Brands
Omron’s “Your Voice, Their World” campaign bags Bronze at the 55th CLIO Healthcare Awards
MUMBAI: OMRON has been conferred with Bronze award for its online CSR initiative in India – Your Voice Their World at the 55th Annual CLIO Healthcare Awards. CLIO is the world’s most recognized international competition honouring talent in the fields of advertising & communications and awarding exceptional projects that push the boundaries of creativity in a given medium.
Omron’s initiative was acknowledged amongst a list of notable international entries in the highly competitive innovative media category for the innovative usage of the online medium, its unique appeal & objectives and the communication expertise put in by McCann Health India – Omron’s partner and creative agency for the campaign.
The campaign aims to create India’s largest audio library of poems for visually impaired by engaging the masses to record poems through a dedicated website www.yourvoicetheirworld.com and a mobile application. In a short duration of eight weeks, the campaign saw more than 2400 submissions. Various celebrities also lent their support to this cause by submitting recordings and encouraging their fans to do the same.
The poems are being donated to the National Association for the Blind, New Delhi, which in turn shares it with its own students and thousands of other visually impaired connected through its library network.
Commenting on the achievement, Mr. Takuichi Shimizu, President, OMRON Management Centre of India, said “Rendering Corporate Social Responsibility in a meaningful manner for people with challenging spirit has always been an integral part of Omron’s corporate philosophy. We started the project with the same intent and decided to opt for ‘crowd sourcing’ – contribution of recordings for the visually impaired by the masses. We believed that this concept will not only give us numbers but will also help us in generating awareness about the importance of our support for visually impaired as India has the largest population of blind people in the world*.”
“The concept was given shape in the form of a website and a mobile & facebook application. The usage of online & social media brought convenience & uniqueness. Enthusing the people to come and contribute a poem proved to be very challenging initially, however, the persistent efforts of the whole team, a flexible and effective promotion plan – based on facebook, twitter and focused online portals- paid off eventually. In a span of 8 weeks we were able to collect more than 2400 recordings of poems. We are all set to start the second phase of the campaign very soon.”
The project is an effort to further strengthen Omron’s support to visually impaired people in India to help them fulfil their dreams of education and overall development via audio-based accessible content. The company is also running a Digital Accessible Library of audio and e-books in association with The National Association for the Blind, New Delhi under the same project.
Brands
Malaika Arora launches accessories brand Maejoy
The Bollywood star’s lifestyle brand, built with Myntra and Exceed Entertainment, promises aspirational fashion without the high price tag
MUMBAI: Malaika Arora is not the first Bollywood star to put her name on a brand, and she will not be the last. But Maejoy, the accessories label she has launched in partnership with Myntra Jabong India Private Limited (MJIPL) and talent outfit Exceed Entertainment, at least has a sharper pitch than most. The brand drops with 250-plus styles spanning handbags and lab-grown diamond jewellery, two categories that sit squarely in the sweet spot between aspiration and affordability, and lands on Myntra’s platform from day one, putting it in front of millions of shoppers without breaking a sweat.
The handbag range covers the full gamut: crossbody bags, structured shoulder bags, bucket bags, totes, workwear classics, backpacks and clutches, rendered in synthetic leather, raffia, braids, satin, rhinestone and metallic finishes. The jewellery line runs to rings, earrings, pendants, bracelets and tennis bracelets in silver, gold and rose-gold tones, set in 925 sterling silver with IGI and GCI certified lab-grown diamonds. The brand’s guiding philosophy, “The Joy of Being Me,” stakes its claim on individuality and self-expression; its three brand pillars, Authentic, Empowering, Accessible, are the usual suspects, though the lab-grown diamond bet is savvier than it sounds. Lab-grown stones now sell at a fraction of the price of mined ones, and the category is growing fast in India as younger buyers wise up to the arbitrage.
“Maejoy is a labour of love. Throughout my career, whether on screen, in business, or through my personal style, I’ve championed the idea that fashion should be empowering yet effortless. The brand aims to democratise global fashion trends while offering women something that extends the feeling of luxury every day, be it a lab-grown diamond or a perfectly crafted handbag,” said Malaika Arora, founder of Maejoy
MJIPL, the B2B wholesale arm of Myntra, is putting its design and brand-building muscle behind the venture. Suman Saha, chief experience officer and head of house of brands at MJIPL, was bullish on the tie-up.
“Maejoy brings together Malaika Arora’s distinctive style perspective with a strong proposition in the accessible yet elevated accessories space. We believe the brand’s fashion-forward designs and thoughtful positioning will connect strongly with discerning consumers.”
Suman Saha, chief experience officer, head of house of brands, MJIPL
Afsar Zaidi, chief executive of Exceed Entertainment, the talent management firm that helped broker the deal, has worked with MJIPL before and was characteristically direct about what makes Arora an unusually bankable partner.
“Building celebrity-led brands requires a delicate balance of authenticity and market viability. Malaika is a rare talent who commands equal respect as a fashion icon and a savvy businesswoman. We are proud to facilitate this partnership that brings together her creative clout and Myntra’s brand-building excellence,” said Zaidi
Celebrity fashion brands live or die on one question: does the star actually wear it, or is the cheque the only thing they signed? Arora, who has spent three decades as one of Bollywood’s most-watched style references, has at least built a plausible case. Maejoy is live now on www.myntra.com and the Myntra app. The real test, whether shoppers buy the handbag or just the hype, starts today.
