Dopaminers- Group B1- Source- Business standard

Cadbury weds Mishti ---- Amrit     

• Last year Cadbury created a award-winning activation in Kolkata in an effort to get Bengalis to try chocolate. This time round, it is pitching its activation as the season’s biggest wedding – one in which Cadbury weds local girl Mishti
• . The entire campaign has been designed by ABP One and is supported by ABP Group as the print partner.
• Cadbury had a tie up with 20 local sweet shops, adding up to 60 outlets and this outlets were decorated on the theme of a wedding mandap and employees will be dressed in traditional wedding attire
• To track consumer participation, Cadbury has tied up with Zipdial, which describes itself as a call-to-action platform using missed calls. Each Mishti chain has been allotted a unique number.
• Visitors can make a call – which is automatically disconnected after the caller’s number is recorded – to register their blessings for the couple. The chain that receives the maximum blessings will be the winner.

        Polaris Financial technology looking at restructuring- Amrit

• Polaris Financial Technology Limited, a Chennai-based financial technology service and products company, has announced that the company's board of directors had decided to authorise its management team to explore options like appropriate restructuring to provide an impetus to the company for the next stage of its growth. The company has reported a drop in its third quarter net profit.
• The management has also said that it saw a challenging period for its cloud and products business. Arun Jain, founder, chairman and chief executive officer of Polaris, said they were looking at restructuring the business.
• The company is also in the process of selling its entire stake in US-based IdentTrust, a digital identity authentication services provider, owing to the security reasons raised by the US government. In an interview, Jain explains the company’s new restructuring plans

Provogue goes for a makeover --- Aman

• Apparel retail chain Provogue’s latest print advertisement says, “You’ve changed. We’ve changed”.
• The 12-year old company is changing the look and feel of its stores by changing the colour from ‘white and red’ to a more contemporary black. It is also launching new consumer products and new fabrics to win back customers who are spoilt for choice, in terms of global and domestic brands. In the early 2000s, it became famous with its ‘polisenic’ fabric (a soft fabric).
• Besides launching new fashion and accessories collections including new fabrics. The brand is also focused on its grooming products through the fast-moving consumer goods (FMCG) distribution channels. Six months back, Provogue launched a deodorant range. In the coming quarters, shower gels, shaving creams, and other grooming products are will be launched. A new inner wear line for men is in the works. With 160 distributors already engaged in six states, the company plans to expand to 1,250 distributors in the next three years.
• Out of 130 stores Provogue has, 25 stores have already been revamped; another 25 are in the process of being revamped. This process will be completed in the next six months. The company also wants to add another 300 stores via franchisee route in the next five years. The target is to make Provogue a Rs 1,000 crore brand in the next five years. Of this, 40 per cent will come from new categories.

Reebok set for 'Fresh Start' – Read by Harshit Abrol

• Adidas is making a fresh start in supporting its brand Reebok in India this year.To further boost its future growth, Adidas has brought Erick Haskell, who played a key role in writing the growth story for Adidas in Greater China, to head its India business. 
• In the campaign the company will launch new products across categories and associate its brands with teams in different sports such as running shoes in February, products for Cricket in April, and those in Football in June. Apart from this, it is also looking at basketball and other multi-specialty segments going forward.
• For the past few months, hundreds of Reebok stores nationwide have been offering 50 to 70 per cent discount as part of its plans to switch over to a new business model Adidas has reduced its retail stores from 800 to 500 and not planning to start any new outlets.
•  Haskell has found that there were certain problems with the brand in its targeting and position which will be looked after by him. Haskell adds that the company is likely to consider setting up company-owned retail stores in future as the Indian government has opened up the retail sector for foreign direct investment.
• In May last year, Reebok India had filed an FIR alleging Rupees 870-crore fraud by its former MD Subhinder Singh Prem and COO Vishnu Bhagat. Investigations on the case are still going on.

Will Samsung's gamble click? – HarshitAbrol

http://www.business-standard.com/india/news/will-samsungs-gamble-click/496047/

Its new Android-based camera has created a stir. The expectation is that it could spawn a new segment within digital cameras much like what tablets did to personal computing

·         The Korean giant has traditionally been a laggard in this segment dominated by Japanese companies such as Sony, Nikon and Canon. But the launch of an Android-based camera under the Galaxy brand name could mark the turning point for Samsung.

·         Nikon who first came out with an Android-based compact camera this August (under the Coolpix brand name) using Wi-fi to connect to the Internet and allowing users to share pictures and download apps but Samsung has attempted to go a step further, giving users the option to connect to the internet via 3G as well as Wi-fi, helping them perform all data-related work from surfing to emailing besides running other applications.

·         Price tag is nearly Rs 30,000 for Samsung new camera. Samsung sells compact camera in about 32-lakh-unit and in DLSR category accounting to 2.25 lakh units in India. According to industry estimates, the rate of growth of compact cameras in India is nearly 30 per cent per annum. Nikon has priced its Android-based Coolpix camera at about Rs 21,000 in India.

·         Sony, the leader in the compact camera market in India with a share of 40 per cent, has said that it will launch new models on the Android platform going forward.

·         Nikon, the number two player with a market share of 25 per cent, is likely to launch upgrades to its new Android-based Coolpix camera, while Canon at number three (market share: 15 per cent) has said that it is not contemplating any products on the Android platform at the moment as they are not sure about the latest technology success.

