Author: Kashmeera Sambamurthy

Hindustan Unilever exits atta and salt biz; sells Annapurna and Captain Cook

The deal envisages the transfer of trademarks, copyrights and other intellectual properties associated with India and several other geographies. The transaction is subject to customary closing conditions, and HUL will continue to manage the business until the completion of the transaction. (Representative Image: Robert Linder via Unsplash)

Hindustan Unilever’s atta and salt business will be sold to Singapore-headquartered company Reactivate Brands International’s subsidiaries Uma Global Foods, and Uma Consumer Products.

Saffola is now a Rs 2,000 crore plus brand

The multinational consumer goods company, which owns brands like Parachute, Saffola, Hair & Care, Nihar, Nihar Naturals, Livon etc, plans to add more options in the food segment. (Still from Saffola Masala Oats | Mazedaar Khaao Jee Bhar Ke ad)

Saugata Gupta, managing director and chief executive officer of Marico in a PTI report said that he sees a gradual recovery for FMCG companies when the demand in rural markets will pick up.

Zoo Media adds The Starter Labs to its network

It's All About the Customer Experience: Remember, the customer is king (or queen!). They expect consistency – the same brand story, product information, and stellar customer service, no matter where they interact with you (Representative Image: Olav Ahrens Røtne via Unsplash)

The strategic acquisition is expected to strengthen Zoo Media’s D2C capabilities amongst consumer brands in India. This is also aligned with Zoo Media’s accelerated global growth strategy, set to be announced later this year.

CXO Moves: YouTube’s gets a new CEO; Riot Games, KidZania India, Cheil get senior executives

Get the full picture on people and their moves on the corporate jungle gym in CXO Moves. (From left to right: Neal Mohan, chief executive officer, YouTube; Rahul Dhamdhere, chief marketing officer, KidZania India, Neeraj Bassi, chief growth officer, Cheil India; and Arun Rajappa, country manager - India and South Asia, Riot Games)

Executive moves in the world of brands and agencies. Find out who’s moved up, in and out.

IKEA India calls for creative pitch

Independent shops and agencies from global network companies participated in IKEA'S pitch process in two rounds. (Representative Image: Zheka Kapusta via Unsplash)

IKEA India’s pitch process is underway in Bengaluru. Independent shops and agencies from global network companies are participating in two rounds.

Biz Moves: OMG Media Group, Publicis Business, Dentsu Creative, Sociowash, Kinnect Outreach, L&K Saatchi & Saatchi

The review was led by Spotify's US office, its primary market, which gave the mandate to Publicis Groupe. India was not part of the pitch and as a result the account has landed in Publicis Groupe's India kitty from IPG Mediabrands-owned Lodestar UM. UM was Spotify’s media agency for the last seven years. Spotify also has an in-house agency. (Representative Image: Marc A via Unsplash)

Keep up with all the key business wins and the account movements.

Twitter layoffs continue; shuts offices in Mumbai and Delhi

As per a CNBC-TV18 report, since the $44 billion buyout, Twitter has failed to pay millions of dollars in rent for its San Francisco headquarters and London offices. Further, the company has been sued by multiple contractors over unpaid services, and to raise money has auctioned off everything, which includes bird statues, espresso machines etc. (Representative Image: Souvik Banerjee via Unsplash)

This move is an extension of the mass layoff that began in 2022 since the time Elon Musk took up the mandate of the platform through a $44 bn buyout as the chief executive officer.

Susan Wojcicki steps down as YouTube’s CEO; Neal Mohan takes over

Since 2015, Neal Mohan has been the chief product officer, and has looked after YouTube products, user experience, trust and safety on a global level. He has managed creation and enforcement of platform policies, and has been accountable for overall business success and growth of YouTube. (Image source: LinkedIn)

Neal Mohan is armed with an experience of more than two decades and has worked across Accenture, DoubleClick, Microsoft, MMA Global, Google, 23andMe and Stitch Fix.

Weekly Shorts: How influencer seeding can boost brands’ SEO efforts

Influencer seeding can help increase brand awareness by reaching a larger and more targeted audience. Increased brand awareness can have a positive impact on SEO by increasing the number of people who search for the brand or its products online. (Representative Image: NisonCo PR and SEO via Unsplash)

What’s buzzing in influencer marketing and the creator ecosystem? What’s the next big thing coming down the line? Catch the big trends and hot topics in our weekly shorts.

Blinkit adds new feature for brands to create custom shops on its app

In a blog post the company stated, brands can create different kinds of content and sections as per their sense of relevance to their presence on the platform, or what their customers might prefer.(Representative Image: Kelly Sikkema via Unsplash)

Blinkit’s this feature will allow brands to create micro stores and promote their products, track analytics on customs landing pages, implement their own design language and create different kinds of content.