MAM
Beco launches new campaign with Dia Mirza for its eco-friendly product range
Mumbai: Homegrown eco-friendly D2C home, kitchen & personal care brand Beco has launched its new ad campaign featuring its latest range of home care and cleaning products. The campaign, designed and created by ^ a t o m Network, features Beco’s new brand ambassador, Bollywood actor and environmental conservationist Dia Mirza.
The campaign takes a direct dig at some of the leading and widely available & advertised range of home cleaning products which today’s consumers are unaware of, as being not only harmful to the environment but also for the family’s health. It pitches the brand as the safe and natural alternative with its ‘new range of antimicrobial dishwashing liquid, floor cleaner, laundry liquid, and tissues made from 100 per cent plant-based ingredients and extracts of essential oils.’
“Truth is the most powerful sword a brand can possess. We just took it out of the sheath and presented it in a hard-hitting yet entertaining way,” said ^ a t o m CCO Yash Kulshrestha, speaking about the campaign and the ad film. “The integrated campaign starts with a set of teasers, followed by multiple films starring Dia Mirza, which talks about chemicals left on your dishes after cleaning them with regular dishwashing liquid and how they may contain carcinogenic substances. The category is brimming with loud and look-alike ads with superficial claims. It helped us mount our narrative and highlight the grim part in a more palatable way.”
The 50-second film directed by Jeet Lotia and produced by Another Idea productions features an ad within an ad to give the entire campaign a realistic feel. It emphasises that although most over-the-counter cleaners do the trick of cleaning our homes, the high levels of toxic and carcinogenic chemicals that can be present in them pose a health risk for the users.
“The homecare category hasn’t seen much innovation for the past 20 years, let alone the sustainable space. Customers don’t even know that their basic essentials like tissues and cleaners can be harmful,” stated Beco lead of marketing Akanksha Gupta. “Positioning Beco in a captivating, easy to understand and impactful fashion, we are bringing in the much-needed disruption. This campaign is just the beginning of a more consumer-focused, data-led, and creative-technology interspersed brand that we are in the process of building.”
“Everyone talks about the idea of sustainable living, but when it comes to real adoption, we are still sticking to harmful products which are not only bad for the earth but also dangerous for every member of the family,” said Beco co-founder Aditya Ruia. “Using technology, every product of Beco is naturally sourced and uses no harmful chemicals – making them safe for daily use, and are available at affordable pricing.”
Brands
Reserve Bank of India cancels Paytm Payments Bank licence
Central bank cites compliance failures; curbs tighten as wind-up looms
MUMBAI: India’s banking watchdog delivered its sharpest blow yet to Paytm Payments Bank, cancelling its licence and effectively ending its ability to operate as a bank under the law.
The Reserve Bank of India said the entity can no longer conduct banking business under the Banking Regulation Act, citing concerns that its affairs were not being run in the interest of depositors or the public and that it had failed to meet licence conditions.
The move escalates a crackdown that has been building for months. The bank had already been barred from onboarding new customers since March 11, 2022, and later faced restrictions on deposits, credit and wallet top-ups. In January 2024, the central bank ordered it to stop accepting fresh deposits, pointing to persistent non-compliance, including lapses in customer due diligence, use of funds and technology systems.
Operationally, the bank is now on a tight leash. It may process withdrawals of existing deposits and facilitate loan referrals through banking correspondents, but it cannot take fresh deposits.
The central bank said it would apply to the high court to wind up the bank.
Paytm sought to ringfence the fallout. In a regulatory filing, it said the licence cancellation applies to Paytm Payments Bank Limited, a separate entity, and should not be attributed to One 97 Communications. It added that there is no exposure or material business arrangement with the bank and that it operates independently, without Paytm’s board or management involvement.
“As informed earlier, Paytm (One 97 Communications Limited) and its services, which have been operating without interruption, will continue to operate uninterrupted. These include the Paytm app, Paytm UPI, Paytm Gold and all other services offered by its subsidiaries and associated companies,” the company said.
The distinction may reassure users of the app ecosystem, but the regulator’s verdict is unequivocal. After years of warnings, caps and curbs, the payments bank experiment at Paytm is being shut down—decisively, and with little room left to manoeuvre.
