MAM
Leo Burnett wins storyboard award for Bajaj V
MUMBAI: Leo Burnett India has a new feather on its cap: the agency has been honoured with the coveted ‘Storyboard Commercial of the Year’ award, at the 17 edition of the CNBC-TV18 Overdrive Awards. The agency has bagged the award for the Bajaj V launch commercial.’
The CNBC-TV18 Overdrive awards honour India’s cars and bikes that are changing the face of the industry, through cutting-edge technologies and innovations. Storyboard is its weekly advertising, media and marketing TV show.
Leo Burnett CCO RajDeepak Das who was present to collect the award said, “This is pretty much the best way to end the awards streak this year! Automotive is one of the most dynamic, high-volume categories in advertising, and making it to the top spot for real work is extremely encouraging. It is great to have walked up on the stage to receive this honour on behalf of my team. I hope Leo Burnett and Bajaj V’s great streak continues into 2017 as well.”
The Bajaj V, that contains metal from India’s legendary warship and aircraft carrier, the INS Vikrant, was launched earlier this year on January 26. Bajaj sold a record 11,000 V bikes on the first day of the V’s launch.
Brands
Airtel, Jio, Vi quietly raise tariffs with tweaks ahead of major hike
Airtel, Jio and Vi test subscriber response with subtle plan changes
NEW DELHI: India’s top telecom operators, including Bharti Airtel, Reliance Jio and Vodafone Idea, are quietly reworking their prepaid plans in what appears to be a calculated run-up to a broader tariff hike expected later this year.
Rather than announcing headline-grabbing price increases, the operators are opting for subtle tweaks that are less likely to trigger immediate consumer backlash. Industry observers describe this as a “testing the waters” approach, where small changes help gauge subscriber sensitivity while gradually improving revenues.
Among the most visible moves is plan pruning. Airtel has discontinued its popular Rs 799 pack, widely seen as a high-value offering, while nudging up the price of its Rs 859 plan to Rs 899. The changes may seem marginal, but across millions of users, they translate into meaningful revenue gains.
Reliance Jio, on its part, has taken a sharper route by slashing the validity of its Rs 195 plan from 90 days to just 30 days. The price remains unchanged, but the value per day has dropped steeply, effectively raising costs for consumers without altering headline tariffs.
Meanwhile, Vodafone Idea is restructuring its “NonStopHero” packs, limiting unlimited data benefits to night hours in several circles. The move trims usage flexibility while keeping plan positioning largely intact.
Another common tactic is bundling. Operators are increasingly pairing plans with OTT subscriptions such as streaming services, framing price adjustments as value additions even when the core offering remains largely unchanged.
The broader goal behind these moves is to lift ARPU (Average Revenue Per User), a key profitability metric in the telecom business. Airtel is targeting an ARPU of around Rs 300, up from roughly Rs 250, while Jio is under pressure to demonstrate stronger revenue growth ahead of a potential IPO. For Vodafone Idea, the urgency is more immediate as it seeks higher cash flows to fund 5G expansion and manage outstanding dues.
Industry estimates suggest that these incremental changes are a precursor to a larger, industry-wide tariff hike of 15 to 20 per cent, likely towards the end of 2026. The delay in announcing a full-scale increase is partly due to macroeconomic concerns, including inflation and volatile fuel prices, which could dampen consumer sentiment.
The push to monetise 5G is also gathering pace. After investing more than Rs 3 lakh crore in next-generation networks, operators are expected to gradually phase out free 5G data and reposition it as a premium service.
For consumers, the impact is already visible in small but steady increases in monthly bills. For telcos, however, this is a carefully choreographed build-up, easing users into higher spending before the bigger pricing reset arrives.
