MAM
Samsonite moves away from product-led campaigns in new TVC
MUMBAI: Luggage maker, Samsonite, has unveiled its new campaign — step out — simultaneously worldwide.
Also for the first time, Samsonite has done away with the traditional advertising route of releasing the television commercial followed by a print ad and online. Instead, through partnering with a cricket expert on the Samsonite video blog, the brand has attempted to capture the online space before the TVC was released.
This association aimed at promoting the brand‘s new proposition has already gone online leading to over a million hits.
The campaign is directed by Singaporean Sng Tong Beng and shot extensively across three countries – China, U.S. and Nepal.
According to the company, this campaign aims at inspiring the ‘inner nomad‘ in everybody, who strives to achieve his dreams despite the odds, be it in their career or while travelling the world.
Samsonite South Asia MD Subrata Datta said, “Samsonite is a contemporary lifestyle brand beyond just ‘luggage‘. Through our new campaign we intend to communicate our vision for Samsonite as a brand that understands the challenges of a contemporary life on the move and provide diverse product solutions across categories. We hope that this will serve as an inspiring campaign for our consumers as we strive to fulfill our vision of being a brand for travelers across the globe.”
This is the brand‘s first attempt to move away from product-led campaigns and focus on the brand message. This also ties in with the larger strategy that will facilitate the diversification of the business into the retail lifestyle space.
Beng adds, “This film, in essence, is about ‘an invitation to, and a celebration of travel and discovery‘. From great peaks in the country to canyons of buildings in cities, from views of endless deserts to window views of oceans, from seeing the rhythm of humanity to the silence of the nature, from manmade paths to paths unknown. By celebrating the world, Samsonite celebrates each step taken together with you.”
Brands
Hemlata Sharma joins ONEOTT Broadband as chief business officer
Former Zee Media distribution head to steer growth, partnerships and strategy
MUMBAI:Â Hemlata Sharma has joined ONEOTT Broadband as chief business officer, bringing with her more than three decades of experience across television, telecom and media distribution.
Sharma most recently served as head distribution, research & CRM at Zee Media Corporation Limited, where she worked closely with editorial and senior management while overseeing distribution, consumer research and customer relationships for 14 news channels including Zee News, WION, Zee Hindustan and Zee Business, along with ten regional state channels.
In that role, she led nationwide distribution across platforms such as DTH, Hits, IPTV, cable networks and DD Free Dish. She also drove consumer research and strategic insights on a pan India scale, analysing content performance, anchor impact, programme slots and audience behaviour to guide editorial decisions and programming strategy.
Her portfolio also included managing one of the largest alliances with Zee Entertainment Enterprises Limited and overseeing the global distribution monitoring of Wion across North America, Mena, Europe, Africa, APAC and Australia.
Earlier, Sharma briefly served as head sales and distribution at Triplecom Media Pvt Ltd, an engagement driven OTT platform bringing together content, gaming, music and advertising for the entertainment distribution ecosystem.
Her earlier career includes a senior vice president stint at Ten Sports Network, where she played a key role in relaunching the sports broadcaster as an independent bouquet comprising Ten Sports, Ten Cricket, Ten Action and Ten Golf following the Zee takeover. During this period, she moved from vp west to head strategy for cable and dth and later national head retail distribution, helping build the network’s retail distribution vertical across India and launching dedicated golf and football channels.
Before that, Sharma spent over six years at Bharti Airtel as general manager operations for Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh. She initially led marketing and corporate communications before moving into sales leadership, where voice sales grew by 86 per cent and revenues by 96 per cent. She later headed business operations, expanding annual business volumes to Rs 100 crore while significantly reducing operational costs.
Sharma began her long association with the media distribution ecosystem at Zee Entertainment Enterprises Limited as regional head sales and distribution for central India. During that period, she played a role in the early rollout of pay television channels including Zee Cinema, HBO, Nickelodeon and Cartoon Network, while also contributing to the launch of Siti Cable in key central Indian cities.
With her new role at ONEOTT Broadband, Sharma is expected to focus on strengthening business strategy, expanding partnerships and driving growth across the company’s broadband and digital distribution ecosystem.
