The Singapore-based Jungle Ventures has announced that Ratan Tata, Chairman Emeritus of Tata Sons, will come on board as a Special Advisor.Founded by Anurag Srivastava and Amit Anand, Jungle Ventures is an early stage venture capital fund focussed on helping build innovative technology-led companies in Asia-Pacific.The venture fund said it has already made investments in 30 leading Asian start-ups, including Zipdial (recently acquired by Twitter), LiveSpace, Tradegecko, CrayonData, Fastacash and travelmob (acquired by Nasdaq listed HomeAway).In his role as Special Advisor, Tata has formally committed to spending time with Jungle's portfolio of companies to help them build category leadership while being ethically impregnable and culturally strong in Asian and global markets, the venture fund said in a statement.Jungle Ventures, launched with a $10 million seed-to-early stage fund in 2012, is currently raising a second fund with a much bigger corpus, it said."For Jungle Ventures, Tata believing in our vision also comes as a validation of our purpose to spawn and nurture entrepreneurship across the Asia-Pacific and help build tech category leaders," said Srivastava, founding and managing partner, Jungle Ventures.Some of the other advisors who currently work with Jungle and their start-ups include Gokul Rajaram, Product Engineering Lead at Square, Lim Dershing, Founder of JobsCentral, and Alon Sobol, Director of ISP/ Telco Relationships for Spotify.Over the last two years, Tata has invested in over 10 start-ups in his personal capacity to encourage the ecosystem, including online marketplace Snapdeal, online furniture retailer Urban Ladder and most recently, taxi aggregator Ola, among others.(PTI)
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Bangalore accounts for 40 per cent of Indian revenues of Metro Cash and Carry and the company plans to open many new stores in south India, K. Chandra Mohan reports Lakshmipathi, a farmer from Malur in Karnataka, supplies vegetables to a Metro Cash and Carry's collection centre near his town. Like other farmers in the state, he is excited that Metro Cash and Carry chain is expanding in Karnataka. "With Metro opening its 4th wholesale unit in Bengaluru my supplies to them have gone up and my revenues will increase this year," Lakshmipati says. He finds it convenient and systematic to work with a large MNC. "They are very clear about their requirements and I get a market price," he says. Manjuthan, a trader working with Metro, says: "I have been able to purchase products at affordable prices. It has helped me save more for my child's education." Bangalore accounts for 40 per cent of India revenues of the German retail giant. Metro AG, with its India subsidiary, will open 50 stores by 2020 with an average investment of Rs 70 crore per store. It has already opened 18 stores with an investment Rs 2,000 crore over the last decade. Metro aims to address the business needs of small and mid-sized traders, caterers, restaurants and hotels as well as offices and institutions. It has connected more than 10 million kiranas in the country. Bengaluru is the base for the company and it enjoys good support of local customers and suppliers, according to Rajeev Bakshi, managing director of Metro Cash and Carry. "We continue to strive for the highest standards of excellence in all our wholesale solutions. We are also privileged to contribute to Karnataka's economy, through increased employment, business partnerships and community engagement," he said. Metro offers employment to 150 people per store directly and another 150 indirectly. The company, which competes with Walmart's Best Price Cash and Carry, will soon have its presence in Chennai and Kochi.
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Fiat Chrysler will invest $280 million to begin Jeep production in India from 2017 through an expanded joint venture with Tata Motors, the carmaker said on Wednesday (01 July).Fiat Chrysler Chief Executive Sergio Marchionne is pursuing ambitious sales targets for Jeep and other group brands under a turnaround plan outlined last year.By 2018, the carmaker aims almost to double the 1 million Jeep sales recorded in 2014. Local production for major markets is key to meeting that goal, Jeep chief Mike Manley said last week.The Indian investment is an "important step as we continue to expand the availability of Jeep products around the world", Marchionne said in a company statement.Along with its stablemate Alfa Romeo, Jeep is at the heart of Marchionne's 48 billion-euro ($54 billion) expansion plan for the group he forged by merging Italy's Fiat with U.S. carmaker Chrysler.Last week, the CEO unveiled the first of eight new Alfa models with which he aims to challenge the German premium giants, BMW, Audi and Mercedes-Benz.India has proven a tough market for western carmakers to crack. In recent years, Renault and PSA Peugeot Citroen have both been forced to scrap joint ventures or withdraw altogether.Fiat's sales in India fell 13 percent to 10,380 vehicles for the 12 months ended March 31, industry data showed.Jeep's expansion plan relies heavily on India, set to become the world's third-largest auto market behind China and the United States by 2020, according to forecaster IHS Automotive.Sport utility vehicles (SUVs) are one of the fastest-growing vehicle categories globally and already account for about one-fifth of India's 2.6 million annual passenger vehicle sales, based on data for the 12 months ended March 31.Carmakers such as Volkswagen and General Motors also plan to launch SUVs in India within the next two years, in a challenge to market incumbents such as the Toyota Fortuner.Assembly of a first Jeep model will begin in the second quarter of 2017 at Fiat's plant in the western state of Maharashtra, Fiat Chrysler said. Fiat and Tata already build cars together at the site.Production plans were not disclosed. Manley had previously said Jeep would make its Indian sales debut in 2015 with the mid-sized Cherokee and rugged Wrangler SUV.He is also preparing to begin Chinese production later this year, adding to assembly lines in Italy, Brazil and the United States.(Reuters)
