Inside Banter: Let go of the cookie-cutter approach to stand out in IPL

Vodafone broke the IPL clutter with the loveable ZooZoos (left) and the Starbucks campaign (right) narrated a tale with a twist in the end and immediately garnered attention. (Representative image: left image by @transitbrand via Twitter and right image by @bilericoproject via Twitter)

IPL poses some unique challenges for marketers who have to ensure that their brands consistently stand out in this hyper-competitive space.

Goafest 2023: “The evolution of ABBYs in the past couple of years is quite remarkable,” Ashwini Deshpande

"Smaller, independent agencies feel the confidence to share their work in these awards (like the ABBYs) along with the bigger, national or international agencies and brands," says Ashwini Deshpande.

Elephant Design’s Ashwini Deshpande was the jury chair of the Design category of the ABBY One Show Awards 2023.

#TBH: Can advertising take the lead in bringing social change?

While sticking their necks out on issues may imperil the brands, they do take calculated risks to be able stand out in the clutter. To be sure, the representation of the LGBTQIA+ community in advertising is a more recent phenomenon. This may be a result of the successful challenge to Section 377 of the Indian Penal Code that effectively decriminalised consensual adult same-sex relationships, providing a huge fillip to the LGBTQIA+ movement. (Stills from ads)

Gone are the days when brand advertising just meant highlighting the features or attributes of a product. Today, brands are strongly aligning their communication strategies with a cause. With the proliferation and the growing popularity of social media, the medium has played its part in brands strongly associating with a cause.

Jitender Dabas on making Goafest great again

Every industry needs its marquee events to showcase its best. Every industry must have forums where it can present views. Every industry needs festivals to celebrate itself and make its people feel happy and proud to be a part of it.

Senior advertising executive and McCann WorldGroup India’s COO Jitender Dabas opines on key steps that could steer Goafest to glory again.

Online retail in Indian garners $60B GMV in FY23; Flipkart Group maintains market share: Redseer

In contrast to the pre-covid levels e-tailing market has grown deeper across categories, with more users making purchases online. Although mobile phones dominated the category divide in FY19, fashion is now the single largest category with 27 percent share whereas BPC, grocery and home categories are the fastest growing. (Representative Image via Unsplash)

Ads monetisation contributed $1.2 billion in revenue for Indian e-tailers in FY23, according to Redseer’s new report.

Goafest 2023: GOZOOP’s Ahmed Aftab Naqvi calls ABBYs the Indian Premier Advertising Fest. Here’s why

"The high quality of entries made the task of selecting the winners extremely challenging for the jury. It is a testament to the remarkable talent and competitiveness within the advertising community," says Ahmed Aftab Naqvi. He was a Jury Chair at ABBY One Show Awards.

GOZOOP’s Ahmed Aftab Naqvi was the jury chair of the Mobile category of the ABBY One Show Awards.

Goafest 2023: What made the cut at ABBY One Show Awards this year?

Goafest 2024 will be a three-day extravaganza, showcasing the pinnacle of creativity, knowledge, and networking in the advertising, marketing, and media industry.
 (Representative Image: My Life Through A Lens via Unsplash)

Ahmed Aftab Naqvi, Ashwini Deshpande, Pallavi Chakravarti, PG Aditiya and Sabyasachi Mitter on judging ABBY One Show Awards.

Brands in the news for their trade secrets

Whenever a big company’s trade secret is exposed, the company’s brand image is on the line. So are the profits. Conspiracy theorists claim that it could be a profit-making marketing scheme for the companies as well. (Left image by @TrungTPhan via Twitter, right image by Abenteuer Albanien via Unsplash)

Whenever a big company’s trade secret is exposed, the company’s brand image is on the line. Critics feel trade secrets and conspiracies are nothing but marketing schemes by brands.

Why is there a sudden rise in scam messages in agency business

78% of Indians are more concerned about online shopping scams this festive season than they were a year ago, particularly due to the rise in deepfake scams

Scamsters posing as advertising or digital marketing agency representatives have seen a constant rise. They often pose as representatives from agency’s HR teams making job offers and extracting information. Storyboard18 decodes the scam and measures to prevent it.