Archive: December 7, 2022

BI WORLDWIDE India celebrates its 6thconsecutive win at the Dragons of Asia Awards, 2022

Bangalore, 07 December 2022…BI WORLDWIDE, a global leader and India’s foremost in delivering measurable tech-enabled loyalty and engagement solutions inspired by applied behavioral science, has once again emerged victorious at the recently concluded Dragons of Asia Awards, 2022 held in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.

The prestigious Dragons of Asia annual awards play a pivotal role in recognizing the best marketing communication campaigns across various sectors in the APAC region. Some of the top marketing and communications agencies and their campaigns for leading businesses in the APAC region are recipients of these awards. In previous editions of these awards, BI WORLDWIDE India has bagged laurels across several sectors and categories for its stellar campaigns for clients such as Dalmia, TATA Motors, Bosch and Meritor. This year, maintaining its winning streak, BI WORLDWIDE India has won the coveted Black Dragon award in the category ‘Best Business to Business or Trade Marketing Campaign of 2022’, for its campaign “Shell Advantage Rewards or ShARe Program” for Shell Lubricants India.

BI WORLDWIDE runs a pan India app-based loyalty for Shell, for its mechanics to incentive them to purchase Shell Products, which in turn increases tertiary sales for Shell. BI WORLDWIDE India leveraged its unique capabilities in data analytics and behavioral economics principles to drive higher levels of engagement in Shell’s loyalty program, resulting in higher ROI. By implementing a multi-pronged communications strategy and expanding the scope of rewards from merely cash-based incentives to non-cash and experienced based rewards, BI WORLDWIDE India helped Shell achieve increased adoption of and traction on its app-based loyalty platform, and consequently a definitive boost in sales numbers and channel partner engagement.

Commenting on this momentous win, Mr. Sukesh Jain, CEO of BI WORLDWIDE India, said, “It’s fantastic to be recognized for our innovative solutions! BI WORLDWIDE India’s data-driven methodologies inspired by applied behavioral economics consistently deliver meaningful and measurable results for our clients, by increasing loyalty, engagement, and brand advocacy. This award has further strengthened our position as domain experts in conceptualizing and implementing successful channel loyalty programs, and we look forward to growing with our clients and picking up more accolades in the future”.

“We are pleased to be working with BI WORLDWIDE India and delighted to learn that the Shell Advantage Rewards Program campaign has bagged the Black Dragon. Share program has enabled us to engage more effectively with our mechanics community, which has resulted in positive business outcomes both in terms of sales and engagement. We are keen to explore more strategies with BI WORLDWIDE India to increase our market share and partner engagement in times to come”, said Amit Ghugre, Chief Marketing Officer- Shell Lubricants India.

BI WORLDWIDE India is associated with multiple leading global brands across sectors, to effectively manage their channel loyalty programs for various channel partner profiles, including dealers, distributors, retailers, and influencers, resulting in higher engagement levels and huge returns on investment for their clients.

Chirag Joshi Joins Samco AMC as CGO

Mumbai: December 7, 2022: Samco Asset Management Company (AMC), asset manager of Samco Mutual Fund (Samco MF) has named Chirag Joshi as its Chief Growth Officer (CGO). The SAMCO Group is a diversified wealth-tech company with stock broking, asset management, wealth management and MF distribution being its core business verticals.

Chirag Joshi is a management graduate and has a master’s degree in Marketing. He has overall 11 plus years of experience in Marketing & Growth strategies and Sales. Prior to the current assignment, He was CGO at Samco Securities. Chirag has previously worked with brands like Hindustan Times and CNBC-Awaaz.

Viraj Gandhi, CEO, of Samco AMC, while welcoming him said, “We are very happy to have Chirag on board with us. He brings with him a lot of experience in the marketing and communication space, which will help our AMC to grow and scale new heights in the future. We are looking forward to making Chirag an integral part of that journey.”

