Brands
PointNine Lintas forays into mar-tech via Probitec
MUMBAI: Omnichannel agency PointNine Lintas has announced its foray into marketing techbologe (mar-tech) and launched the beta version of its first product, Probitec Deemed as the world’s first technology platform for activation management, Probitec is an end-to-end solution for executing and monitoring on-ground programs for consumer engagement.
Announcing the go-live, PointNine Lintas CEO Vikas Mehta says, “A few years ago, we saw the wave of ad-tech sweeping the advertising business. The action is now shifting towards (mar-tech), and we’re really excited about the possibilities it presents for innovations and inventions. Until now, agencies have primarily viewed their business model as ‘service providers’. At PointNine Lintas, we are committed to an equally strong focus on developing products that can add value to the marketing ecosystem. Probitec is a fine example of that, because it offers a platformic solution to a decades-old problem of transparency in the activation business.”
LinEngage, the consumer engagement division of PointNine Lintas, has led the product development of Probitec in collaboration with technology partner, TalentBridge Technologies – a Bangalore based technology firm.
Served as a mobile app, Probitec is a unified platform where field staff, activation agencies and clients can access relevant modules to collaborate, train, manage and monitor assignments simultaneously across multiple geographies around the country.
The app helps in talent assessment and hiring for field staff including promoters, training through interactive sessions and multimedia materials for execution, geo-location tracking of on ground initiatives including live audio-video streaming, real-time monitoring and a live dashboard reporting for clients and data capture and database integration for the entire activity.
PointNine Lintas national director of consumer engagement Sriharsh Grandhe adds, “Clients have echoed how there is very little control on an activation program once it goes live. Technology can aid in improving monitoring and measurability of activation programs that gives better control and greatly improve its performance and effectiveness. Probitec has been designed to achieve this by mimicking a typical activation program workflow with the aim to improve management of activation projects. This can be more effective for the larger and complex projects.”
Probitec derives its name from ‘probity’ (Latin origin ‘probus’), which means adherence to the highest principles and ideals. It aims to set a new standard in transparency for the activation business, while making the entire process more collaborative and efficient. The development cycle for Probitec lasted about 15 months including rigorous testing. User testing in live environments has been carried out in over 125 towns and villages spanning five states. The beta version continues to be tested for further enhancements, and is currently live in 200 villages in the state of Tamil Nadu.
Early assignments include brands for an auto-lubricant major, a leading foods company, an entertainment network amongst others. PointNine Lintas is in talks with several large activation clients to create custom-builds of Probitec for enterprise level integrations.
Brands
Himanshu Khanna joins CKA Birla Group as group chief marketing officer: report
Former Raymond lifestyle CMO to lead group-wide brand and marketing strategy
MUMBAI: According to a media report citing industry sources, senior marketing leader Himanshu Khanna has joined CKA Birla Group as group chief marketing officer.
Khanna moves from Raymond Limited, where he served as chief marketing officer for the lifestyle division since August 2021, overseeing the marketing transformation of the company’s nearly $1 billion lifestyle business. His tenure featured a sharper consumer focus, a digital-first operating model and large-scale retail and brand modernisation.
At Raymond, Khanna led brand strategy and growth across a broad portfolio including Raymond suiting and shirting, Park Avenue, ColorPlus, Parx, Ethnix by Raymond, ready-to-wear, Raymond Home and Raymond made-to-measure. His remit also covered retail marketing, digital marketing, consumer insights, visual merchandising and brand protection.
Before joining Raymond, Khanna was business head for the FMCG division at RP-Sanjiv Goenka Group, with full P&L responsibility. During this period, he scaled the snack brand Too Yumm!, drove rapid revenue growth, led the integration of Apricot Foods following its acquisition and executed a business turnaround.
Khanna’s career spans over three decades across global consumer companies, with senior leadership roles at Beam Suntory, Wrigley, PepsiCo, Cadbury and Nestlé.
Widely regarded as a seasoned marketing operator, Khanna is a familiar presence at leading industry forums and is considered among the most in-demand marketing leaders in the country.
