In a bid to encourage women to move past pads and switch to comfortable, convenient, and environment-friendly menstrual cups, Sirona, a menstrual and intimate hygiene products brand, has launched a bold and hard-hitting video campaign. By promoting easy-to-use, stain-proof, durable, and environment-friendly menstrual cups in lieu of sanitary napkins, the digital awareness campaign by Sirona is a much-needed present to Indian women across the country on the occasion of Women’s Day.

Featuring popular social media influencer and theatre actor Shibani Bedi, the video aims to uncover the harsh realities of using menstrual pads. Highlighting the numerous benefits of using menstrual cups, the video encourages women to go from ‘Down with Pads’ to ‘Done with Pads’. Through a bold narrative laced with sarcasm, the video campaign sheds light on how menstrual pads prevent women from embracing life during their periods. It highlights the major issues attached with sanitary pads such as rashes, discomfort, and the fear of leakage that plague women while using pads. It also focuses on the negative impact of pads on the environment and how this method of feminine care is already outdated in the first world. The video then goes on to illustrate how easy menstrual cups are to use and how they can change the way women perceive their periods for the better.

The goal of this first-of-its-kind campaign is to encourage women to break out of their ‘inherited habit’ of using menstrual pads and switching to menstrual cups. Sirona Cups made by using FDA approved cushiony medical grade silicone and are reusable, last for a decade, and extremely comfortable to use. Women who embrace Sirona’s breakthrough offering can swim, jog, travel, wear white, and forget worrying about their periods for life. Sirona Cups are already best sellers online on leading marketplaces with raving reviews.

Sirona has been at the forefront of providing women in India with unique intimate and menstrual hygiene products. Driving home the message of ‘Rise Up with Menstrual Cups’, Sirona is speaking out loud about the complacency that dominates sanitary care in India, and informing women that better, more comfortable alternatives exist for them. Initiating a much-needed discourse around this subject is a step towards ensuring quality feminine hygiene solutions for women across the country.

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 The Advertising Club Calcutta, the oldest advertising club in India, has inducted Agnello Dias, co-founder and Chief Creative Officer - Taproot Dentsu - into its ‘Hall of Fame’ for the year 2019.
 
The other famed recipients who have been inducted with this honour include Alyque Padamsee (Lintas), R.K. Swamy (BBDO Advertising), Ram Sehgal (Contract), Simone Tata (Trent Ltd), Mohammad Khan (Enterprise), Mike Khanna (HTA), A.G. Krishnamurthy (Mudra Communications), Arun Nanda (Rediffusion DY&R), Dr. V.J. Kurien (Amul), Roda Mehta (O&M), Aroon Purie (India Today), Ranjan Kapur (WPP India), Sam Balsara (Madison India), Prem Mehta (Lintas), R Balki (Lowe), Prasoon Joshi (McCann) and Piyush Pandey (Ogilvy & Mather). 
 
“It is a privilege to be in the shadow of giants and I am grateful that an institution as respected as the Ad Club of Calcutta considered me worthy of this honour. It feels a tad intimidating to be honest and am truly grateful to the many hands that guided me along this journey,” Dias said. 

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ITC’s premium fragrance brand Essenza Di Wills has launched Mikkel Verde, a new evening wear fragrance for men.

The fragrance has been introduced to consumers through a film. The film juxtaposes the real and the breakaway world that the protagonist yearns to explore. The film opens with the protagonist questioning the physical existence of life caged between walls, pillars and posts whilst his soul wants to break free. The fragrance stimulates the mind to escape the rigid reality and begin a journey to discover the wild unknown. In this cinematic ad-film, Mikkel Verde presents a discovery of your true essence and soul!

Talking about the product and the campaign, Sameer Satpathy, Chief Executive, Personal Care Products Business Division, ITC Limited, said, “Mikkel Verde embodies a fine balance between enigma and elegance. This newly launched fragrance is a unique addition to the repertoire of Essenza Di Wills’ portfolio of fine fragrances. The experience of Mikkel Verde has been interpreted by Denzil in an intriguing film that explores and celebrates the eternal quest for adventure.”

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Parle Products is all set to launch a digital campaign - “#HealthIsNotAChoice” for its newly introduced health brand, Nutricrunch under its Platina division. The campaign aims at encouraging people to embrace the ‘Health is not a choice’ philosophy.

