Author: Kashmeera Sambamurthy

CRED takes subversive advertising mainstream. But there’s a flipside to the rise of Credvertising

In hot pursuit of virality, the last few months of 2022 saw brands using various tactics, gimmicks and pranks to garner attention and likes on the internet. The objective is to create curiosity and push consumers to look up for a product or service being promoted. The execution and idea can be a fake fight, meme or bizarre execution that hardly resembles an ad. (Still from the ad)

While there is no defined law on such kind of advertising, ad industry watchdog Advertising Standards Council of India (ASCI) can take suo moto action against the advertisement.

Deltatech Gaming CEO Shivanandan Pare: More skilled women playing Poker on platform, expect a 70:30 men to women ratio soon

"GST for all players should be charged on the rake earned by the platform. Otherwise, it becomes extremely unfair because as platforms we are not taking any part of the money brought in by the players or the pool, which gets created. It is like asking a stock broker who has started a trading platform to pay GST on the volume of trading being done on the platform. From all the interactions we’ve had with the government officials and decision making bodies it is clear that they understand the way we operate. If it pans out any other way nobody will survive," says Shivanandan Pare

Shivanandan Pare, Executive Director and Chief Executive Officer – Deltatech Gaming, on the need for regulations in gaming, poker’s popularity, confusion around GST calculation and IPO plans.

Viral CRED Ad: Masked as whacky classified newspaper ads, CRED’s new campaign goes viral

The company's recent campaign features Anil Kumble, Jhulan Goswami, Sunil Chhetri, MC Mary Kom and Viswanathan Anand who are disappointed when they realise that they have been asked to read a simple script telling the viewers that they can pay multiple bills on the CRED app.

The ads are being rolled out in the form of newspaper listings, announcements and apologies. The catch is they barely look like ads except the fact that each listing mentions CRED.

L’Oreal’s global marketing boss Asmita Dubey shares career advice for women: All about “bets and balances”

Dubey has introduced new AR beauty services and virtual try-ons for hair and make-up as well as skin diagnosis through AI, with the latter attracting more than 100 million users in the past year.

Dubey shared highlights of her journey from India to China to Paris, and advice for women in the corporate world.

Biz Moves: Dentsu India, BBDO India, 1702 Digital, Verve Media and Brand Visage

Dentsu India has won the integrated media marketing mandate of Hero MotoCorp’s Vida, an emerging mobility brand Hero MotoCorp. The responsibilities of the network would include overseeing the brand's global full-funnel marketing, which includes performance and digital marketing. (Representative image: Sven Kucinic via Unsplash)

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

Throwback: When Lalitaji shielded Surf from redundancy

The commercial was meant to be advertised on cinema screens. In the words of veteran ad man K S Chakravarthy, the 1984 Summer Olympics caught the eyes of Lintas’s client. Since airtime was already bought by the client, Surf’s Lalitaji debuted on the television screens in 1984, for Lintas didn’t have a backup commercial in hand. (Stills from the ads)

The 1984 commercial of Surf reinstated the brand’s position in the detergent market, which was threatened by Nirma. A large part of that credit goes to Lalitaji, an iconic character of Indian advertising, whose clutter cutter persona justified the price point of the brand due to the greater satisfaction derived by its use.

Big Tech’s ad business can be a monopolist threat: Standing Committee on Finance

The report said, “It should provide advertisers information on a daily basis, regarding price paid by the advertiser and the remuneration received by the publisher. It should provide advertisers and publishers with access to the performance measuring tools of the gatekeeper and the data necessary for advertisers and publishers to carry out their own independent verification of the advertisements inventory, including aggregated and non-aggregated data." (Representative Image: Aman Pal via Unsplash)

The committee also recommended that the government should consider and introduce a Digital Competition Act to ensure a fair, transparent and contestable digital ecosystem.

From waking up customers to delivering books in record time — How Indians used Dunzo in 2022

According to Dunzo, the sexual wellness category grew 2.5x, with condoms and lubes leading the category. Mumbai residents ordered three times the number of condoms and lubricants as Delhi residents. (Representatuve Image: @DunzoIt)

Dunzo, which offers a quick-commerce service called Dunzo Daily, stated that although lockdowns were done away by early 2022, ordering daily essentials online was the “single largest pandemic-triggered trend that is here to stay.”