Reacting to his appointment, Chirag said, “I am grateful for the board’s support and opportunity is given to me to serve as CGO, Samco AMC. I am happy to be part of a team who shares the passion of scaling up Samco Group’s businesses together. I feel privileged to be a member of this young and dynamic team”.

Though a relatively new entrant in the industry, the magnitude, and diversity of this vibrant sector provide a tremendous scope of growth for Samco AMC. In this context, Chirag said, “The position of CGO, Samco AMC becomes more intriguing and I’m eager to take on the challenge”.

More Than 95% of Indian Organizations Plan to Increase Dx Spending or Keep at the Same Level in 2023, Idc Finds I

INDIA, December 06, 2022 – Digital transformation (DX) and IT modernization have been at the top of the mind of Indian organizations even before the pandemic. The pandemic era resulted in myriad disruptions and forced organizations to disrupt or get disrupted. During the pandemic digital transformation aided Indian organizations to survive the challenges and sustain competition. The lockdown and remote working forced organizations to charter the course for digitization efforts.

International Data Corporation’s (IDC) India Digital Transformation (DX) Survey conducted in 2022 across 504 IT decision-makers of Indian organizations validates this trend. According to this survey, for 2022 and 2023, about 3/4th of the respondents indicated that they plan to spend more than what they have spent for DX initiatives in 2021, and another 20% of the respondents to maintain the same level of DX spending as in 2021. Overall, IDC estimates the DX spending in India to reach USD $85 Billion by 2026 as per IDC’s Worldwide Digital Business Spending Guide, October 2022 release.

The DX use cases are diverse and active across different industries in India. According to IDC research, manufacturing (discrete and process), professional services, banking, government, retail, and telecommunications are the top industries spending on DX in India. Indian organizations are gravitating towards the cloud, automation, artificial intelligence (AI), network infrastructure, Internet of Things (IoT), and other advanced technologies to transform organizations digitally. Through tech-enabled digital transformation, Indian organizations expect to reduce costs by increasing efficiency, improving security/risk capabilities and improving customer experience.

“Digital transformation has been a buzzword over the last few years among all industries and organizations of all sizes. The purpose of digital transformation is long-term survival and staying relevant by building resilience and adaptability in the organization. DX is all about embracing the right technologies; combined with people, processes, and operations that give organizations the ability to evolve and respond in the best possible way to unpredictable and dynamic market conditions,” says Neha Gupta, Senior Research Manager, IDC India.

Investments aside, the most demanding part of the digital transformation journey is to ensure that the outcomes are measurable. Indian organizations are seeing the real benefits of DX initiatives in terms of revenue generation, time to market, and business agility. As per IDC’s Future Enterprise Resiliency & Spending Survey wave 4, June 2022 (India n=50), Indian organizations are experiencing around 1/3rd of annual percentage improvement in 2021 across various aspects (revenue, operational efficiency, customer satisfaction, among others) because of DX investments. Organizations are also partnering with managed service providers (MSPs) to better manage their DX journey. MSPs, especially the ones with consulting capabilities, support different delivery models (CPE, hosted/cloud), and customization ability will be preferred partners as Indian organizations move towards their DX goals.

Current macroeconomic factors may impact both tech buyers and tech suppliers globally. As per IDC’s research, Indian organizations are not immune to these macroeconomic trends and thus strive to be proactive than reactive.

“The current headwinds such as IT supply chain disruptions, inflation, and global geopolitical issues, are likely to persist. Indian organizations must look at these factors as enablers of Digital Transformation. Taking aid from technology to save costs and remain competitive in these uncertain times will make them resilient and keep them ahead of the competition,” says Rithika Ponnala, Senior Market Analyst, Digital Transformation practices, IDC India.

The above has been published in the recent IDC market presentation, Stage of Digital Transformation Adoption in India: Enterprise and Industry Priorities and Focus Areas for the Next 12–18 Months, #AP48914322. This IDC report summarizes Indian organizations’ DX motives, DX spending plans, case studies, challenges, adoption trends, expected benefits, and strategic priorities. The IDC document dives deep into industries that spend significantly on DX and provides recommendations for both tech buyers and tech suppliers.

