Brands
Britannia Marie Gold My Start Up Season 2 finale
New Delhi:- Britannia Marie Gold, a 60+-year-old favorite brand of homemakers and the 3rd largest biscuit brand in India, announced the ten winners of its annual women entrepreneurship initiative, Britannia Marie Gold My Start-Up campaign. Under the aegis of this initiative, the 10 winners were felicitated and awarded INR 10 Lakhs each to kick-start their business ventures. Britannia Marie Gold My Startup is a platform for aspiring homemakers to fuel their entrepreneurial dreams, become financially independent, and transform themselves into job creators.
In addition to financial assistance, the current edition of the Britannia Marie Gold My Start-Up initiative provides 10,000 homemakers access to India’s first-ever customized online skill development program, in partnership with National Skill Development Corporation (NSDC). The online course imparts these homemakers with the necessary entrepreneurial skills, boosting their confidence as they take their first step towards a self-reliant future. Britannia is confident that many of the homemakers who undergo the skill development training will move on to become entrepreneurs.
Launched in February 2020, the 2nd edition witnessed, within a span of 3 months over 1.5 million applications from across the country and an overwhelming participation form 32 states and Union Territories. The means of entries was opened to include telephone call, web and WhatsApp. Over 25% of the entries came in via WhatsApp. Following weeks of deliberation by an external jury who mulled over lakhs of applications, the Britannia Marie Gold team shortlisted 50 finalists.
Britannia Industries Ltd Chief Commercial Officer, Gunjan Shah, said, “This is a very important initiative for Britannia driven by one of our flagship brands, Britannia Marie Gold. In its current edition, the initiative is touching the lives of over 10, 000 women and their families and we are privileged to be able to do so. Britannia is committed to provide a platform for aspiring women entrepreneurs to present their business ideas and stand a chance to gain financial help and skill development to set off on their entrepreneurial journey.”
Britannia Industries Ltd Head of Marketing Vinay Subramanyam said, “Becoming entrepreneurs enables our award-winning homemakers to also become job creators who can transform many lives around them. One successful woman entrepreneur opens a wide window of opportunities for many, as was proven by our last year’s winners. We are delighted that through this initiative, we are introducing to the entrepreneurial world 10 more homepreneurs and skilling 10,000 homemakers to power their entrepreneurial journey. We strongly believe that when women become self-reliant and financially independent, entire families and societies and eventually, the country progresses.”
Brands
Uber launches hotel bookings feature in partnership with Expedia
From hotel bookings to room service at your door, the ride-hailing giant is making its boldest push yet into everyday life
CALIFORNIA: Uber is done being just a taxi app. At its annual GO-GET product event, the world’s leading mobility and delivery platform unveiled a sweeping set of new features designed to plant itself at the centre of how people travel, eat and shop, hotel bookings included.
The headline move is a partnership with Expedia Group that lets Uber users in the United States book hotels directly within the Uber app, with access to a catalogue that will eventually grow to more than 700,000 properties worldwide. Uber One members get 10 per cent back in Uber One credits on all hotel bookings and savings of at least 20 per cent on a rolling list of more than 10,000 hotels globally. Vacation rentals from Vrbo, Expedia Group’s home-rental brand, will be added later this year. The partnership is expected to expand beyond the United States. From June, Uber rides will also be integrated directly into the Expedia app, with push notifications sent to travellers ahead of hotel check-in to book discounted Uber rides for the duration of their stay.
Dara Khosrowshahi, chief executive of Uber, framed the expansion in terms of the modern condition. “Uber is becoming an app for everything, helping people go, get, and now travel all in one place,” he said. “We’re all living through a moment of real cognitive overload: too many apps, too many decisions, too much noise. At the end of the day, our job is to help people reclaim their time, spending less of it managing the logistics of life and more of it actually living.”
Ariane Gorin, chief executive of Expedia Group, struck a similarly ambitious note. “Travel should feel effortless, and this partnership gets us one step closer to offering a seamless traveller experience,” she said. “By connecting our two-sided marketplace with Uber, we’re bringing Uber rides directly into the Expedia app and Expedia Group’s lodging inventory into the Uber app through our Rapid API technology. Together, we’re helping travellers spend less time planning and more time enjoying the journey.”
Beyond hotels, the product announcements come thick and fast. Travel Mode, available within both the Uber and Uber Eats apps, offers curated recommendations on local favourites, tourist destinations, OpenTable restaurant reservations and on-demand delivery to hotel rooms. Uber One International means the membership programme now works globally, allowing members to earn credits on rides abroad that can be redeemed once back home. A new Shop for Me feature lets users request items from any store, even those not listed on the app. Eats for the Way allows riders in select cities booking an Uber Black or Uber Black SUV to have a drink or snack waiting for them in the car. Voice Bookings, powered by artificial intelligence, lets users book a ride conversationally, without touching their phone. And a redesigned One Search bar consolidates results for places, food and items across the entire Uber platform in a single query.
Uber has now logged more than 72 billion trips since it launched in 2010. The question it is now answering is what comes after the ride. The answer, apparently, is everything else. Whether users want a hotel in Paris, a coffee in the back of a car or a snake plant from the local garden centre, Uber would very much like to be the one to provide it. The app economy’s land grab has a new front-runner.
NOTE: The image used is AI generated and only for representational purposes.
