MAM
MUFTI Brings on Board Brand Marketing Expert Vipul Mathur as Chief Operating Officer
National, 25th September 2018: MUFTI, India’s leading clothing and fashion brand has announced the appointment of Vipul Mathur as the company’s Chief Operating Officer. He brings in 20 years of experience in brand management, retail operations and merchandising and was previously employed at reputed organizations such as Aditya Birla Fashion and Retail Ltd., Madura Fashion and Lifestyle and Van Heusen among other companies. Prior to joining MUFTI, Vipul worked as the Brand Head for SKULT, before which he was the Chief BNM (Buying and Merchandising) Officer with Aditya Birla Online Fashion (ABOF).
A B.Tech graduate, Vipul completed his post-graduation from the Goa Institute of Management. In his current role at MUFTI, he will be responsible to augment consumer experiences and propel the brand towards a stronger growth.
Speaking about bringing Vipul on board, Kamal Khushlani, Founder & Managing Director – Credo Brands Marketing PVT LTD. said, “We are delighted to have Vipul as a new addition to our top management team. MUFTI is a renowned brand that believes in innovation and originality, thereby providing exceptional products to customers. In the past two decades, we have built a deep and strong consumer loyalty which has led us to be one of India’s most profitable brands. With the 300th store opening this year, we are confident of garnering sales of more than 4 million garments in the next 12 months. Vipul’s credentials and deep understanding about brands will play a crucial role in building MUFTI as the first global fashion brand with Indian roots.”
Commenting on his appointment Vipul Mathur, Chief Operating Officer, MUFTI Credo Brands Mktg. Pvt. Ltd. said, “I look forward to embarking on a new chapter in my career with the largest Indian denim brand. With the branding landscape becoming immensely cluttered and competitive, it is stimulating to come up with fresh and unique ideas for a brand in order to stand out. MUFTI has a very strong product offering and a supply chain system, which makes it a very stable organization and brand. My focus will be to enhance consumer experience at all touch points with the brand and expand its product offering to make it a true lifestyle brand. I strongly believe that MUFTI will cross the 1000 crore mark 4 years from now. It is exhilarating to be part of the company during this exciting journey.”
An industry veteran, Vipul will be succeeding Mr. Harbir Singh Sidhu who has helped direct MUFTI towards becoming a national success.
Brands
Uber launches hotel bookings feature in partnership with Expedia
From hotel bookings to room service at your door, the ride-hailing giant is making its boldest push yet into everyday life
CALIFORNIA: Uber is done being just a taxi app. At its annual GO-GET product event, the world’s leading mobility and delivery platform unveiled a sweeping set of new features designed to plant itself at the centre of how people travel, eat and shop, hotel bookings included.
The headline move is a partnership with Expedia Group that lets Uber users in the United States book hotels directly within the Uber app, with access to a catalogue that will eventually grow to more than 700,000 properties worldwide. Uber One members get 10 per cent back in Uber One credits on all hotel bookings and savings of at least 20 per cent on a rolling list of more than 10,000 hotels globally. Vacation rentals from Vrbo, Expedia Group’s home-rental brand, will be added later this year. The partnership is expected to expand beyond the United States. From June, Uber rides will also be integrated directly into the Expedia app, with push notifications sent to travellers ahead of hotel check-in to book discounted Uber rides for the duration of their stay.
Dara Khosrowshahi, chief executive of Uber, framed the expansion in terms of the modern condition. “Uber is becoming an app for everything, helping people go, get, and now travel all in one place,” he said. “We’re all living through a moment of real cognitive overload: too many apps, too many decisions, too much noise. At the end of the day, our job is to help people reclaim their time, spending less of it managing the logistics of life and more of it actually living.”
Ariane Gorin, chief executive of Expedia Group, struck a similarly ambitious note. “Travel should feel effortless, and this partnership gets us one step closer to offering a seamless traveller experience,” she said. “By connecting our two-sided marketplace with Uber, we’re bringing Uber rides directly into the Expedia app and Expedia Group’s lodging inventory into the Uber app through our Rapid API technology. Together, we’re helping travellers spend less time planning and more time enjoying the journey.”
Beyond hotels, the product announcements come thick and fast. Travel Mode, available within both the Uber and Uber Eats apps, offers curated recommendations on local favourites, tourist destinations, OpenTable restaurant reservations and on-demand delivery to hotel rooms. Uber One International means the membership programme now works globally, allowing members to earn credits on rides abroad that can be redeemed once back home. A new Shop for Me feature lets users request items from any store, even those not listed on the app. Eats for the Way allows riders in select cities booking an Uber Black or Uber Black SUV to have a drink or snack waiting for them in the car. Voice Bookings, powered by artificial intelligence, lets users book a ride conversationally, without touching their phone. And a redesigned One Search bar consolidates results for places, food and items across the entire Uber platform in a single query.
Uber has now logged more than 72 billion trips since it launched in 2010. The question it is now answering is what comes after the ride. The answer, apparently, is everything else. Whether users want a hotel in Paris, a coffee in the back of a car or a snake plant from the local garden centre, Uber would very much like to be the one to provide it. The app economy’s land grab has a new front-runner.
NOTE: The image used is AI generated and only for representational purposes.
