Brands
Tata Chemicals to kick start ‘Swach Silver RO’ campaign in Feb in Karnataka, West Bengal
BENGALURU: Tata Chemicals announced the pilot launch of its Silver RO purifiers range in Karnataka and West Bengal today. Depending upon the acceptance of its products, the company plans to complete the all-India roll-out over the next two months.
It is working with its media buying agency – Lodestar – to launch a Swach Silver campaign in early February across regional television, metro branding in Bengaluru and Kolkata, car branding, outdoor and banners and radio jingles, revealed company sources.
At the launch of two models of RO water purifiers, the company showcased a 15 second TVC created by Draft FCB Ulka in Hindi. “There will be two more TVCs’ on similar lines and will run in Kannada and Bangla in the respective states. Once the pan-India roll-out is complete, we will have it in nine languages,” revealed Tata Chemicals Head of Water Purifier Business & Strategy Consumer Products Business Parag Gadre while talking to indiantelevision.com . “We are working on a media plan with Lodestar and expect to have the campaign on by the second week of February in these two markets,” informed Gadre further.
Eyeing an 8-10 per cent market share of the organised RO and UV water purifiers market over the next few years that the company estimates as around Rs 2,600 crore, Tata Chemicals will spend around 20 to 25 per cent of revenue towards mass media communications say industry sources. Over the next 12 to 15 months, the company should cross revenue of Rs 50 to 60 crore, and hence its ad budgets would be in the range of Rs 10-15 crore until the end of the next fiscal in March 2015.
Overall, Tata Chemicals estimates the size of the RO, UV, gravity and other types of water purifier market in the country as Rs 3,500 crore per annum that is growing at a CAGR of 22 per cent. In terms of number of units, Tata Chemicals pegs the current size as about 85 lakh units, of which the RO and UV water purifiers’ market size (that includes four or five national level players and many local and regional players) would be about 14 lakh units. National level players contribute to about 8.5 to 9 lakh units, and Tata Chemicals is eyeing an 8 per cent market share of this segment.
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.