The campaign began with innovative posts across Parle Nutricrunch social media platforms and print advertisements across leading newspapers. All the posts strongly advocate treating one’s health and well-being as priority and showcase that one might have options for a lot of aspects in life but one’s journey to good health must not be compromised.

 As a part of the campaign, three digital films will be launched to build awareness about the health benefits of consuming Parle Nutricrunch. The films showcase Parle Nutricrunch as a versatile product that be consumed by housewives who are the gatekeepers of good health for families as well as fitness enthusiasts, working professionals.

Speaking about the campaign, Mayank Shah, Sr. Category Head, Parle Products, said, “In today’s fast-paced world, consumers are constantly looking for different ways to maintain a healthy lifestyle. Nutricrunch offers just that with its diverse variants like Nutricrunch Lite Cracker, Nutricrunch Digestive, Nutricrunch Honey & Oats. Each of these variants have unique health benefits and make for a brilliant healthy snacking option. #HealthIsNotAChoice" campaign is an endeavor by Parle Platina to encourage Indians to stay fit and make an informed decision about their well-being”.

Each film has a unique key message that resonates well with a specific target audience.  A working professional discussing the stress at work and how Parle Nutricrunch Digestive enriched with superfood Jowar helps in maintaining a proper sugar balance with its antioxidants properties. A housewife talking about how she begins her day on a healthy note with Nutricrunch Lite crackers which has no added sugar, no trans-fat and no cholesterol.  A young fitness enthusiast discussing how Nutricrunch Honey & Oats makes for the best pre-workout companion with its high-fiber content. 

The company in a statement said, the health biscuit and cookies category has been growing at 12-13% per year and is now a sizeable portion of the market at over ₹1,000 crore giving Parle Products more opportunities to tap into the semi-premium and above segments that fetch high margin.

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HDFC Life Insurance Company Limited has launched a new brand campaign which focuses on the real-life story of Darpan Inani, who lost his sight due to an illness at a very young age, and yet bounced back to become the highest rated visually impaired chess player in the country.

As a brand, HDFC Life has always stood for pride, encouraging independence through self-reliance. The brand has always highlighted the hard-to-replace-individual who not only provides for his/her family but also enables his/her loved ones to #BounceBack from any challenges they face.

The film showcases the inspiring story of Darpan, whose eyes were affected by the Steven Johnson Syndrome at the age of 3 years, causing him to lose his eye-sight. But this did not stop him from pursuing his dream. According to Darpan, chess is a game of vision and not visibility, thus allowing him the opportunity to compete in the game as any other competitor would. He not only excelled at the game but also went on to become the first visually impaired Indian (in his category) to win the Creon Open Chess tournament, in France in August 2018. Playing a pivotal role in his success, Darpan's family encouraged self-reliance and pushed him to #BounceBack from the situation and to live a life of pride.

Speaking about the campaign, Pankaj Gupta, Chief Marketing Officer, HDFC Life, said, "This story of self-reliance strongly resonates with HDFC Life's proposition of 'Sar Utha ke Jiyo'. Through this ad, we want to leave our viewers with the message that anyone can #BounceBack, despite challenges and limitations. All they need is the right kind of support, encouragement and financial preparedness. Darpan's parents imparted a valuable life lesson on self-reliance, serving as a backbone to his success and empowering him to conquer all odds and achieve his dreams.”

Add to this, Rajdeepak Das, MD, India & Chief Creative Officer, South Asia, Leo Burnett, said, “Darpan Inani’s story is about human resilience. His spirit of never giving up embodies HDFC Life’s ‘Sar Utha Ke Jiyo’ ethos. This campaign touches upon the very human behaviour of bouncing back, and it is people like Darpan Inani who inspire us to do our best in any situation. This work is purely Humankind and we hope it will move our consumers into the importance of having life insurance.”

HDFC Life plans to take its new campaign to the customer through different platforms and intensify the brand experience. Apart from television, the film will be supported by other media such as print, radio, OOH, DTH, cinema, live media with a significant focus on digital and social media.

Prepare your family to #BounceBack with HDFC Life:

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Think of a government ad. What is the picture that comes to your mind? Most likely, it will be a no-frill serious film delivering the message in a preachy way. Not your fault. That’s the kind of government ads we are used to watching. Wit, quirk, humour or entertainment are definitely not the features we associate with ads of the government. And so, if a government ad is adjudged the Best TV commercial at the prestigious exchange4media’s Prime Time Awards, defeating hundreds of entries, it definitely calls for a thought. 

