Week at a glance: Godrej-Raymond pact; Influencer activism; AI and automation

Godrej Consumer Products signs pact to acquire FMCG biz of Raymond for Rs 2,825 cr

Godrej Consumer Products Limited (GCPL) today announced that it has entered into an agreement to acquire the FMCG business of Raymond Consumer Care Limited (RCCL), a leading player in the deodorants and sexual wellness categories in India. The RCCL FMCG business is being sold to GCPL along with the trademarks of Park Avenue (for the FMCG category), KS, KamaSutra and Premium, through a slump sale.

The role of influencers in shaping social issues: A look at Influencer Activism

Influencer marketing has developed into a potent tool for companies to reach customers and market their goods in recent years. Influencers are, however, increasingly leveraging their platforms to promote social causes as well as products. Influencers are becoming more frequently engaging in what is known as "influencer activism," using their platform and fan base to draw attention to social problems and advance constructive change.

The promise of cold & cool quotient: Beverage brands bullish on the Indian summer

As India reels under searing temperatures, summer marketing season has picked up. Not surprisingly, revenue in the Soft Drinks segment is pegged at $8.85 billion in 2023, as per Statista, which also states that this market is expected to grow annually by 5.40% (CAGR 2023-2027). Statista further states that in the Soft Drinks segment, volume is expected to amount to 7.82 billion litres by 2027. The Soft Drinks segment is expected to show a volume growth of 3.9% in 2024. The average volume per person in the Soft Drinks segment is expected to amount to 4.89 litres in 2023.

Aggregation of measurement systems of TV and digital is much needed: Vaishali Sharma

In conversation with Adgully, Vaishali Sharma, Head of Marketing & Communications, Sony SAB & Hindi Movie Cluster, speaks about the growing significance of Artificial Intelligence for marketers, aggregation of measurement systems of TV and digital, and more.

At 116 years, how Vadilal has managed to stay forever young and relevant

In conversation with Adgully, Aakanksha Devanshu Gandhi, President – Branding, Vadilal Enterprises, speaks about Vadilal’s over century-long journey, she shares some deep consumer insights from the ice cream industry, addressing consumers’ growing health concerns, emphasising on an experiential and emotional connect with consumers, and more.

In a positive start to the year, WPP Q1 2023 revenue up 2.9% at £2,829 million

In a positive start to the year, WPP has reported Q1 2023 revenue of £3,460 million, a growth of 4.9%. In terms of organic growth, WPP’s Q1 revenue stood at £2,829 million, recording a rise of 2.9% like-for-like.

Twitter's Blue Tick drama: Celebrities rejoice; Verification badges return

The blue tick badges have been free-of-charge used by Twitter for a number of accounts with more than one million followers. After numerous high-profile accounts worldwide had their blue checkmark deleted, the microblogging network did this. The platform started deleting the legacy blue tick from all accounts that had not previously paid the badge subscription fee just a few days ago. But in an unexpected turn of events, a number of celebrities, including actor Shah Rukh Khan, singer Amitabh Bachchan, and former chief minister of Jammu and Kashmir Omar Abdullah, received their blue tick badges back on Sunday.

Jiah Khan case verdict: Sooraj Pancholi exonerated of charges

Actor Sooraj Pancholi was exonerated by a special CBI court on Friday of the charge of aiding actor Jiah Khan's suicide in 2013. On June 3, 2013, Khan committed suicide at her home in Juhu. The Indian Penal Code's Section 306 (abetment of suicide) was the slapped against Pancholi.

80% of consumers say they are more loyal to purpose-driven brands: Girish Kalyanaraman

In this interaction with Adgully, Girish Kalyanraman speaks at length about key milestones in P&G Shiksha’s journey, consumer loyalty and purpose-driven brands, the #InvisibleGap campaign, P&G’s long-standing #KeepGirlsInSchool movement on menstrual health of girl students, and much more.

AI & automation will continue to transform the marketing landscape in 2023: Mukesh Ghuraiya

In conversation with Adgully, Mukesh Ghuraiya, Chief Marketing Officer, Modi Naturals, speaks at length about the key marketing trends in 2023, rise of AI and automation, growth of Voice search, a greater focus on health & wellness across various sectors and industries, and more.