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Luxury carmaker Jaguar Land Rover has signed a contract to build some vehicles in Austria, it said on Thursday, a further expansion away from its UK manufacturing base. The brand, owned by India's Tata Group since 2008, opened its first overseas manufacturing plant in China in October and is building a Brazilian plant in a bid to expand volumes and bring production closer to key markets. The automaker said it had signed a manufacturing partnership with Magna Steyr, a unit of Magna International, and would build an unspecified number of models in the Austrian city of Graz as its three British plants were close to capacity. However, Chief Executive Ralf Speth sought to reassure customers and workers in Britain, where the firm built almost one in three of the country's 1.53 million cars in 2014, that it was staying loyal to its origins. “The UK remains at the centre of our design, engineering and manufacturing capabilities. Partnerships such as this will complement our UK operations and engineering", he said. Jaguar Land Rover said it would spend around 3.6 billion pounds ($5.6 billion) on new vehicles and capital expenditure in 2015-16 as it expands its range. (Reuters)
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The route to reaching a new India was the theme of the session that struck a patriotic chord with everyone in the audience. The audience was amused listening to the tales of Kamal Bali, Managing Director, Volvo India, who talked about Brand India’s equity touching a new zenith among its foreign counterparts. Gurbir Singh, Executive Editor, BW Businessworld moderating the session, asked the speakers how Brand Bharat is gaining momentum outside the country as much as it is within India. To this Mr Bali said, "There is a lot of optimism about India and brand India here and everywhere around the world." The panel also said that Narendra Modi’s brand equity has gone up; slogans like ‘Make in India’ and ‘Digital India’ profuse optimism and is symbolic to a positive change that India is projecting itself to be. But despite going gaga about India, the panelists were also of the opinion that India still has to go a long way in becoming the next super power, and said it can reach its goal only if it puts its basics in place and do away with the red tape that’s derailing its growth. Further, the general opinion was that the popular slogans doing the rounds like ‘Make in India’ and ‘Digital India’ should begin to yield result on the ground and India should abstain from overpromising and under-delivering, otherwise it will lose credibility in the international market. The other speaker on the panel Mr Rajesh Sud, MD & CEO, Max Life Insurance said, " India needs to grow at 9 per cent; it's a compelling need to have $7000 per capita income, otherwise the demographic dividend will become a demographic nightmare."
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Brands are quickly catching up with the phenomenon where brand placement is taking place with content, said Ashok Venkatramani, Chief Executive Officer of ABP News. Hita Gupta reportsAt the unveiling of the 11th edition of the Businessworld Marketing Whitebook commemorating the 35th anniversary of BW Businessworld, Ashok Venkatramani, Chief Executive Officer of ABP News delivered the closing remark summing key takeaways for brands seeking to achieve successful marketing in the Indian ecosystem. Mr Venkatramani shared his admiration for Google’s initiative Google Fibre and it successfully creating a brand for itself. He accepted that media in India continues to struggle with concerns such as reach. Not just media but brands at large are contesting whether to strive for greater reach and get more consumers on its current platform or innovate and modernise its product for the new age consumer. “This is a dilemma that marketers in India are facing,” said Mr Venkatramani. Outlining his three major takeaways and what brands must do, he explained the concept behind chasing profiles and not eyeballs. “Brands need to define their consumer profiles sharply,” he added. In the evolving media, we can also see advertising formats evolving. “Brand needs to adopt the phenomenon where they are moving away from the 30-second format and integrating the brand with content,” said Mr Venkatramani. Brands are quickly catching up with the phenomenon where brand placement is taking place with content. Finally, in the third and final segment, he emphasised on the need for brand creative which are powerful enough to hold the audience beyond the first five seconds of the advertisement. “Brands need to see how they engage with the consumer and move beyond the standard media vehicles,” Mr Venkatramani concluded.