·         Sunil Nayyar, senior general manager, sales, Sony India, says that while adoption of Android-based cameras will be there, serious photographers will continue to go after DSLR cameras. He thinks that DSLR cameras typically start from Rs 30,000 in India, and when you can get professional images with a DSLR camera and now even those cameras are beginning to improve on their connectivity then why will consumers shift? Sony company has a 45 per cent share coming in at number two after Nikon (market share: 55 per cent) in the DSLR space in India, he says that too much of a hybrid between a camera and smartphone may not actually charm a consumer; players will have to bear this mind.

The 'parent' takes over at Mahindra Group-Viresh

A new architecture will guide the use of the corporate brand across 18 sectors and over 50 brands In the wake of its many launches and acquisitions with which the group had painted the town red, unifying its companies was high on the priority list. The start was the visual wordmark of the name Mahindra, which is the parent, corporate brand. There were intrinsic heritage values that the group was unwilling to let go off, yet wanted a modern take. It first went to work on its employees, espousing three tenets as ‘Rise’, geared to egg them on for ethical growth. While Rise was to unite the internal audience, Mahindra’s external identity had to be made scale-and future-proof.

• S P Shukla, President, group strategy and chief brand officer, Mahindra Group and member of the group executive board, says, “It was time to capture the evolving nature of the group in the visual identity. The heritage attributes of the brand according to research were found as reliable, trustworthy, warm, caring and solid which we wanted to retain. But entry into new sectors meant that the look connote global, modern and technology-oriented too. The attributes of the Rise philosophy were further additions.”
• Shukla says, “Brand architecture helps in adding new brands and businesses in the future in an efficient way.” For Mahindra the acquisitions, organic growth and geographic expansions in the last 10 years had led to a federal structure, with empowered vertical heads and boards of listed entities, but with many legacy brands.
• Hence As a corporate brand, the word Mahindra can be used across businesses to ensure consistency.

Carrier Midea: Late but hopeful –Aniruddha

While Midea will lend its strengths in manufacturing and scales of operation in the residential category, Carrier will bring to the table its already established strong distribution and consumer awareness in the country

• The sense of urgency in his stride seems inevitable given that Carrier Midea India (a 40:60 joint venture between Carrier and Midea), the company he leads as managing director is a very late entrant in the Rs 34,000 crore consumer electronics and durables industry, according to an Assocham report.
• For Carrier, India isn’t a new market to reckon with. The US-headquartered company has been operating here for more than 20 years and has established itself as a strong player in the air-conditioner market, especially in the commercial segment, and has been looking for ways to increase its presence in the residential business.
• On its part Midea might appear a bit of a surprise package in the country, but it is by no means a pushover. Midea is world’s leading producer of consumer appliances,
• Midea has been working on its Indian entry strategy for some years now and found a willing partner in Carrier, with which it has operational JVs in five other countries including China, Egypt, Brazil, Chile and Argentina. India is the sixth country where the two brands have come together.
• Having crossed the first big hurdle, that is, a new manufacturing facility situated at Bawal, Haryana which started operations in November last year. Spanning approximately 150,000 sq. ft., the plant is one of the country’s largest manufacturing facilities for air conditioners
• The company has invested Rs 150 crore in the first year itself. With a planned investment of Rs 500 crore over a five-to-six year period, Carrier Midea hopes to corner a significant share in the residential air conditioning and white goods market in India. But the company is likely to face tough competition from market leaders Voltas, LG and Samsung.

·         In other words, Midea will lend its strengths in manufacturing and scales of operation in the residential category, Carrier will bring to the table its already established strong distribution in India and consumer awareness in the country. “This dual-brand strategy will help both the brands in specific areas,” says a company executive. “This would help expand market presence in the existing AC segment and also help the foray into the home appliances market.”

·         The back-end—the factory, the warehouses and the after-sales—will be consolidated to improve efficiency, optimise service delivery and lower costs. The communication and marketing plans are geared to gain visibility through mass media advertising, above-the-line and below-the-line activities.

Carlson to focus on mid-market- Viresh

• US-based Carlson, now known as the Carlson Rezidor group, started operations near the Delhi airport with its four-star property Radisson in 1998. Fourteen years later, it has become the fourth largest group in terms of room inventory in the country, according to a study done by HVS.
• The group has a total inventory of 6,582 rooms and another 4,857 in pipeline. Of its 56 hotels, nearly a third has come up in the last two years. 
• With its eyes set on the mid-market segment, the hospitality company is planning to grow on the back of two of its brands – Country Inn and Park Inn by Radisson. 
• “We have picked up various colours which remind of India like saffron, red, purple and brought them into the design of Park Inn hotels,” says Simon Barlow, president- Asia Pacific, Carlson Rezidor group. The company has customized its room size, food and beverage options to suit the Indian consumer. Barlow adds that the idea is not to give a “bland hotel” just because it is mid-market.
• Out of its 88 hotels in the Asia Pacific region, 56 are in India across four brands Radisson Blu, Radisson, Park Plaza and Country Inn and Suites. While economic slowdown has prolonged the completion of projects, the company is hopeful of achieving its target of setting up 100 hotels by 2015. 
• Carlson is looking at territory partnerships with various developers for northern and central India with an objective to be present in all the state capitals. “The focus is shifting from the four metros and consumer has evolved. What was luxury before has now become necessity,”