Brands
Britannia Marie Gold chooses ‘an act over an ad’ with HerStore on International Women’s Day
Mumbai: Britannia Marie Gold, one of India’s leading biscuit brands today launched HerStore, a unique digital ecosystem for women entrepreneurs honoring its commitment from 2023 of #LetsKeepGoing to celebrate women every day. With HerStore, it is furthering its commitment to empower women entrepreneurs with constant support throughout their journey.
The tagline “Saath Judo, Saath Udo” captures the essence of the brand’s commitment to cultivating a supportive digital ecosystem where women entrepreneurs stand united, and uplift each other, so that they can do more and be more.
HerStore, powered by Britannia Marie Gold has taken the initiative towards its commitment with the launch of a unique marketplace which lists both products and services – all owned by women. The platform will also soon offer a comprehensive suite of training, workshops, and upskilling videos tailored to equip women entrepreneurs with the skills and knowledge needed to thrive in a dynamic market landscape. This will be complemented by a community to enable knowledge-sharing and mentoring among women entrepreneurs. The platform will also further fuel aspiring womenpreneurs with seamless access to Britannia Marie Gold Mystartup Contest Season 5.
HerStore is built on learning from four immensely successful chapters of the Britannia Marie Gold Mystartup programme. The programme was initiated in 2019 to enable women to overcome barriers concerning finance and upskilling required to embark on their entrepreneurial journeys. Thus far, MyStartup Contest has provided seed funding of Rs. 10 lakhs each for over 50 entrepreneurs and equipped 50k+ women with the skills to start their businesses. More than 25 of the winners now have thriving businesses, and already over 10 winners have been onboarded on HerStore.
The strategic design of HerStore with the proposition of ‘Shop | Be Inspired | Sell,’ is aimed at democratising an end-to-end ecosystem for women business owners. HerStore is a unique platform to list both products and services for Indian consumers at no additional cost to sellers and a zero-perc ent commission model. The platform will soon be available in several Indian languages such as Hindi, Kannada, Bengali, Tamil and many more. Currently, over 50 businesses have already been listed on the HerStore marketplace.
Commenting on the launch, Britannia Industries chief marketing officer Amit Doshi said, “At Britannia Marie Gold, our unwavering commitment lies in empowering women entrepreneurs and nurturing their growth. This year, we decided to solidify our commitment by choosing not to do a brand advertisement, but by launching a digital ecosystem which will truly empower women – every single day of the year.
With the launch of the marketplace as the first step, we are hopeful that the ease of managing a business on HerStore along with the extensive Britannia Marie Gold community in India will truly democratise the ecosystem for women entrepreneurs.”
HerStore is conceptualised by MullenLowe Lintas group and the digital ecosystem has been built by Hash Connect.
Subramanyeswar S. (Subbu), Group CEO, MullenLowe Lintas Group & Chief Strategy Officer – APAC, MullenLowe Global exclaimed, “Britannia Marie Gold has a strong emotional resonance among its audience – the Homemakers or as the brand believes them to be – Everyday Athletes. Led by an inspiring purpose to make them “Do more. Be more”, the new idea “HerStore” is a movement to empower and support womenpreneurs. ‘HerStore’ is also special to us as it’s the very first initiative from Lowe Lintas DX, our digital creative unit set up in collaboration with Meta. Their offering of advanced strategic and creative services, specifically designed for long-term brand building in the digital domain, was a perfect fit for this particular drive from Britannia.
I do not doubt that ‘HerStore’ will help revolutionize the digital landscape on the web. It embodies the spirit of the brand to enable entrepreneurship and drive meaningful change in the lives of the Everyday Athlete!”
Hash Connect chief strategy officer Vinod Kumar emphasised the project’s unique challenges. “Creating HerStore posed distinct challenges – our goal was to build a robust technology platform empowering women entrepreneurs as sellers. Simultaneously, we aimed to ensure a simple yet sophisticated user experience. Another element of uniqueness is that HerStore caters to not just e-commerce businesses with products, but services and local businesses as well. Leveraging our e-commerce knowledge and insights into Indian consumer behaviour, we’ve built a platform promising an excellent experience for sellers, buyers, and the brand.”
Brands
UP govt, HGS unit to skill one lakh youth in digital push
MoU targets jobs, training and future ready talent across state
MUMBAI: Government of Uttar Pradesh has joined hands with OneOTT Intertainment Limited, the broadband arm of Hinduja Global Solutions, to train one lakh youth, signalling a fresh push towards jobs in the digital economy.
The memorandum of understanding, signed with the Employment Department Uttar Pradesh, aims to bridge the gap between skills and industry needs while opening up employment pathways for young people across the state.
The agreement was formalised by principal secretary, labour and employment, M. K. Shanmugha Sundaram and whole-time director, Hinduja Global Solutions and MD and CEO, OneOTT Intertainment Limited, Vynsley Fernandes, in the presence of labour minister Anil Rajbhar.
Under the partnership, OneOTT Intertainment Limited will roll out training programmes, workshops and knowledge-sharing platforms designed to equip youth with skills aligned to a rapidly digitising economy. The initiative will also include research inputs, technical guidance and policy-level support to ensure effective execution.
Principal secretary, labour and employment, M. K. Shanmugha Sundaram, said, “This collaboration will help align skill development programmes with actual industry needs and prepare the youth of Uttar Pradesh for emerging opportunities in the digital services sector.”
Hinduja Global Solutions whole-time director, and OneOTT Intertainment Limited MD and CEO Vynsley Fernandes said, “India’s progress is closely linked to strengthening the capabilities of its young workforce. At HGS, we see skills evolving alongside technology, and partnerships like this help build a stronger digital ecosystem.”
The state government will facilitate coordination across departments and institutions, ensuring the programmes reach the right audiences and deliver measurable outcomes.
As digital infrastructure expands and technology reshapes job markets, initiatives like this are positioning skill development not just as training, but as a gateway to opportunity for the next generation.
