Brands
Puma India signs Washington Sundar & Devdutt Padikkal
MUMBAI: Global sports brand Puma has signed a long-term partnership deal with two up and coming players, Washington Sundar and Devdutt Padikkal. The duo joins Puma’s impressive roster of cricketers that include Indian captain Virat Kohli, wicketkeeper-batsman KL Rahul, women’s national cricketer Sushma Verma and legends like Yuvraj Singh.
Considered the future of Indian cricket, Sundar and Padikkal have been punching above their weights in major cricketing tournaments. Sundar’s all-round performance in Australia helped the Indian cricket team clinch a historic away test series win and Padikkal emerged as a ‘find of the season’ with his stellar performance for Royal Challengers Bangalore in his debut Indian Premier League (IPL) season. Sundar, a game changer and Devdutt, a consistent run-getter in the domestic circuit perfectly embody Puma’s ‘Forever Faster’ spirit.
Puma India and southeast Asia managing director Abhishek Ganguly said, “Washington and Devdutt have displayed remarkable resilience and grit on field that’s led to their meteoric rise as athletes. We have always believed in supporting not just established players, but also talent with immense future potential. We will continue to partner with young athletes, also at the grassroots to give back to India’s sporting ecosystem.”
Washington Sundar said, “Feels great to be associated with a brand like Puma which has some of the world’s greatest athletes in their roster. Watching skipper Virat Kohli and KL Rahul closely has given me a deeper insight into the brand. Puma adds a lot of credibility to an athlete’s journey and I’m excited to work with the brand in India.”
Devdutt Padikkal added, “A partnership with a global sports brand like Puma is really a big motivation for young athletes like me. I’m looking forward to a long-term association with the brand.”
Sundar and Devdutt are currently part of the Kohli-led IPL team, Royal Challengers Bangalore in the ongoing IPL 2021.
Brands
Uber launches hotel bookings feature in partnership with Expedia
From hotel bookings to room service at your door, the ride-hailing giant is making its boldest push yet into everyday life
CALIFORNIA: Uber is done being just a taxi app. At its annual GO-GET product event, the world’s leading mobility and delivery platform unveiled a sweeping set of new features designed to plant itself at the centre of how people travel, eat and shop, hotel bookings included.
The headline move is a partnership with Expedia Group that lets Uber users in the United States book hotels directly within the Uber app, with access to a catalogue that will eventually grow to more than 700,000 properties worldwide. Uber One members get 10 per cent back in Uber One credits on all hotel bookings and savings of at least 20 per cent on a rolling list of more than 10,000 hotels globally. Vacation rentals from Vrbo, Expedia Group’s home-rental brand, will be added later this year. The partnership is expected to expand beyond the United States. From June, Uber rides will also be integrated directly into the Expedia app, with push notifications sent to travellers ahead of hotel check-in to book discounted Uber rides for the duration of their stay.
Dara Khosrowshahi, chief executive of Uber, framed the expansion in terms of the modern condition. “Uber is becoming an app for everything, helping people go, get, and now travel all in one place,” he said. “We’re all living through a moment of real cognitive overload: too many apps, too many decisions, too much noise. At the end of the day, our job is to help people reclaim their time, spending less of it managing the logistics of life and more of it actually living.”
Ariane Gorin, chief executive of Expedia Group, struck a similarly ambitious note. “Travel should feel effortless, and this partnership gets us one step closer to offering a seamless traveller experience,” she said. “By connecting our two-sided marketplace with Uber, we’re bringing Uber rides directly into the Expedia app and Expedia Group’s lodging inventory into the Uber app through our Rapid API technology. Together, we’re helping travellers spend less time planning and more time enjoying the journey.”
Beyond hotels, the product announcements come thick and fast. Travel Mode, available within both the Uber and Uber Eats apps, offers curated recommendations on local favourites, tourist destinations, OpenTable restaurant reservations and on-demand delivery to hotel rooms. Uber One International means the membership programme now works globally, allowing members to earn credits on rides abroad that can be redeemed once back home. A new Shop for Me feature lets users request items from any store, even those not listed on the app. Eats for the Way allows riders in select cities booking an Uber Black or Uber Black SUV to have a drink or snack waiting for them in the car. Voice Bookings, powered by artificial intelligence, lets users book a ride conversationally, without touching their phone. And a redesigned One Search bar consolidates results for places, food and items across the entire Uber platform in a single query.
Uber has now logged more than 72 billion trips since it launched in 2010. The question it is now answering is what comes after the ride. The answer, apparently, is everything else. Whether users want a hotel in Paris, a coffee in the back of a car or a snake plant from the local garden centre, Uber would very much like to be the one to provide it. The app economy’s land grab has a new front-runner.
NOTE: The image used is AI generated and only for representational purposes.
