Brands
Urban Ladder aims to touch emotional chords with ad film
NEW DELHI: Furniture and home décor company Urban Ladder has made a unique film, which brings the essence of unified Indian families while publicising its own products.
The short film titled ‘The Homecoming’ captures the journey of a couple’s decision to move into their son’s home, when the son and his wife make them feel at home with thoughtful changes in the house. The film is conceptualised and filmed by Boring Brands.
The 7.16 minute long film opens with the son (Amit Sadh) talking to his mother (Pyumori Mehta) on the phone to plan their Diwali visit, and also insists that his parents should move in with his family. When the couple arrives, the father (Piyush Mishra) looks hesitant and uncomfortable in the son’s house since it’s very different from his home. The son and daughter-in-law (Tapsee Pannu) understand his discomfort and do a complete makeover of the room with thoughtful changes.
The couple is surprised by this effort and in this emotional moment make a decision to move in with their son and his family.
“At Urban Ladder, we strongly believe that a beautiful home is not just created with good looking furniture, but with a lot of thought that make spaces comfortable and cozy for everyday living. Our everyday routine revolves around those favourite spaces in our home which complete our day – tea on the swing, newspaper on a lounge chair or the bookshelf that stacks our everyday reads. In this film, we have tried to capture how small but thoughtful changes can make a house a home and bring people together,” said Urban Ladder VP – marketing Nikhil Ramaprakash.
Boring Brands co-founder and CEO Anshul Sushil said, “The festive season always sees an influx of TV commercials and content aiming to attract shoppers. The idea with this was to poignantly bring out the notion that family ties go beyond festivals. It is a celebration of human relationships and behaviour that audiences will instantly warm to. Urban Ladder as a brand resonates the sentiment that a home is built not by furniture and décor but by the family that lives in it and that is the driving message of this film.”
The film has been directed by Vinay Jaiswal of Kreative Wings Studio.
Mishra, who features in this film said, “The beauty of this film lies in its simplicity. It celebrates relationships set in the backdrop of Diwali festival and brings out the coming together of a family. For someone who has been in the industry for so long, it is heartening to see young brands create unique content and I feel lucky to have been a part of this effort by Urban Ladder.”
Link to the film – Urban Ladder | The Homecoming | A Short Film
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.
