Brands
VLCC disrupts festive skin care marketing with Animoji campaign
MUMBAI: With the beauty and skin care category hugely cluttered in the Indian sub-continent, VLCC, along with Grapes Digital has launched a campaign leveraging a brand new feature on the latest Apple phones – the Animoji.
The festive season is a particularly busy time for marketers, when almost any conversation finds it difficult to drive recall. However hard they try, cutting ice with the consumer always becomes a challenge.
To address this challenge, the campaign has Shiny Aunty and Chaddaji, two very quirky characters, created by Grapes Digital, the creative agency for VLCC.
By narrating stories and creating product usage contexts, these characters not only win the heart of the consumer, but also managed to create an industry first innovation.
Speaking on the innovation, Grapes Digital COO Shradha Agarwal says, “Our agency solutions have always been founded on the pillars of creativity, innovation and technology. The Animoji innovation has managed to disrupt the category and stand-out strongly in the cluttered Diwali space making us the first brand to use it. Going forward, we will continue working towards creating more such innovations and conversations for the brand.”
VLCC Personal Care digital head Ajeet Bawa adds, “Grapes has always led the game in terms of using innovative approaches to digital advertising. The current Animoji campaign only reinstates the trust that we have in them. We look forward to continued creativity and innovation from their stable for our brands.”
Grapes Digital is a full-fledged digital marketing agency, founded by Himanshu Arya in 2009. Started as a technology driven agency it has moved towards being a digital first agency, aiming at helping brands embrace creative, technological and digital media evolution and revolutionising all aspects of their business as per the need of the digital age.
It offers varied digital service like digital strategy & planning, digital content, creative – user experience, design & content, website/app design & development, social media marketing, search engine optimisation, experiential technology marketing, digital media – planning & buying, performance media – planning & buying and influencer marketing.
Brands
Jubilant FoodWorks faces Rs 47.5 crore GST demand, plans appeal
Tax authorities flag alleged misclassification of restaurant services
MUMBAI:Â Jubilant FoodWorks Limited has landed in a tax tussle after receiving a GST demand of Rs 47.5 crore from the office of the additional commissioner of CGST and central excise in Thane, Maharashtra.
The order, issued under the provisions of the Central Goods and Services Tax Act, 2017, relates to an alleged incorrect classification of certain services under the category of restaurant services. According to the tax authorities, this classification resulted in a short payment of goods and services tax for the period between the financial years 2019-20 and 2021-22.
The demand includes Rs 47.5 crore in GST along with an equal amount as penalty, in addition to applicable interest. The order was received by the company on March 13, 2026.
In a regulatory filing to the BSE Limited and the National Stock Exchange of India Limited, the company said it disagrees with the order and believes its arguments were not adequately considered.
The company is preparing to challenge the decision and plans to file an appeal. It added that once the redressal process is complete, the demand is likely to be dropped.
Despite the sizeable figure attached to the notice, the company said it does not expect any material impact on its financials, operations or other activities.
The disclosure was signed by Suman Hegde, EVP and chief financial officer, who confirmed that the company received the order at 19:06 IST on March 13 and has already initiated steps to contest it.
The development places the quick service restaurant major in the middle of a tax debate that could hinge on how certain restaurant-linked services are classified under GST rules. For now, the company appears ready to take the matter from the tax office to the appeals desk.
