MAM
Embee rice ad campaign to hit Kannada television
BANGALORE: This is one marketer which has aggressive ambitions for the humble grain of rice. Karnataka-based Embee Agro Foods recently introduced basic rice under the brand name Embee. Hitherto, not many have dared to brand basic low end rice; they have preferred to focus on premium varieties such as basmati.
And Embee Agro is sparing no expense to get its brand name recognised by the denizens of Karnataka. The company has earmarked an initial spend of Rs 500,000 for airing ads on ETV Kannada and Udaya TV starting Ugadi, the Kannada New Year on 9 April. The effort is to focus on the retail housewife in Karnataka.
The 15-second Kannada ad features Embee brand Ambassador Shama Sanjay, a renowned Bharatanatyam dancer and actress, in the role of a housewife in a departmental store. In the ad, she prefers buying an Embee branded rice pack to an unbranded packet of rice offered to her by the store manager.
The ad has been created by a local agency – Chandra Advertising Agency, which is also the campaign manager for the brand. Approximately, Rs 2,25,000 have been spent by Embee towards the making of 10, 15 and 30 second clips on the same housewife theme, of which only the 15 second clip is being aired at present.
MUMBAI: In India’s fast-moving payments race, Visa has just swiped in a new leader. The company has named Suresh Sethi as its India country head, marking a key leadership shift as it sharpens its focus on digital payments growth in the market. Sethi steps into the role following his recent exit from Protean eGov Technologies, where he served as chief executive officer. He succeeds Sandeep Ghosh, who has moved on after more than four years at Visa to pursue an external opportunity.
The appointment comes at a time when Visa is doubling down on its expansion strategy across India and the wider region, deepening partnerships and accelerating adoption in an increasingly competitive digital payments ecosystem.
Sethi brings with him a broad, cross-market perspective shaped by decades of experience across corporate banking, retail financial services, mobile money and large-scale government technology initiatives. He began his career at Citigroup, where he spent 14 years working across India, Africa, South America and the United States, focusing on transaction banking services within the corporate bank.
His appointment signals a blend of institutional experience and market familiarity qualities that could prove critical as Visa navigates a landscape where fintech innovation, regulatory evolution and consumer adoption are all accelerating at once.
As digital payments in India continue to scale rapidly, the leadership change underscores a simple reality, in a market where every tap, scan and swipe counts, who leads the charge can matter just as much as the technology itself.