Biz2X hosts Frontier Digital Finance Roundtable in Mumbai

Mumbai, 7th December 2022: Biz2X (a subsidiary of Biz2Credit in India) a leading Digital Lending SaaS platform that enables financial institutions to provide a customized online lending experience for their small and midsize business customers, recently hosted Frontier Digital Finance Roundtable in Mumbai.

In the Mumbai edition of the event, key industry leaders discussed the history, criticality, experience, and challenges faced by industry aggregators in working capital management, SME financing options and embedded financing through their platform.

Some of the key challenges that industry aggregators face relating to limited access to needed information, lack of a coherent structure, multiple stakeholders and perspectives, time constraints, requirements of collaterals for MSME loans, insufficient financial expertise, lack of liquidity, limited access to working capital, among many others.

In light of the event, Vineet Tyagi, Global CTO at Biz2X and Biz2Credit “For Small & Mid-Size businesses, lack of finance or loan options, credit processing time, and inadequate knowledge, can be the utmost drawback to moving forward. So, we with Maadhyam are aiming to provide a comprehensive platform that will facilitate faster disbursement of loans among SMEs by bringing together the aggregators and lenders. As Maadhyam is making India’s SMEs Aatmanirbhar.’’

Industry leaders such as Akshay Deshmukh, VP – of Financial Product & Credit Strategy, Pharmeasy, Sangram Baviskar, Founding Member and Managing Director, Yantra live, Manish Bang, Founder, Yarnbiz, Aditya Shankar, Vice President – Vertical Head – Lending, TradeIndia, Anupama Verma, Strategic Alliance and Partnership, TradeIndia, Shruti Mehrotra, Founder and CEO, Mihuru, Rahul Jain, CFO, NTT Data Payment Services and Saurabh Agarwal, Founder, Truman participated at the roundtable to discuss and share knowledge on important topics such as ‘Providing SMEs in your Ecosystem Credit’, ‘Lending in the New Regulatory Paradigm’ among others. The participating companies also shed light on their plans around partnerships and collaborations.

Speaking at the event, Akshay Deshmukh, VP – of Financial Product & Credit Strategy, at Pharmeasy, commented, “While aggregation sounds very simple, as in you are aggregating a buyer and a seller but in different industries and in different markets, the ballgame is different altogether. Solving the problem of credit in each of the aggregation markets is in itself a problem. The biggest takeaway for me was how can we collaborate and partner to create an ecosystem where I can aggregate all the aggregators. Create a lending ecosystem for the aggregation business and then its a win-win for everybody. I win for myself, I win for everybody.”

Shruti Mehrotra, Founder and CEO, Mihuru, “The roundtable conference helped on multiple aspects such as which lenders to approach at which stage of the business to also sharing knowledge and spreading awareness about the kind of product we are developing”.

Aditya Shankar, Vice President – Vertical Head – Lending, Trade India, “There are a lot of challenges that aggregators are facing like funding for their customers. This problem we identified a long ago and we have built a product around it. This is very exciting and we felt really confident that we are working in the right direction.”

Saurabh Agarwal, Founder, Trumac, “The event has been fantastic with FDF because we have been talking with lot more aggregators regarding how finance works, how fintech companies are getting into it, how is RBI playing a major role in this. We are trying to solve the whole credit problem in this MSME industry.”

The company plans to organize a similar event every alternate month in Delhi, Mumbai, and Bangalore.

WoodenStreet Enters in Bihar, Launches First Store in Patna

WoodenStreet, India’s leading E-Commerce Furniture Brand, announced the launch of its first experience store in Patna, Bihar. The company continues to reinforce its commitment in building a robust omnichannel presence in India. The Studio footprint of WoodenStreet covers 100+ experience stores across the country.

The new studio launched in the capital of Bihar is situated at a prime location at Kankarbagh Main Road, spanning across a carpet area of 3000 sq. ft. The new launch offers customers a first-hand experience, housing the best of the WoodenStreet catalog.

