Brands
How brands are leveraging Children’s Day for moment marketing
MUMBAI: Gone are the days when marketing only used to target adults with disposable income. Now-a-days, kids are an important constituent of marketing eco-system for brands, as they understand that kids can influence a lot of buying decisions of their parents. It’s no wonder then that 14 November is an important day for brands, not only for boosting sales through product-specific discounts but also for brand placement and building brand recognition and brand loyalty through ethical, moment marketing.
We take a look at the marketing strategies of brands for this Children Day, to understand better how brands are leveraging November 14 for their products and brand image.
Every year Google organises a doodle contest for school children in India and the doodle submitted by the national winner of the contest is featured on the Google homepage on Children's Day.
The theme for this year’s contest was 'When I grow up, I hope….’ The contest was held in five class groups. Four entries from each group were finalised as the national finalist. Each finalist entry was put up for voting from 25 October to 6 November.
"A cumulative score based on public voting, scores by guest judges and panel of Google executives will choose one of the five group winners and announce the National Winner on 14 November 2019," says the official Doodle for Google website.
The winner of the contest, apart from their doodle being placed on Google India homepage, will receive Rs 500,000 college scholarship, Rs 200,000 technology package for their school, a certificate / trophy of achievement, and a trip to the Google office.
SBI
Every year, on the occasion of Children’s Day, SBI Life Insurance releases inspiring real life videos of people who strive towards child development. Over the years, SBI Life has associated with various institutions like Parikrma Humanity Foundation’s founder, Maneka Stephen, who rose from slums to become a beacon of hope for underprivileged kids, NGOs like Canshala – CanKids…KidsCan, Freedom 4U Foundation, Smile Foundation, etc. to encourage the cause and awareness of children’s rights, care and education.
This year SBI has associated with Muskan Foundation’s founder Dipti Gandhi to support the cause of ‘equal education’ for children having multiple disabilities with visual impairment (MDVI) under SBI Life’s digital property #DilBacchaTohSabAccha.
McDonald’s! #ImKiddinit
McDonald’s is trying to market itself as the ultimate family outing destination for the whole month and celebrating November as #ChildrensMonth2019. For the same, McDonald’s has launched #ImKiddinit – under which it will offer discounts on Family Meal plans from 12 November to 24 November. Besides, the restaurants will also get a kiddie makeover as the menu boards will be changed to display doodle sketches (like children’s drawings). There will also be cute toys, doodle mats, kiddie menu boards and amazing offers at its outlets.
Complete this rhyme and comment below with your answers
One nugget, two nugget, three nugget, four…#ImKiddinIt #ChildrensMonth2019 pic.twitter.com/daJVMDJJWy— McDonald's India (@mcdonaldsindia) November 8, 2019
Parle-G
Parle-G, the iconic biscuit brand by Parle, has launched #BackToBachpan challenge for this Children’s Day. It asks Twitter users to recreate a moment from one of their old childhood picture and share both pictures after tagging Parle-G and one or more friends, asking them to accept the same challenge. The initial response from Twitter users has been encouraging with hundreds of young people recreating a moment from their childhood picture and sharing it on social media.
This Children’s Day, enter our #BackToBachpan challenge and stand a chance to win!
1. Find an old photograph from your childhood
2. Recreate that same photograph now
3. Share both with us
4. Tag and challenge a friend!#Contest #ContestAlert #ParleG #ChildrensDay #GforGenius pic.twitter.com/BcFeKfDbcq— Parle-G (@officialparleg) November 9, 2019
The fact that it’s mandatory to tag friends and ask them to accept and participate in the challenge, is ensuring that the campaign goes viral and increases its reach with every new participant. The result – hundreds of people tagging Parle-G along with their personal pictures, in the process enhancing Parle-G’s brand recognition in urban markets.
Vodafone
Vodafone has come up with #LookUp campaign for Children Day. The telco has also launched a 15-second supporting video for the campaign. The video exhorts mobile-users to ‘Sush Your Phone, Not Your Kid’ this children day. It encourages parents to give the most precious gift to the kids this Children Day, their time by looking up from their phones. The campaign also asks parents to share their thoughts on how they want to spend this 14 November with their kids.
Give the best gift to your kids this Children's day. #LookUp from your phone and gift them your precious time. Tell us how you want to spend this Children's day with them and we might surprise you. T&C apply pic.twitter.com/g7uiB6BHb1
— Vodafone (@VodafoneIN) November 10, 2019
The campaign is an attempt to communicate to Vodafone users that the company cares for their family lives and their emotional well being, at the same time, increasing brand recognition and loyalty.
GrabOn
Brands understand kids influence the buying decisions of their parents, and a day like 14 November could be leveraged for marketing products in kids’ category. Thus, GrabOn has curated many Children’s Day-specific discount offers and coupons at one place. It says that this savings’ special is for everyone and not just kids, as everyone loves saving. Many of the discount coupons are in children-specific products and services like – First Cry, Kids Carnival, Simplilearn, etc.
