MAM
Havas Media swallows Simmtronics tablet account
MUMBAI: It’s another win for Havas Media India. Last night, the agency announced that it had been signed on to manage the media business of Simmtronics Semiconductors, the third ranked tablet maker in the world.
The Indian tablet market has been seeing some uber competition with the likes of Micromax, Samsung, Apple, doing battle to capture the rupee from the customer’s wallet. Simmtronics has kept a media spend of Rs 50 crore for Havas Media to help get its products and noticed by consumers.
Says Simmtronics managing director Indrajit Sabharwal: “We have very aggressive plans for the year and wanted a like-minded partner on board. It was a tough fight between equally competent agencies. Havas Media’s response, the understanding of our brief, the customized media solution recommended and their huge passion for our business was something we were looking for. We are pleased to have them as our partner and are sure they will contribute significantly to our business growth.”
“The Havas knowledge of the Mobile and Telecom industry was impressive. Moreover they have worked with prominent brands, know how to build a brand amid the clutter today and how to position it appropriately”, adds Simmtronics brand manager Smarth Bansal.
“It is a great win and further consolidates Havas Media’s position in India. It is also a very interesting category and we look forward to working with them,” says an ecstatic Anita Nayyar, CEO Havas Media Group India and South Asia.
Adds Havas Media India managing director Mohit Joshi: “The past two quarters have been good for Havas with many new business aquisitions. With this win, we are very hopeful of keeping up this momentum through this quarter as well.”
Simmtronics had recently announced a partnership with HCL subsidiary Digilife Distribution & Marketing Services Ltd (DDMS), a 100% subsidiary of HCL Infosystems, to further the distribution of its tablets in India. As part of that Digilife was assigned to reach out the tablets to teleshopping channels and chain stores across India, apart from other outlets.
MAM
How beverage brands are rethinking marketing strategies for weather-led demand
SLMG Beverages Private Limited joint managing director Paritosh Ladhani.
MUMBAI: As Sun climbs up the hemisphere, summer has clearly arrived in India. On 7th March 2026 Delhi registered a maximum temperature of 35.7 degrees Celsius which is the highest reading logged for the first week of March in the last 50 years. Climate Change has been prolonging summers by causing earlier spring warming, delayed autumn cooling, and more frequent, intense heatwaves that persist for much longer periods.
In an endeavor to stay ahead of the curve, Beverage Brands are shifting from fixed seasonal marketing tactics to weather responsive strategies backed by data-driven insights, flexible campaigns, and diversified portfolios to capitalize on unruly temperature spike. In 2025, India’s beverage market experienced a massive, heat-triggered surge with carbonated drinks and ice cream volumes spiking 20–25 per cent in the March quarter itself on the back of hottest February in 125 years.
Clearly campaign timelines are being advanced to reap the seasonal shift in line with the jumping mercury. In the Indian context where Cricket is nothing short of religion, big ticket tournaments like T20 World Cup, Indian Premier League, ICC Champions Trophy provide plethora of opportunities to calibrate marketing campaign designs and associated business strategies to associate refreshment with community viewing both outdoor and indoors. A new trend that has taken the world by storm is that of booking the theatres for bonhomie viewing. It has also opened avenues for joint marketing initiatives by the Multiplex and Beverage Brands.
Price disrupting small potions and value packs tend to drive significantly higher volumes owing to volumetric flexibility and affordability to the consumers. Ramping up of cold supply chains for transit and at point of sales (POS) are strategic business imperatives that again define success of beverage brands.
In the era of AI and Big Data it is easy to track and calibrate messaging based on daily or weekly weather changes. Geo-targeted digital advertisement campaigns are also being run during heatwaves to make the business and marketing imperative very contextual. These pre-emptive strategies fueled by real time data and technology immensely help beverage brands to adjust supplies to the areas that are likely to generate more demand.
Novelty brings premium to the FMCG Sector and Beverage Brands are no exception. Newer SKUs build up excitement in consumers besides imparting the scope of frequent revitalization of brand marketing campaigns. Ensuring continuum of supply chain across material suppliers, logistics providers, distributors/wholesalers, and retailers become a strategic business strategy imperative for beverage brands during peak season.
Carbonated drinks among other beverages including packaged mineral water sell like hotcakes in summers, a period where holiday season gives big impetus to sales volumes. Tying up with air carriers railways, amusement parks, malls, convention centers for inclusion in the onboard beverage deck also holds a big window of opportunity for brands.
Limited period diversification into special summer categories entailing juices and functional beverages to capture the broader hydration market is also a business cum marketing imperative that beverage brands eye on. This also brings to fore the responsible side of the brand placing the compass on wellness of consumers.
Seasons are cyclic, hence summers are inevitable. Further, due to anthropogenic climate change, summers surely have been staging prolonged appearance that keep bringing beverage brands on to their drawing boards frequently for strategizing business and marketing campaigns that are agile, refreshment-focused, visually dominant in retail, affordable, and optimally promoted through seasonal campaigns in above and below the line media.
