LatestOne.com crosses Milestone of 1 Lac orders in a month

Hyderabad Aug 4: LatestOne.com has successfully crossed the milestone of processing 100,000 orders in a single month within one year of operations. Having commenced sales in Aug 2014 with 3,000 orders in the first month of business, LatestOne.com processed over 1 lac orders in Jul 2015. This further strengthens the position of LatestOne.com as the market leader in online sales of tech & mobile accessories. LatestOne.com receives 25% of orders from Mumbai-Pune, 20% from Delhi-NCR, 15% from Bengaluru and 40% from rest of India.

In the month of Jul, LatestOne.com received more than 1.0 lac visitors daily of which 35% are repeat visitors. Of the one lac orders received in Jul, 20% were placed by repeat customers buying second time or more. Customer Satisfaction levels are high, with replacements & refunds remaining below 1%. By stocking more than 10,000 SKUs in their warehouses, the company offers the widest range of products in the tech, mobile & tablet accessories space, which include covers & cases, audio-video & HDMI cables, blue-tooth devices, power banks, Mini PCs and others. The motto of the company is to offer timely delivery and full product satisfaction to the customers by taking order only for those SKUs, which are already stocked at the company warehouses. As the name suggests, LatestOne.com continuously innovates and introduces latest gadgets & accessories on their site. In the month of July LatestOne.com introduced Bluetooth virtual laser keyboards & Bluetooth paper planes. In August they will be introducing a new range of health bands & smart watches.

Further as a mark of celebrating this 1 Lac mark, Mr. Ameen Khwaja – CEO &; MD said “The company is launching a Flat 80% off sale on mobile and tablet accessories from 5th of August till 7th of August 2015. This 80% discount sale would be basically our way of showing gratitude towards our customers, who helped us reach this 1 Lac mark in such a short time. I also hope that many new customers take advantage of this big discount sale. It will be the largest of its kind in the country with 10,000 SKUs and more than 3.0 lac pieces offered on sale from a single store online.”

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Celebrity Cruises announces the ‘Grass is Greener’ campaign

New Delhi, August 4: TIRUN Travel Marketing, the exclusive India representative of Celebrity Cruises, announces the exciting “Grass is Greener” campaign which highlights how holidays onboard the upscale vessels are prefect to satisfy those cravings for outdoor luxury. The endeavour is to engage new-to-cruise and new-to-brand consumers with a multi-layer fun campaign that also includes the trade partners. It turns the spotlight on the unique attributes of Celebrity Cruises such as the Lawn Club where real grass is grown onboard the vessel, along with stellar butler services to give guests a truly indulgent cruising experience.

The campaign boldly and innovatively calls out the brand attributes of Celebrity Cruises in a way that harks to the luscious summertime and resplendent outdoors. Celebrity Cruises is running a digital contest to spur greater excitement with the hashtag, #‎GrassIsGreener. Participants need to post a selfie with anything green it and use the hashtag. 10 particpants with the best Selfie will stand a chance to win Celebrity Cruises merchandise and shopping vouchers every day for 10 days.

Speaking on the campaign, Mrs Ratna Chadha, Chief Executive, TIRUN Travel Marketing and exclusive India representative of Celebrity Cruises said, “The campaign underlines the magnificent, most iconic and unmatched qualities of a Celebrity Cruises vacation. Guests can get their fill of a stylish outdoor experience which many seek in the summer. They can order picnics on a private verandah or bask in the exquisite lawns with exotic cocktails of their choice. The digital campaign has been crafted to further drive awareness about the inspiring experience that awaits vacationers on board this premium cruise line.”

In order to make the campaign equally inviting for its trade partners, TIRUN Travel Marketing has launched a unique incentive programme. For every 10 staterooms they sell on board a Celebrity Cruises ship on double occupancy basis up to 31st December 2015, agents will get a free berth. This programme makes the ‘Grass is Greener’ campaign truly appealing to all stakeholders and guests!

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Parle Agro unveils Frooti’s New Logo

The flagship brand of Parle Agro- Frooti has undergone a brand revamp and has launched a completely new identity and visual language. The rejuvenated visual identity, including logo design and packaging aims to demonstrate Frooti as bold, fearless and iconic alongwith establishing its equity amongst a much larger audience to help it acquire a wider consumer base. This summer, Parle Agro is completely set for a national launch of the new Frooti packaging designs accompanied with pan-India marketing campaign introducing ‘The Frooti Life’ to all its consumers.

Frooti has always been way ahead of its time since its inception in 1985. Be it the launch of the first ever Tetra Pak, PET bottles, TCA triangular packs or Bottle Packs, it has always strived to remain relevant to the youth. However, considering the huge popularity of Frooti as a kids drink, the only way to break away from the past was to undertake a radical brand makeover. 