Adani
Adani Group has tried to stand out from other Brands by sharing a warm message for India about its aged population on this Children’s Day. The message is supported by a heart warming video that reminds the nation – home to the world’s largest young workforce – that our elderly need as much care as our children.
The campaign aims to shed light on this novel thought and bring forth the idea of becoming parents to our own parents and raise awareness amongst the youth who tend to overlook the needs and aspirations of their parents and highlight the importance of making them feel loved and needed in our fast paced lives. The campaign video highlights the innocent and compassionate relationship between a young couple and their parents along with the little things they do to take care and make him happy.
Sharing a statement with the media, the conglomerate said: “Adani Group believes in the growth of goodness and this campaign has brought in a new perspective of celebrating the special occasion of Children’s Day with our aged.”
Ford
Ford India has launched several unique initiatives on the Children’s Day – including a specially created Comic Book titled Discover More with Ford.
A unique content initiative, the comic book inspires readers to be the change they wish to see in making travel safe – for drivers and pedestrians.
With Ford EcoSport as the narrator, the story highlights a day in the life of Dia – the lead character -and how she never fails to follow traffic rules. Her courteous behaviour throughout the story makes her a role model not just for the kids travelling with her, but also the readers.
“From providing the best of safety technology in Ford cars –to– encouraging drivers to be courteous to others while driving and follow rules, we believe in making every effort possible to ensure that every family travel safely,” said Kapil Sharma, Director, Communications, Ford India. “With the Comic Book, we look to put an influencer in each car, persuading others to be courteous and drive safe.”
Besides the Comic Book, Ford dealerships will organize special on-ground engagement zones to sensitize kids on the significance of road safety with games like Spot the Hazards, Kaun Banega Safety Champion and Ditches & Bridges.
Children visiting the dealerships will also be given the tour of the service area, wearing safety gear specially made for them, and play the technician. In return of their participation, children will be given a gift hamper of safety kits including a safety champion badge, Discover More band and a board game on road safety.
Brands
YES Bank hands the keys to SBI veteran Vinay Tonse as it bets on a new era
Former SBI managing director appointed as YES Bank’s new MD and CEO
MUMBAI: YES Bank is done rebuilding. Now it wants to grow. The private sector lender has appointed Vinay Muralidhar Tonse as managing director and chief executive officer-designate, with RBI approval secured and a start date of April 6, 2026 confirmed. The three-year term signals the bank’s intent to shift gears from crisis recovery to full-throttle expansion.
Tonse, 60, is no stranger to scale. Most recently managing director at State Bank of India, he oversaw a retail book of roughly $800bn in deposits and advances, one of the largest in the country. Before that, he ran SBI Mutual Fund from August 2020 to December 2022, a stint that saw assets under management surge from Rs 4.32 lakh crore to Rs 7.32 lakh crore across market cycles. Add stints in Singapore and four years leading SBI’s overseas operations in Osaka, and the incoming chief arrives with a genuinely global CV.
His academic grounding is equally solid: a commerce degree from St Joseph’s College of Commerce, Bengaluru, and a master’s in commerce from Bangalore University.
The appointment follows an extensive search and evaluation process by the bank’s Nomination and Remuneration Committee. NRC chairperson Nandita Gurjar said the committee unanimously backed Tonse, citing his leadership track record, governance credentials and ability to drive the bank’s next phase of transformation.
Non-executive chairman Rama Subramaniam Gandhi was unequivocal. “I am certain that Vinay Tonse, with his vast experience as a senior banker, will propel YES Bank to its next phase of growth,” Gandhi said, adding that the bank remains focused on strengthening its retail and corporate banking franchises and expanding its branch network.
Rajeev Kannan, non-executive director and senior executive at Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation, the bank’s largest shareholder, said Tonse’s experience across retail, corporate banking, global markets and asset management positioned him well to lead the lender. SMBC said it looks forward to working with Tonse and the board as YES Bank pursues its ambition of becoming a top-tier private sector lender anchored in strong governance and sustainable growth.
Tonse succeeds Prashant Kumar, who took the helm in March 2020 when YES Bank was in freefall following a severe financial crisis, and spent six years painstakingly stabilising the institution, rebuilding governance and restoring operational scale. Gandhi was generous: “The bank remains indebted to Prashant Kumar, who is responsible for much of what a strong financial powerhouse YES Bank is today.”
Tonse, for his part, struck a purposeful note. “Together with the board and my colleagues, I remain deeply committed to creating long-term value for all our stakeholders,” he said, pledging to build on Kumar’s foundation guided by his personal motto: Make A Difference.
Beyond the balance sheet, Tonse played cricket at college and club level and represented Karnataka in archery at the national championships — sports he credits with teaching him teamwork, situational leadership, discipline and focus. In quieter moments, he reaches for retro Kannada music, classic Hindi songs, and the crooning of Engelbert Humperdinck, Mukesh and Kishore Kumar.
YES Bank has its steady-handed rebuilder in Kumar to thank for survival. Now it has a scale-obsessed growth banker at the wheel. The next chapter starts April 6.
