Brands
Adidas creates shortest hashtag #III, Sharma, Rahul & Pant superheroes
MUMBAI: Adidas is all set to blow away cricket fans with the launch of its latest digital campaign titled #III, cricket’s shortest hashtag – #III, aiming to make the hashtag synonymous with cricket. Interestingly, the three “I’s” in the “#III” not only look like the three stumps of cricket but also give a visual representation of the trademark three stripes of adidas. The idea behind the campaign is to keep hashtags concise and crisp, in line with the tenets of social media. The campaign is being led by adidas athletes Rohit Sharma, KL Rahul and Rishabh Pant and each ‘I’ in the #III, represents each one of them. As part of the campaign all three athletes will come together as the adidas #III squad, to become cricket’s first 3D superhero squad who are here not merely to play the game but to entertain audiences at extraordinary levels.
The #III Squad (or the cricket squad) of Rohit Sharma, KL Rahul and Rishabh Pant will regale audiences on field with their explosive performances and off-field with fictional storytelling around the game. These three superheroes will live two lives – one with fantastical superpowers and the other with cricketing powers.
“As the world’s leading sports brand, we decided to establish the world’s shortest hashtag that represents the game – #III. We also realized that it was time to bring back the excitement to the cricket season and hence decided to push our athletes to go beyond just being sportsmen. Today audiences are seeking entertainment in the sport of cricket and we felt that the time was right to showcase Rohit, KL and Rishabh as the explosive players and entertainers that they are. What better than their superhero avatars to showcase their super abilities.” said adidas India director – Heartbeat Sports & Outdoor Business Unit Dhanashree Sowani.
During the upcoming cricket season, the #III squad will give epic live commentary through GIFs and cinemagraphs on social media especially during matches. The superhero avatars will also be placed at prominent malls and adidas stores in New Delhi, Mumbai and Bangalore. adidas will also giveaway limited edition merchandise to winners of online contests that will be run on the adidas cricket social media handles.
Brands
Faber-Castell India appoints Sunaina Haldar as director – marketing
With stints at Tata, SleepyCat and ADF Foods under her belt, Haldar is primed to redraw Faber-Castell’s brand story
MUMBAI: Faber-Castell India has poached Sunaina Haldar from ADF Foods, appointing her director – marketing as the German stationery brand looks to muscle up in a category that is rapidly reinventing itself around creativity and self-expression.
Haldar hit the ground running. “My first couple of weeks have been incredibly energising, understanding consumers, visiting markets, engaging with retailers and immersing myself into the world of Faber-Castell Group,” she said.
She arrives with considerable firepower. At ADF Foods, Haldar ran marketing across India and international markets for a portfolio spanning Ashoka, Aeroplane, Camel and ADF Soul. Before that, she was vice-president – marketing at direct-to-consumer mattress brand SleepyCat, where she helmed brand, content and performance marketing. Her résumé also includes a stint leading marketing, new product development and CRM for Tata SmartFoodz at Tata Consumer Products, no small proving ground.
Between corporate roles, Haldar also operated as a fractional CMO for early-stage startups, building marketing strategy and operational structures from scratch, a signal that she knows how to move fast with limited resources.
With 18 years straddling FMCG, D2C and the startup world, Haldar now takes the reins at a brand that has long owned the classroom but is clearly hungry for the living room. In a stationery market where the pencil has become a lifestyle statement, Faber-Castell has picked someone who knows exactly how to sell that story.