There’s no such thing as Utopian work-life balance on a day-to-day basis: Archana Jayaraj

In conversation with Adgully, Archana Jayaraj, Director, APAC Talent and Head of India Operations for Wiley Edge, speaks about how the pandemic has highlighted the importance of empathy and compassion in leadership, why organisations must prioritise gender sensitivity and inclusion, women bring some the unique attributes that women bring to the table for successful crisis management, and more.

Between tradition & tech: Pitaara TV’s Ajayvir Singh deconstructs Punjabi content market

In this interview with Adgully, Ajayvir Singh, Programming Head, Pitaara TV and Content Head, Chaupal OTT, provides insights into the current state of the Punjabi film industry and its marketing strategies. He clarifies that the drop in satellite acquisition rates post-COVID has been minor and temporary. The industry still places high importance on star cast, but content is equally crucial.

We expect Tier 2 and 3 cities to drive growth for us in 2023: Pepperfry’s Kushal Budhia

In conversation with Adgully, Kushal Budhia, VP - Head of Furniture Business at Pepperfry, speaks about furniture demand trends in India this year, the important roles of technology, customisation and personalisation, focus on Pepperfry’s D2C private labels, and more.

Hanging on to old traditions is not enough – How the baby care market is evolving

In an interaction with Adgully, Akanksha Sharma, CEO & Co-Founder, CITTA, sheds light on their latest campaign, consumer expectations driving the baby care market, the difference between organic, ayurvedic and natural, the controversy over ‘Talc’, and more.

"Often at CXO levels, priorities may clash & analysis paralysis is common"

In conversation with Adgully, Bistriti Poddar, Chief Communication Officer, uKnowva HRMS, candidly speaks about why there is less participation of women in the top managerial roles in India, lack of gender-inclusive ecosystems, creating positive or impactful disruption, and more.

Westside's Umashan Naidoo on Visual Merchandising's gameplay

In conversation with Adgully, Umashan Naidoo, Head of Customer & Beauty, Westside, highlights some key trends that will dominate the fashion and retail industry in 2023, the growing importance of visual merchandising , and more.

PR can change the world…we are the Agents of Change: Cyrus Jogina

In this interaction with Adgully as part of PR Conversations, Cyrus Jogina, Senior VP, Technology and Startup, Concept PR, speaks at length about trends in the field of corporate communication post-pandemic, the importance of identifying the right target audience, using technology judiciously, and much more.

Virtual production is becoming a powerful tool for brands and ads: Robert Godinho

In this interview with Adgully, Robert Godinho, Managing Director, Media.Monks India, discusses the virtual production services offered by his company and their benefits for brands. Media.Monks India provides end-to-end virtual production services, including building 3D environments and creating realistic real-life environments, integrating physical and virtual sets, LED screens, in-cam VFX, and green screen live compositing.

We expect influencers and agencies to do something out-of the box: Shailja Saraswati

In conversation with Adgully, Shailja Saraswati, Chief Content Officer, Omnicom Media Group India, speaks about the continued march of virtual and augmented reality technologies in the content and entertainment sector, the rise of user-generated content, major focus areas for Omnicom Media Group in the year ahead, and more.

“AI will not replace marketers, but will replace marketers that don’t leverage AI”

Vartika Verma, Senior Director - Marketing, Gupshup, delivered a keynote address on ‘AI thinking in MarketIng’. The address commenced with Vartika Verma briefing about Gupshup. She said, “Gupshup is a conversational engagement platform which helps brands automate marketing commerce and support. One very shocking thing that we've been capturing in the last two to three sessions as well is the entire growth in AI Tech,Chat GPT, in large language models.”

Web 3.0, influencer marketing our core competencies: YAAP's Arshad Zaheer

In this interview with Adgully Associate Editor BF Firos, Arshad Zaheer, Senior Partner, YAAP, talks about how the company brings together technology, data, and content to deliver high-quality creative solutions. He explains how the 3D philosophy of design, discovery, and distribution is woven into the company's organisational fabric, and how the company identifies social, economic, and technological trends to create an ecosystem aimed at growth and expansion.