The ad in question is the Transport Ministry’s road safety campaign with Akshay Kumar. And most of us who have watched it will surely not disagree with the jury. The three-film 'Sadak Suraksha Jeevan Raksha' campaign was created by Helios Media in collaboration with Bharat Dabholkar, Kiran Vernekar, and Sayali Kulkarni. It was directed by R Balki. 

The ad film is a complete shift from the usual serious style of government ads. The films, which see Akshay Kumar turning into a traffic cop, have a very quirky and humorous approach to the serious issue of road safety. And lines such as ‘aapke baap ka road nahi hai!’ give the coolest of commercials a run for their money and of course leave the audience wondering if it is actually a government ad. 

So how did this non-government-like government advertisement come into being? 

It wouldn’t have happened had it not been for Transport Minister Nitin Gadkari, says Divya Radhakrishnan, Managing Director, Helios Media. 

Sharing the story behind the making of the campaign, Radhakrishnan, says, “There was a lot of contribution from Mr. Gadkari. He took a very keen interest. In fact, he approved the script in just 5 minutes. He was very clear that we should not make the ad like a typical government ad. He wanted us to make it like the way ads of brands are made. Working for this ad was a fabulous experience.” 

According to Radhakrishnan, even Akshay Kumar was a big contributor.

“He gave a lot of inputs. He wanted the film to be made very well so that the message is delivered properly. In fact, he did not even charge for it. All that he wanted was a good director so that the film comes out well. It was he who suggested Balki as the director,” she said. 

Radhakrishnan feels it is the “sleekness of production and the way the message has been communicated” that make the films stand out. 

Remembering the thought process that went into conceptualising the ad, she says the biggest issue was how to bring novelty to a message, like ‘wear a helmet’, that has already been delivered to people many times.

“When we got the brief for road safety, we tried several concepts. They were all good, but we felt that that the message was not getting through. That’s when we zeroed down on humour and cracked the concept.”  

The campaign has achieved good popularity on social media, receiving 4 crore views. “And this was organic. It was shared just from Minister Gadkari's and Akshay Kumar’s handles. This is a one-of-its-kind response,” mentioned Radhakrishnan.

The victory at the Prime Time Awards was obviously a sweet moment for everyone involved in the making of the ad. But with a government ad winning an award like this for the first time, it was a special moment even for the ministry.

“It was the first time that an ad made by the government of India has won such an award. It was such a heartening thing for them (ministry) that Mr. Gadkari called us to his office and honoured us.”
 

Truly humbled to share the achievement of receiving the @e4mtweets best TV ad for ‘18 for Ministry with Hon’ble Minister Shri Nitin Gadkariji ! Thank you for this privilege I share my joy with @bharatdabholkar Kiran Vernekar @sayaliRkulkarni R Balki @akshaykumar & Helios Media pic.twitter.com/HHjThISfnt

— Divya Radhakrishnan (@divyark) February 4, 2019

A campaign that delivers a social message in an entertaining way is probably a campaign done the best way. We hope to see many more such ads in the future, especially from the government. 

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Veet, the hair removal brand today announced Bollywood’s new actress and presently the most popular face, Sara Ali Khan as its new brand ambassador. The brand also launched its new campaign #PullItOff that will focus on communicating the ease of a quick three-step process of hair removal. It complements the attitude of a modern girl of today – who dreams big, lives it up, and seeks the best in whatever she does. She is confident, spontaneous and vivacious; qualities that Sara Ali Khan perfectly embodies.

Veet Cold Wax Strips are one of the simplest ways to wax that do not require wax heating since it comes pre-coated with a special GelWax which grips the shortest hair and not the skin making hair removal super-simple, and not a chore anymore. Conceptualized by Havas Worldwide, Sara’s first ever TV commercial will raise awareness on the ease of using Veet Cold Wax Strips with three simple steps: Peel-Apply-Pull, it’s so easy that anyone can #PullItOff.

Speaking about the new campaign, Pankaj Duhan, Chief Marketing Officer, RB South Asia Health said, “We are pleased to welcome Sara Ali Khan to the Veet family as the brand’s newest ambassador. Sara exemplifies vigour and determination of a strong-minded new age woman who is unfazed by challenges. She is young and brings a freshness that will resonate with our target audience. We understand that the consumer today is looking for quick in-home solutions and Veet Cold Wax Strips are the perfect answer that can help achieve salon like finish by following a simple three-step process.”