With its first store in Patna, the company also plans to open more stores in major cities of the state. The company plans to invest around INR 3-5cr for its expansion in Bihar.

The offline expansion is in line with the company’s motive to penetrate into niche markets and strengthen its omnichannel consumer engagement across India.

“Our aim is to allow more consumers to see, touch and experience our wide range,” said Lokendra Singh Ranawat, CEO, WoodenStreet.

“Expanding into Bihar is a special event for us, not only for entering a new state but also to the place where people are fond of quality and luxury products. With the launch of our experience store in Patna, we hope to be able to strengthen the network across Bihar and build a strong presence and relationship among our customers or anyone who knocks on our doors.”

WoodenStreet experience centers are more than a destination to shop home furniture and decor across India.

WoodenStreet is India’s leading online furniture brand, offering customers a diverse selection of over 30k+ Home furniture, furnishing and decor products with a consistently great shopping experience through its 100+ experience stores across India.

Founded in 2015, the company has raised $30 million in Series-B funding led by Westbridge capital in April this year.

Company, in October this year, also announced the investment of $20 million (around INR 200 Cr) to fuel its growth across the country. Following that, adding the investment will help generate over 3,000 job opportunities, including frontline workers.
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Meet your favourite Nicktoons at MomBAE’s Magical Christmas Flea!

December, the month that carries a lot of Christmas thrills, now gets more exciting for Mumbai folks! Come and spend your Sunday with your favourite Nicktoons at MomBAE’s Magical Christmas Flea and make a day of it. Don’t forget to pose and shake a leg with your favourite toons Happy-Pinaki, Shiva, and Rudra.

To kick things up a notch, the flea has something for everyone to enjoy the season. From carnival rides, shopping, food, arcade games, find all things Christmas at this market. We’re not kidding when we say there’s something for everyone!

This exciting Flea will be held on Sunday, December 11th, 2022 at the Khar Gymkhana grounds, Mumbai.

So what are you waiting for? Head over to Paytm Insider and book your tickets now!

Here: https://insider.in/mombaes-magical-christmas-flea-dec11-2022/event

Event: Mombae’s Magical Christmas Flea
Where: Khar Gymkhana Ground, Khar West, Mumbai, Maharashtra 400052
When: December 11, 2022 | 11AM

RBI MPC decided to hike the repo rate by 35 bps to 6.25%

Mr. Rohan Pawar -CEO of Pinnacle Group

“The Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) of the RBI increased the repo rate by 35 basis points, bringing it up to 6.25%. This is part of an ongoing effort to bring under control the high level of retail (CPI) inflation, which is currently between 6% and 6.5%. In this cycle of rate increases, the repo rate has increased by 225 basis points (bps) after the most recent increase. Even though the projection for GDP has been scaled back, the central bank has signaled that it does not intend to hurt the growth sentiment by hiking interest rates too much. In general, the increase in the repo rate represents measured steps that are commensurate with the changing economic conditions. The increase may have a temporary effect but will be of no influence on the housing market in the medium to long term as the demand for housing remains robust.”

Bhartiya Mall of Bengaluru’s Fashion Week and Talent Hunt ends this weekend on a high note

Bhartiya Mall of Bengaluru organised Bhartiya Brands and Fashion Week and welcomed fashion guru Prasad Bidapa, on the 3rd and 4th of December as the Chief Guest and Judge of its fashion show. He also acted as the curator of the show. The Bhartiya’s Fashion show witnessed the spectacular participation of close to 100+ retail brands, showcasing their exemplary Indo-Western fashion collections. The Talent Hunt was the major highlight of the event. Over 1000+ people contested for the Talent Hunt at Bhartiya Brands and Fashion Week.

