Biz Moves: Cake India, Team Pumpkin and Verve Media

Havas Group India’s creative agency, Cake India won the mandate of Hyderabad Black Hawks, one of the leading teams of Prime Volleyball League. Here, the agency is also working with the players to build their brands in the context of the Prime Volleyball League. (Representative image via Unsplash)

Keep up with all the key business wins and account movements.

Move over OTT, gaming is the new advertising hotspot for brands

Moving on from taxes and revenues, the report also said that India’s online gamers are expected to grow at a CAGR of 5 percent and reach 53.8 crore by FY28. (Representational image via Unsplash)

Brands like Gillette, H&M, ICICI, Beardo, EaseMyTrip, Hyundai and mCaffine partnered with gaming brands to reach out to their target audience.

Throwback: Tourism advertising and “MP Ajab Hai”, storytelling in silhouette

A lesser known performing art form called shadowgraphy or ‘ombromanie” was used for the execution of the television commercial. Having ancient roots, this art form uses hands, finger movements, and positions to depict various forms by way of shadows on a curtain. The black and white shadowgraphy showcased tigers in the wild as the jingle rang, “Ek nahi, do nahi, sekado yahain sher hai”. (Stills from the ad)

Tourism was sluggish in Madhya Pradesh till the mid 2000s. Ashwani Lohani was brought in to MP Tourism Development Corporation to build tourism to MP. He revived the Corporation and brought in Ogilvy India to promote MP tourism.

Hindustan Unilever’s latest Vim ad accidentally promotes the gender-divide stereotype

Vim Black that specifically caters to men, is advocating that men too can now wash dishes at home and brag all about it since changing the colour of the product makes it a 'manly' offering.

In an attempt to normalise household chores for all, Hindustan Unilever managed to trigger all netizens with an ad for their updated dishwashing liquid ‘Vim Black’ featuring Milind Soman.

Bookstrapping: The Light We Carry by Michelle Obama

If Becoming was autobiographical in nature, in The Light We Carry, Michelle Obama is more in the self-help zone. (Image - Amazon)

In The Light We Carry, Michelle Obama engages in honest dialogues with readers about fundamental questions about life and everything in between. Bookstrapping rating: 3.5 stars.  

Weekly Shorts: Three most interesting things in influencer marketing this week

While personal care has always been among the top ten violating categories, in the past two years, it has risen to the top three on account of high volumes of ads violating ASCI’s guidelines. The launch of influencer guidelines in May 2021 along with ASCI’s proactive monitoring using AI-based tools has added to the increased number of ads under scrutiny. (Representative image via Unsplash)

What’s buzzing in influencer marketing and the creator ecosystem? What’s the next big thing coming down the line? Catch the big trends and hot topics in our weekly shorts.

Hindustan Unilever enters Health & Wellbeing category with investment in OZiva and Wellbeing Nutrition

HUL will acquire 51% equity stake through a combination of primary infusion and secondary buyouts. The balance 49% will be acquired at the end of 36 months based on pre-agreed valuation criteria. The current OZiva team led by Ms. Aarti Gill and Mr. Mihir Gadani will continue to operate all functions of the business. HUL will have representation on the Board and will provide necessary capabilities and support to scale up. (Representational image via Unsplash)

Health and wellbeing is a fast growing category in the country. Plant-based products are gaining more and more popularity as people are becoming more aware and health conscious. HUL has just forayed into this category with strategic investments in Zywie Ventures Private Limited (OZiva) and Nutritionalab Private Limited (Wellbeing Nutrition).