Commenting on her association with the brand, Sara Ali Khan said, “I am thrilled for my first ever brand endorsement with Veet Cold Wax Strips. What makes this even special is the fact that I personally have been using Veet products for the longest time. Veet as a brand has always resonated with me for their spirit of innovation in the hair removal category. Every woman radiates beauty from within. #Pullitoff is not just a product statement for me, it underlines the attitude of a modern girl who takes everything in her stride and makes the best of it.”

Sara Ali Khan has created a name for herself with films like Kedarnath and Simmba and is quite popular among the youth. With constant acknowledgment from the audience and her fans, she is an actress who is uniquely expressive and inventive in everything that she does. Hence, Veet believes that young girls of today will relate well with Sara who is ready to make her mark in the industry.

The association with Sara Ali Khan will spin a holistic, 360-degree marketing campaign across print, digital, outdoor and television.

Veet with Sara Ali Khan

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Snack brand Kurkure has roped in leading Bollywood actress Taapsee Pannu as its brand ambassador. The announcement is strategically timed as Kurkure embarks on a new journey with its new positioning – ‘Khayal toh Chatpata hai’, celebrating progressive thinking that young Indian homemakers bring in to traditional Indian families.

The company in a statement said, “With a promise to add more fun and excitement to family time, the brand rings in a new mantra, together with the boundless energy of Taapsee, who stands synonymous to the essence of Kurkure.”

‘Khayal toh Chatpata hai’ underlines Kurkure’s efforts to recognize the Indian homemaker, who has been the center force in bringing families together. The new positioning highlights progressive ideologies that the homemaker holds today; from breaking conventional barriers to new-age thinking which embraces modernity while being anchored in tradition.

Sharing her excitement on coming onboard as the brand ambassador of Kurkure, Taapsee Pannu said, “I am extremely excited to be associated with India’s much-loved, and my personal favourite snack, Kurkure. It has been an integral part of my family ‘masti’ moments back home in Delhi and during my breaks while shooting in Mumbai. I have always admired Kurkure for its family and fun orientation. And, as the brand takes on a new positioning of ‘Khayal Toh Chatpata hai’, I look forward to an exciting and chatpata journey with Kurkure.”

Talking about Kurkure’s new positioning and having Taapsee on board,  Jagrut Kotecha, Vice President – Snacks Category, PepsiCo India Ltd, said, “As Kurkure enters a new and exciting phase with ‘Khayal Toh Chatpata Hai’ positioning, we are thrilled to be carrying forward this journey with Taapsee, who resonates well with the brand philosophy. With the new positioning, we aim to celebrate the forward-thinking brought-in by today’s women and Taapsee who is an inspiration to them; and has proved her strength and mettle by taking on unconventional roles, in movies or beyond, is a natural fit.  We welcome her to the Kurkure family”

Taapsee, who has been reigning in her back to back film successes, through this collaboration will be seen in a series of advertising and marketing campaigns. The first in the series, Kurkure has unveiled a new advertisement campaign featuring the actress in her bubbly and chirpy avatar.

In the film, Taapsee, is seen representing a new Indian homemaker, a bahu, who shares her excitement, with her family, on receiving a job offer. Unfortunately, her excitement meets denial from her aunt, who recommends her to take up a hobby at home. As the bahu battles with the disappointment, Kurkure comes to her rescue, as its spices and flavours become her driving force to encourage the aunt to think beyond the conventional. With every bite of Kurkure, Taapsee is seen taking on the task of convincing her aunt of her professional choices, in a witty and fun manner. The film concludes on a positive and happy note, wherein, the family is seen enjoying a pack of Kurkure and the aunt supporting the bahu to venture out and pursue her career and passion.

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Cadbury Dairy Milk Silk, India’s premium chocolate, enjoys a special place in the hearts of consumers. Having created several occasions and represented a plethora of emotions, Mondelez India is geared up with a special offering for this Valentine’s Day. By amplifying its existing ‘Pop Your Heart Out with Silk’ campaign, Mondelez India recently launched a new heart-warming digital film, ‘Cadbury Silk Unsaid Stories’.

Talking about the marketing strategy for this Valentine’s Day, Anil Viswanathan, Director, Marketing (Chocolates), Mondelez India said, “We received an overwhelming response with the ‘Pop Your Heart Out With Silk’ campaign which was introduced last year. With the recently launched Cadbury Dairy Milk Silk Unsaid Stories, Mondelez India takes forward the narrative of breaking the hesitation around the expression of love. As leaders in chocolate gifting, we endeavour to identify new occasions and empower customers to convey the right emotion with our products.”

