MAM
HolidayIQ.com ropes in Orchard as creative partner
MUMBAI: Leo Burnett‘s agency Orchard Advertising has been awarded the creative mandate for holiday information portal HolidayIQ.com.
The agency will be in charge of the ATL and BTL activities for the brand.
Orchard VP and head of office Anish Daryani said, “HolidayIQ.com is a phenomenal business idea, where the power of user-generated reviews is leveraged to make holiday planning easier for the Indian traveller. This involves a massive change in human behaviour, where people need to overcome the inertia that keeps them from sharing their reviews in a public forum. This is a fantastic opportunity for us to use our proprietary HumanKind model to influence consumer behaviour, giving HolidayIQ.com a larger purpose – that of harnessing the power of user reviews to create a smarter Indian traveller.”
Orchard recently kicked off the first campaign – Goa to the Power of HolidayIQ -an anthem for the holidayer in Goa – called “hiq!it”, composed and sung by Remo Fernandes and co-written by Thomas Xavier. Additionally, there is an activation exercise through a specially designed tablet device called the “hiq!PAD”, where hoteliers can get their guests to digitally collect reviews and take it live in real time. An activation team has also been stationed across popular tourist destinations in Goa, collecting reviews through the “hiq!PAD”.
Orchard NCD and chairman Thomas Xavier said, “We want to unleash the power of guest reviews for HolidayIQ. We‘ve devised the term ‘hiq!‘ which isn‘t a mere abbreviation of HolidayIQ, but stands for ‘Holiday Inspired Quote‘. Going forward, we intend to make ‘hiq!‘ part of common parlance which means ‘a review‘. From a HumanKind perspective, a ‘hiq!‘ is a gift from one traveler to another.”
HolidayIQ.com founder and CEO Hari Nair said, “Orchard was able to envisage our brand in a larger-than-life manner, and their team has displayed tremendous passion and interest towards our cause. We feel we‘ve found the right partner in Orchard and look forward to a long and fruitful partnership.”
Brands
Kotak Mahindra Bank appoints Ramesh Iyer to board
Veteran financier replaces Ashok Gulati, who retires in March
MUMBAI: Kotak Mahindra Bank has announced a change to its board of directors, with independent director Ashok Gulati set to retire at the end of his term on 5 March.
The company said it has appointed Ramesh Ganesh Iyer as an additional and independent director for a four-year term, effective 17 February, subject to shareholder approval.
Iyer brings more than four decades of experience in financial services. He spent much of his career at Mahindra & Mahindra Financial Services, where he served as vice chairman and managing director before taking on the role of president for the financial services sector and member of the group executive board at Mahindra & Mahindra. He retired from the group in April 2024.
During his tenure, Iyer was instrumental in expanding rural and inclusive finance initiatives, scaling the company’s assets and customer base. He also led the creation of subsidiaries in rural housing finance, insurance broking and asset management, and oversaw international joint ventures.
Iyer holds a commerce degree and a doctorate of letters, and currently serves on the boards of several listed and unlisted companies.
The board meeting approving the changes was held in Mumbai on February 17 between 6.30 pm and 6.50 pm.