Live Music Performances, Fashion Pop-ups, and Beauty Contests ramped up the entertainment quotient of the event leading to high footfalls. The Talent Hunt was judged by Prasad Bidapa and a host of puissant personalities. It was held in several categories like Best Vocalist-Solo, Best Musician-Solo, Best Dancer-Solo, and Stand-up Comedy-Solo.

In the fashion space, competitions were held for Fashion Icon (Male and Female), in several categories for different age groups like Best Baby, Best Toddler, Best Teenager, Best Young Adult, Best Adult, and Best Senior.

To save the best for the last, the Fashion Show curated by Mr Prasad Bidapa also took place. Twelve professional supermodels walked the ramp which includes names including renowned names like Sahana Poonacha, Payal Ponnanna, and Rakshitha Sunaina, who shared the stage with showstopper Roshmitha Harimurthy, Miss Universe India 2016. Male supermodels like Rakesh Chengappa and Irfan Shaik also graced the show and owned the ramp.

Children from ASSISTED Living for Autistic Adults (ALFAA) also walked as models on the Bhartiya stage to show that modelling can be a profession and a valuable source of income for differently abled people.

Prasad Bidapa, on the conclusion of Bhartiya Brands and Fashion Week, said, “I was thrilled to be part of the event. We saw cross-cultural fashion statements and voguish styles which amazed me and my co-judges. There is a sea of talent in this country and I am glad we saw variety in our show. Fashion has always been an intrinsic part of everyone’s life. It is a way of making an effervescent statement without any utterance. I am glad I could be part of a show which platforms great artists with limitless potential.”

S Raghunandhan, President at Bhartiya Urban, said, “Bhartiya Mall of Bengaluru has always come up with cutting-edge and out-of-the-box ideas and executes them to utmost perfection. Fashion Week is one such event where we put our heart and soul into bringing the right and bright talent on a stage to showcase their abilities. We have the deepest regard for fashion guru Mr Prasad Bidapa who joined us as the Guest of Honour and Judge and enriched our platform with his enigmatic presence and valuable inputs. Bhartiya Mall is a perfect combination of stores offering international fashion and the most popular Indian brands, making it a one-stop solution for all needs.”

ControlZ pioneers in the preowned market with easy financing solutions; Partners with 10+ prestigious financing institutions

New Delhi, 07 December 2022: ControlZ, a smartphone renew specialist brand, has announced its partnership with India’s premier financial institutions for easy financing options. The brand is constantly focused on creating a like-new experience for its renewed smartphones. Thus empowering the adoption of renewed devices by ControlZ in order to facilitate easy financing options, has partnered with a set of India’s most prestigious financial institutions. Including HDFC, ICICI, Axis, Citi Bank, American Express, Bank of Baroda, HSBC, Indusind, Kotak Mahindra, RBL, Standard Chartered Bank, and Yes Bank, customers can avail of easy financing options.

Further, the company to cater the unbanked customers has introduced easy cardless EMI options with banks such as HDFC, ICICI, IDFC, Bank of Baroda, Federal Bank, Home Credit Ujjwal Card, etc. Further, in another collaboration with Zest Money, customers can avail of cardless financing options with a minimum payment of as low as Rs. 99 only. Customers pan India can directly purchase the renewed smartphones from ControlZ’s website.

Commenting on the same Mr. Yug Bhatia, Founder and CEO ControlZ said, With these best-in-class collaborations we aim to make the process of owning a pre-owned smartphone seamless. In modern-day empowerment can be measured by an individual owning a smartphone. Our focus is always to create like-new experiences, this experience goes beyond the product and also includes the purchase and post-purchase experience. We are working continuously in all aspects to make that happen.

These offers would be available at a minimal interest rate along with no-cost EMI options. With the addition of financing services, ControlZ aims to disrupt the pre-owned smartphone market and act as a spur to increase smartphone adoption across India. The company has recently announced its plans for expecting a revenue of INR 30 crores in FY 2022–2023, and further aims to clock a revenue of INR 100 crores in FY 2023-24. ControlZ by setting up its renew hub is planning to increase its production capacity by 6,00,000 units per annum.

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