MAM
BBC World Service launches major e-marketing campaign
MUMBAI: The BBC World Service is launching its first major direct e-marketing campaign. This builds on the success of its e-newsletters sent to thousands of listeners across the world.
From Friday 6 May, the newly-designed World Service E-Network, promoting the BBC’s international English language radio and online output, goes weekly. Subscriptions will be driven via puff-boxes on BBC’s online site bbcworldservice.com/schedules, and supported by online and on-air advertising.
The BBC World Service E-Network offers subscribers the benefits of personalised content based on four key genres – World Affairs, Arts and Culture, Science and Sport – and is available in text or html formats. Subscribers will also receive links to live online listening, access to interactive debates and the chance to enter monthly prize draws.
BBC World Service controller marketing communications and audiences Alan Booth said, “For the first time, listeners will be able to get in their inboxes an update every week on what’s coming up on BBC World Service. In today’s fast-changing media environment, people are bombarded with choice. While there is a strong BBC brand loyalty among our international audiences, we feel it’s important to keep them up-to-date and focussed on the programmes we know they will enjoy.”
BBC World Service has appointed the UK-based digital agency, Broadsystem, to handle the email delivery service and the micro-site creation. The marketing campaign for the re-launch is being handled in-house.
BBC World Service broadcasts programmes around the world in 43 languages and is available on radio and online. It has a global audience of 146 million listeners. It is available globally on short wave; on FM in 140 cities; and selected programmes are carried on around 2,000 FM and MW radio stations around the world. The BBC World Service claims that its websites receive around 280 million page impressions every month.
Broadsystem creates, manages and delivers customer and audience communication strategies. It is the UK’s leading provider of outsourced marketing communications, providing data-driven customer contact services focussing on three main areas of expertise: customer relationship management, contact centre services, and media services.
MAM
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.
