MAM
At Comedy Central, it’s all about fun and laughter
MUMBAI: “We never take ourselves seriously.” What else can you expect from someone who is involved 24×7 with Comedy Central?
For the uninitiated, Comedy Central is the only all-comedy network in the US and is owned by Comedy Partners, which is a wholly-owned division of MTV Networks.
At the concluding day of the Promax&BDA conference in Mumbai, Comedy Central vice president on-air design Kendrick Reid (dressed in traditional Indian attire) captured audiences’ attention as he showcased various promo designs the channel had undertaken in the past, which were true to its brand proposition.
“Like our brand, street art has a distinct point of view, is creative, spontaneous and connects with the audience. This was the super glue for us. We used the elements of street art and gradually introduced it in our promos over a period of time,” Reid said.
The channel went in for an artistic and eclectic look, staying true to its philosophy that supported the brand. The new look evolved across the entire network, be it in live action, 2D, 3D or animation.
Comedy Central also personalised its channel IDs for various holidays like Thanksgiving, Christmas or Hanukkah (an eight-day Jewish holiday commemorating the rededication of the Temple of Jerusalem in 165 BC). “It’s not just about design, there has to be a promo campaign that provides that glue that sticks,” Reid said.
“At Comedy Central, we believe in responding to what is going on in our society. One such thing was our reaction towards the innumerable reality shows that were hitting American television screens,” Reid said.
The channel rolled out promos of phony reality shows like – Handicap House, The Vault and While You Were Drunk – to show how ridiculous these reality shows could be. Interestingly, the channel received numerous inquiry calls from viewers to find out how to participate in these shows!
Comedy Central was launched in April 1991 and is seen in over 85 million US cable households in all the 50 states and US territories.
MAM
Early Summers, Early Campaigns: How Beverage Brands Are Rethinking Marketing Strategies for Weather-Led Demand
SLMG Beverages Private Limited joint managing director Paritosh Ladhani.
MUMBAI: As Sun climbs up the hemisphere, summer has clearly arrived in India. On 7th March 2026 Delhi registered a maximum temperature of 35.7 degrees Celsius which is the highest reading logged for the first week of March in the last 50 years. Climate Change has been prolonging summers by causing earlier spring warming, delayed autumn cooling, and more frequent, intense heatwaves that persist for much longer periods.
In an endeavor to stay ahead of the curve, Beverage Brands are shifting from fixed seasonal marketing tactics to weather responsive strategies backed by data-driven insights, flexible campaigns, and diversified portfolios to capitalize on unruly temperature spike. In 2025, India’s beverage market experienced a massive, heat-triggered surge with carbonated drinks and ice cream volumes spiking 20–25 per cent in the March quarter itself on the back of hottest February in 125 years.
Clearly campaign timelines are being advanced to reap the seasonal shift in line with the jumping mercury. In the Indian context where Cricket is nothing short of religion, big ticket tournaments like T20 World Cup, Indian Premier League, ICC Champions Trophy provide plethora of opportunities to calibrate marketing campaign designs and associated business strategies to associate refreshment with community viewing both outdoor and indoors. A new trend that has taken the world by storm is that of booking the theatres for bonhomie viewing. It has also opened avenues for joint marketing initiatives by the Multiplex and Beverage Brands.
Price disrupting small potions and value packs tend to drive significantly higher volumes owing to volumetric flexibility and affordability to the consumers. Ramping up of cold supply chains for transit and at point of sales (POS) are strategic business imperatives that again define success of beverage brands.
In the era of AI and Big Data it is easy to track and calibrate messaging based on daily or weekly weather changes. Geo-targeted digital advertisement campaigns are also being run during heatwaves to make the business and marketing imperative very contextual. These pre-emptive strategies fueled by real time data and technology immensely help beverage brands to adjust supplies to the areas that are likely to generate more demand.
Novelty brings premium to the FMCG Sector and Beverage Brands are no exception. Newer SKUs build up excitement in consumers besides imparting the scope of frequent revitalization of brand marketing campaigns. Ensuring continuum of supply chain across material suppliers, logistics providers, distributors/wholesalers, and retailers become a strategic business strategy imperative for beverage brands during peak season.
Carbonated drinks among other beverages including packaged mineral water sell like hotcakes in summers, a period where holiday season gives big impetus to sales volumes. Tying up with air carriers railways, amusement parks, malls, convention centers for inclusion in the onboard beverage deck also holds a big window of opportunity for brands.
Limited period diversification into special summer categories entailing juices and functional beverages to capture the broader hydration market is also a business cum marketing imperative that beverage brands eye on. This also brings to fore the responsible side of the brand placing the compass on wellness of consumers.
Seasons are cyclic, hence summers are inevitable. Further, due to anthropogenic climate change, summers surely have been staging prolonged appearance that keep bringing beverage brands on to their drawing boards frequently for strategizing business and marketing campaigns that are agile, refreshment-focused, visually dominant in retail, affordable, and optimally promoted through seasonal campaigns in above and below the line media.
