spot among teens.

Gaming companies ride cricket frenzy with huge marketing spends this IPL season

IPL has seen campaigns galore this season. Everyone from Dream11, which onboarded actors Aamir Khan, R Madhavan, and Sharman Joshi as ambassadors, to cricketer Deepak Chahar’s new fantasy game platform TFG (Trade Fantasy Game) and many others have IPL campaigns this season. (Representatuve Image: Sam Pak via Unsplash)

Gaming and e-sports firms are estimated to spend almost Rs 2,000 crore during this Indian Premier League season as they look to tap into the franchisee’s massive audience reach.

Pidilite’s CMO Vinay Subramanyam quits: Storyboard18 EXCLUSIVE

Vinay Subramanyam also worked with Kellogg Company as the national sales development manager, where he led the sales development and trade marketing function. Among many other things, he also pioneered sales automation for the company.

Vinay Subramanyam, who has over two decades of experience, previously was with Britannia.

Google India’s Vishal Sinha joins ShareChat as the director – ads strategy

Vishal Sinha has also worked with global tech companies like Gartner and Oracle as a business development manager, providing critical business insights to the organisations, building strong and trusted relationships at the CXO level of small and medium size organisations, leading account strategy and planning end-to-end sales cycle.

Vishal Sinha’s mandate will include leading the strategy team for ads business for both ShareChat and Moj.

Amazon India and Ministry of Information & Broadcasting partner to boost creative economy

Amazon will also curate a special storefront feature to promote books and journals across genre reflecting India’s heritage from MIB’s publication division. The Alexa All India Radio skill published by Prasar Bharti will help disseminate news bulletins, and educational content. The collaboration will also help in broadening the reach of Prasar Bharati’s music via Amazon Music and Alexa.

As part of the LoE, Prime Video and miniTV will both work towards providing internships, and scholarships to students at Film and Television Institute of India (FTII) and Satyajit Ray Film and Television Institute (SRFTII). This will enable students to gain real work exposure, and become industry-ready.

Amul’s former chief RS Sodhi joins Reliance Retail Ventures to help build grocery business

RS Sodhi, who served as the managing director at Gujarat Cooperative Milk Marketing Federation (GCMMF) since 2010, moved on from the company on January 9. Sodhi was given an extension for a period of another five years. The decision to remove Sodhi was taken at the board meeting of Gujarat Cooperative Milk Marketing Federation (GCMMF), the farmers' cooperative that operates the Amul brand. In his place, the dairy sector cooperative giant has appointed Jayan Mehta as its MD for an interim period. (Image source: News18)

RS Sodhi will help build the company’s growth in the grocery space with a focus on fruits and vegetables.

#TBH: Why are ad agencies pivoting from ad-making to business problem-solving?

EBIT margins for TCS is expected to improve by 40bp QoQ, largely due to investment made in talent development and training, operational efficiency and absence of wage hikes. HCLT’s margins may rise ~50bp due to operating leverage and a strong software quarter, despite a wage hike impact and furloughs. For Infosys, it is anticipated that margins will decline by 30bp owing to furloughs and lower working days, offset by pricing gains, subcontractor cost optimization, and Project Maximus.

Tech disruptions and startup ecosystems are making agencies work harder to address real business issues rather than just dealing with an ad or campaign.

RK Swamy draws up listing pitch, appoints i-bankers for public issue

Print continues to be a stronghold for education advertisers, with a 32% increase in ad spending in 2024 compared to 2022. The North Zone dominated print advertising with a 50% share, followed by the South Zone at 19%. (Representative Image: Wance Paleri via Unsplash)

In July 2022, RK Swamy and BBDO (a leading network of the global Omnicom group) announced parting of ways after an alliance that lasted 37 long years. Under a new agreement, RK Swamy bought out BBDO’s stake in the joint entity and BBDO bought out RK Swamy’s stake in BBDO India.

World Startup Convention Fiasco: The greed of influencers and what everyone is missing!

GDPR mandates that BFSI marketers get consumers' express consent before collecting their personal data for marketing purposes in the context of digital marketing.

The World Startup Convention, which failed to deliver on promises like bringing Elon Musk and Sundar Pichai, was promoted by influencers Ankur Warikoo, Prafull Billore, Chetan Bhagat, Raj Shamani and others, who are receiving immense flak. But what about the influencer marketing agencies’ role?