Whether it is a school sweetheart, office romance or a travel crush, Cadbury Dairy Milk Silk breaks all barriers, age and cultural urging people to not let any kind of love go unsaid. The TVC opens with a meet-up where members from young to old are shown narrating their love stories, talking about how letting go of that hesitation could have changed the course of their love lives and ‘only if they would’ve expressed to the one they loved, things would have been different. They receive a bar of the Cadbury Dairy Milk Silk Pop Your Heart Out, nudging them to set aside their hesitation and simply say it with Silk.

Creating interesting new shopping experiences through personalization, Mondelez India has also introduced an e-commerce exclusive Cadbury Dairy Milk Silk Heart Shaped Valentine Gift Pack which contains 2 bars of Cadbury Dairy Milk Silk Plain, 60gm each and 2 bars of Cadbury Dairy Milk Silk Oreo, 60gm each along with a customised greeting card and a photo frame. The classic taste of Cadbury chocolates offers you the reason to celebrate this occasion with your loved one. The limited edition product can be purchased for INR 650 on Cadbury Joy Deliveries and Amazon.in.

To scale up the heart-pop initiative and support the digital film and the innovative heart-shaped gift pack, Mondelez India has dedicated a 360 degree integrated marketing campaign which includes TV integrations, high impact outdoor activation, on ground, digital and in-store promotions.

Mondelez India has also partnered with Gully Boy, one of the most awaited movies of 2019 building in co-branded promotions to create high impact digital buzz during Valentine’s Day. For this occasion, Cadbury Dairy Milk Silk has taken over 40 Café Coffee Days across Mumbai, Delhi, and Bangalore to create visibility. Apart from this, the brand has also undertaken strategic tie-ups with Amazon Store, PVR Cinemas, Ola app integrations to ensure maximum reach. Creating salience with the product, and taking it to the next level by being present across all youth relevant touch points like Snapchat, Tik Tok, music apps like Gaana, Wynk, food apps like Zomato and using celeb influencers are making millions of people Pop their Hearts out!

Cadbury Silk Unsaid Stories

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The 9th edition of exchange4media group NEONS Awards & OOH conference 2019 for Outdoor Advertising and Digital Signage is around the corner. 

Established in 2011 to reward excellence in outdoor media, this year’s 1st round of judging will start from February 15 to 24. Entries will be judged online by all jury members.

The final round of judging will take place on February 28 in Gurugram where the jury will decide the winners. 

The jury will be chaired by Rakesh Kaul (Jury Chair), President-Consumer Business and CEO - Evok Retail at HSIL Ltd. The other members who will grace the jury include: Amit Sethiya, Head Marketing, Syska Group; Archana Aggarwal, VP-Media, Airtel; Ashish Baja, Head of Media and Marketing Alliance, OLA; Basant Rathore, Senior VP - Strategy & Business Development, Jagran Prakashan Ltd; Bhavana Mittal, Regional Head of Media, Digital and Communications, Reckitt Benckiser, South Asia; Gajendra Jangid, VP-Marketing, Cars24; Gulbahar Taurani, Director Marketing & Business Head, Philips India; Harshavardhan Chauhan, Central Head of Marketing, DLF Shopping Malls; Pawan Soni, Head - Marketing & Programming, National Geographic India; Prashant Desai, Media Head, Hero MotoCorp; Rahul Pansare, Head Marketing Communications & PR from Fiat Chrysler Automobiles; Rameet Arora, COO - Digital Business, Hindustan Times; Rahul Mishra is GM- Marketing, Shemaroo Entertainment Limited; Srideep Kesavan, Director Marketing – Juices, Coca Cola; Sandeep Shukla, Head Marketing & Communications, Jaquar Group; Sonia Serrao, Global Media Lead & Head Marketing Procurement - South Asia, Tata Global Beverages and Suresh Balakrishna, Chief Revenue Officer, The Hindu Group. 

OOH Conference & Awards seeks a way forward for the industry and talks about ways to overcome the challenges when it comes to OOH advertising. 

The first eight editions were highly endorsed by the industry. This edition will recognise and reward the exceptional work in OOH Advertising and Digital Signage for the period January to December 2018. The awards night and felicitation will be held on March 8 at The Leela Ambience, Gurugram. 

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