MAM
Cleartrip’s latest ad gives travellers liberty to ‘Book Abhi, Travel Kabhi Bhi’
Mumbai: While people had just resumed their travel journeys, conversations around the new Covid-19 variant have curbed some of the enthusiasm once again, adding to the hassles around planning a trip. Keeping this in mind, online travel company Cleartrip has launched its latest advertising campaign.
The campaign reflects the brand as the most flexible travel partner for consumers in times of uncertainty, drawing upon customer-centric flagship products which take care of uncertainties around travel planning.
Talking about the campaign, Lowe Lintas chief creative officer Sagar Kapoor said, “Cancelling or postponing a vacation or a trip can be a tedious and often expensive affair. This is what stops people from making plans and bookings in advance. And this is where Cleartrip’s features like EzCancel and Flexifly come in – by giving travellers the opportunity to plan travel with complete peace of mind. So, we crafted a campaign that brought alive all the joys of travel planning and negated all the pains and uncertainty associated with it. The cast added charm and believability to the stories. And the treatment drove home the point – don’t just dream about travel, start planning for it.”
Based on key insights, the latest campaign conceptualised by Lowe Lintas Bangalore, highlights the travel app’s product offerings like offering 100 per cent refund on cancellations and enabling consumers to change plans easily. Launched with the idea of ‘Book abhi and Cancel kabhi Bhi, the offering makes travel plans truly flexible. While cancelling or postponing travel plans were so far costly choices, the Flipkart Group company, through its latest campaign, informs consumers that these options are readily and economically available to them when they book travel plans through the platform.
“With consumer sentiments at their peak during the holiday season, we predicted travel aspirations to increase as well,” Cleartrip chief marketing officer Kunal Dubey said. “The latest campaign celebrates this excitement of planning a holiday while diminishing the ‘ifs’ and ‘buts’. We are confident that this ad campaign will resonate with the travellers and give them the confidence to book their holiday plan without worries.”
Brands
Wipro hires 7,500 freshers, withholds FY27 hiring outlook
Profit rises to Rs 3,522 crore, Rs 15,000 crore buyback announced.
MUMBAI- Hiring may be on, but visibility is off, Wipro is adding talent even as it pauses the crystal ball. The company hired 7,500 freshers in FY26 but stopped short of offering any hiring outlook for FY27, underscoring the uncertainty gripping the IT services sector as it pivots towards an AI-led operating model.
The disclosure came alongside its fourth-quarter earnings, where management flagged volatile demand conditions and refrained from committing to future workforce expansion. Chief human resources officer Saurabh Govil noted that over 3,000 of the total hires were onboarded in the March quarter alone, signalling continued intake despite a lack of clarity on deployment pipelines.
This divergence active hiring without forward guidance reflects a broader industry pattern where talent acquisition continues even as deal conversions remain uneven and client spending cycles stretch. Wipro expects its IT services revenue for the June quarter to range between a decline of 2 per cent and flat growth sequentially in constant currency terms, reinforcing near-term caution.
Chief executive officer Srini Pallia pointed to artificial intelligence as both a disruptor and an opportunity. He said evolving client priorities are pushing the company towards outcome-driven engagements, with Wipro increasingly focusing on a services-as-software model through its AI Native Business and Platforms unit. The shift marks a structural change from traditional headcount-led growth to AI-enabled delivery frameworks.
The company has already committed over $1 billion to its AI ecosystem, with investors closely watching how these investments translate into revenue. For now, the numbers present a mixed picture. Net profit rose sequentially to Rs 3,522 crore, while revenue grew 3 per cent to Rs 24,236 crore. However, core IT services performance remained under pressure, with full-year revenue declining 0.3 per cent in dollar terms and 1.6 per cent in constant currency.
Large deal bookings offered a counterpoint, rising 45.4 per cent year-on-year to $7.8 billion, highlighting a widening gap between deal wins and actual revenue realisation. On a quarterly basis, IT services revenue slipped 1.2 per cent sequentially, signalling continued softness in execution.
Margins, however, told a more optimistic story. Operating margins expanded to 17.3 per cent in the fourth quarter, up from 14.8 per cent in the previous quarter, reflecting improved cost discipline. That said, the company cautioned that upcoming wage hikes and the ramp-up of large deals could exert pressure going forward.
Attrition stood at 13.8 per cent in the March quarter, indicating stabilisation after periods of elevated churn. Alongside its earnings, Wipro also announced a Rs 15,000 crore share buyback, reinforcing its focus on shareholder returns, with a payout ratio of 88 per cent over the past three years.
Taken together, the numbers capture a company in transition investing in AI, maintaining hiring momentum, but navigating a demand environment where growth is uneven and visibility remains limited.