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In a vibrant panel discussion at the launch of the 11th edition of the Marketing Whitebook, panelists talked about how brand Bharat is gaining momentum in and outside the country despite the gloom and doom. Speaking on the paradigm shift in retail trends, Sahil Jain, co-founder, DineOut, said convenience is key for consumers both in urban and semi-urban areas. Convenience drives demand for companies to build mobile apps on various consumer products. The other convenience for consumers in smaller cities where penetration of debit and credit cards is still low, is e wallet, which is gaining traction. Bipin Preet Singh, CEO & Founder of Mobikwik said: "SMEs and consumers operate through e wallets, which are fast growing in cities like Surat, Ahmedabad and Lucknow. Incidentally, 10% of the users are above the age of 50 years." Aloke Bajpai, founder, iXigo, agreed that the main challenge was in getting the SMEs and vendors online in tier 2 and 3 cities. In the next session, talking on two Indias and the one in between, the panelists extensively discussed how marketers market their products across the spectrum from techn savvy ufban India to moffusil towns. "Digital adoption is breaking down the barrier," says Balchander Sekhar, Co- founder, RenewBuy, one of the speakers in the panelists. There was a consensus among the speakers when they agreed that young consumers today are dictating terms to marketeers. Mahesh Kanchan, Director-Marketing, Carlsberg says, "the youth is ever experimenting with the mediums to access products and they are an extremely profitable segment for us." The discussion went on to say that mobile phone is as powerful a tool for a marketer to reach their consumers today as is the television. Brand Bharat was the theme for the next panel that discussed how Brand India is gaining momentum in and outside the country. "The Narendra Modi brand equity has gone up, slogans like 'Make in India' and Digital India profuse optimism," said Kamal Bali, MD, Volvo India. But despite all the gags about India, the panelists were also of the opinion that India still has to go a long way by putting the basics in place. Rajesh Sud, MD & CEO, Max Life Insurance said, "India needs to grow 9 per cent annually. It's a compelling need. Otherwise the demographic dividend will become demographic nightmare." The last session was a fireside chat with a young successful leader Nitish Kapoor, Regional Director, Reckitt Benckiser South Asia, on trends that are changing the consumer outlook in India and their effect on FMCG business. Kapoor threw figures about his company's budget on digital advertising to its growth story to the leadership skills of Indian leaders in various multi nationals. "India has a long way to make digital advertising a main component of ots marketing spends, says Kapoor. When asked by chairman Annurag Batra what gets Indian CEOs hired globally, Kapoor said, "Indians have a lot of mental and cultural agility to deal with chaos." The mega show ended with the unveiling of Marketing White Book and a laughter riot by Papa CJ.
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Like all other media, digital will also face the test of cost, reach and efficiency, says Regional Director for Reckitt Benckiser South Asia, Nitish Kapoor. Noor Fathima Warsia reportsAt the launch event of the BW Businessworld Marketing Whitebook 2015-16 in Delhi on July 1, 2015, the Regional Director for Reckitt Benckiser South Asia, Nitish Kapoor, put a few things in perspective for the marketing business. While optimistic on the growth and impact of technology, he was also cautious about the approach that companies should take while taking digital routes for connecting with consumers. In a conversation with Annurag Batra, Chairman and Editor-in-Chief of Businessworld Group, Mr Kapoor stated that even though digital adoption and advertising will grow in India, like all other media, digital will also face the test of cost, reach and efficiency. He said, “Gone are the days when you would mandatorily allot some portion of your advertising spends to digital because that was the way to go. There are instances when you gain incremental reach through digital but it still has to show returns.” While some of the RB brands such as Durex are advertised on digital platforms only, for some of its larger brands targetted at a mass audience, nothing would beat traditional forms of media such as television. In that context, Mr Kapoor noted that digital was set to become the second or third largest media in India, but for some time television would be the most popular medium in the country. He acknowledged that the younger audiences showed all signs of a paradigm shift, stating, “I cannot remember the last time my 14-year old daughter watched TV. She is either on her laptop or mobile even if she is consuming the same content. However, there is still time before this becomes any kind of a norm.” Ecommerce - Not a Bubble; Social Media – A Double Edged Sword As conversations grow around the sustainability of ecommerce business models, Mr Kapoor emphatically stated that he believed ecommerce is in a phase of incredible growth. “There are many players at this stage who are chasing several ideas. Eventually stronger business models will emerge and there would be shakeout but ecommerce is not a bubble,” he said. Ecommerce was playing a role for a company such as Reckitt Benckiser as well even as it was not possible for some of its categories to be aggressive on ecommerce platforms due to the nature of these products. Responding to a question on how brands should behave in controversial situations, Mr Kapoor advised that it was important for brands to actively participate in such conversations. He said, “The worst thing you can do while experiencing a controversy is to run away from it. You will miss out on any chance of clarifying or injecting any positive thought in what would otherwise turn out to be a negative conversation. Especially in a world where social media sites are dominating and has a healthy share of trigger-happy people, it is important to be active and responsive.” It was evident that Mr Kapoor placed an equal amount of significance on the views of the go-to-market or the sales team, who he believes bring a firsthand experience of the marketplace and product performance. An important comment that Mr Kapoor made was about doing good in the line of business. He said, “It is an important area for companies right now to do something good. We had the opportunity to associate with a national cause Swach Bharat, and do something good. If people are genuinely trying to do something, and even if it is not connected to a commercial gain, eventually it will benefit the company. We are company that exists to make people’s lives healthier and happier. We serve a purpose and it also leads to building a category, and when a company does that you are achieving both objectives,” Mr Kapoor stated.
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