The move is in line with the brand’s vision to make in-roads into new consumer groups especially amongst the 15-30 year old young adults. While Frooti has always held a dominant market share in the TetraPak category particularly amongst kids, the launch of fruit drinks in PET bottles in India expanded the target consumer base to teenagers and young adults. Today, the acceptance of PET and its growth is one of the fastest in beverage industry and contributes to 50% of the overall 6000Crore Mango Drink market. Keeping this at the core, the time was right to relaunch Frooti in a bold new look to be able to establish a strong foothold in the PET segment. With this, a new structural design for Frooti PET has been developed to provide better strength, superior grip and a larger label area for branding. Even the formulation has been enhanced by increasing the food pulp so as to provide a more mouthful experience to the consumers.

The new Packaging Design which was rolled-out in mid-January for select SKUs alone has shown a growth of 60% and seen a 80% boost in visibility as of today.

Speaking on Frooti’s relaunch, Ms Nadia Chauhan, JMD & CMO, Parle Agro Pvt. Ltd., said “Since the brand has been an integral part of everyone's growing up years, it was important to shed the traditional Frooti image and give it a bold and contemporary look to make it relatable to the youth of today and tomorrow. It is really encouraging to see markets response to the brands new visual identity, as also evident from its positive sales impact. We are extremely confident of achieving our brand and business objectives through this strategic move.”

Parle Agro collaborated with the world’s leading design and creative consultancies, Pentagram for Frooti’s packaging makeover and Sagmeister & Walsh for Frooti’s summer campaign. The decision to engage with international firms was strategically planned to ensure that the makeover was advanced with a fresh perspective. A new approach towards the brand was crucial to be able to break away from its traditional personality.

Spends to the tune of INR 70 crore have been invested across a strategic mix of media vehicles that appeal to teenagers and young adults. Television will play the role of the lead medium for the campaign, where the TVC featuring Shah Rukh Khan, shot in stop motion style animation will offer a delightful visual experience. Amit Trivedi and Amitabh Bhattacharya have added a strong musical element to the TVC.

Being the market leader in mango drinks category, it was important that Frooti breaks through the clutter and conventional category codes with a packaging redesign and a 360 degree marketing approach to ensure maximum brand visibility and reach in newer markets and consumer segments. With this move, Frooti is determined to get a 50% growth in sales and reinforce its leadership position in the market.

Parle Agro is optimistically working to build on a deeper and stronger emotional connect with the consumers with new Frooti.

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Indian Real Estate Steps into Year 2015 with Positive Outlook

Indian Real Estate Steps into Year 2015 with Positive Outlook

Mr. Raja Mukherjee, Head - Sales & Marketing, Concorde Group
Bangalore, Karnataka, India

Year 2015 is just round the corner and everyone wants to know what lies in the New Year for them. Real estate world is one such sector which with positive outlook has a potential to fulfil many dreams. Market pundits have already started begun to forecast 2015 as the best year in the current decade when it comes to real estate absorption. According to PWC’s latest report, India will see increased economic growth, and the removal of barriers to FDI will ‘spur demand for construction’ over the coming 12 - 18 months.

Clauses in our policy like lock-in requirement and exit route along with the repressive minimum threshold for built-up area were some of the major factors in reduced inflow of FDI in Indian construction sector. However, following the election of a new government, India’s construction sector is forecast to grow at 7-8 % per year for the next ten years. Government has reduced minimum built-up area as well as capital requirement and have eased the exit norms.

The increased inflow of FDI due to easing of rules in Indian construction sector will surely provide a boost to the real estate sector. It is a positive announcement and will certainly encourage more investors to consider investing in India. It will also help developers get liquidity (much needed) into the system. With such positive announcements, we will see more and more foreign players venturing into promising Indian real estate market. This will also reflect into making things easier for the middle class and real estate more affordable.

An estimated US$1 trillion is being spent on infrastructure over the five years to 2017 and there is increased investment in industrial projects by the government. However, it is the private housing sector that the PwC report highlights as a key growth area.

The Government of India has proposed to release the Real Estate (Development and Regulation) Bill which aims to protect consumer interest and introduce standardisation in business practices and transactions in the sector. The bill will also enable domestic and foreign investment flow into the sector.

'Under the Sardar Patel Urban Housing Mission, 30 million houses will be built by 2022, mostly for the economically weaker sections and low-income groups, through public-private-partnership, interest subsidy and increased flow of resources to housing sector', according to Mr M Venkaiah Naidu, Union Minister of Housing and Urban Poverty Alleviation.

Another report from PwC titled 'Emerging Trends in Real Estate Asia Pacific 2015' ranked three major metros among the 22 cities surveyed across the region. While Mumbai climbed to 11th position, Delhi's ranking improved to 14th and Bangalore to 17th, indicating a significant improvement in investor sentiment in the country.

Foreign Institutional investors (FII) across the globe are watching changed economic and political setting in India, and are now beginning to have a consideration about India - a stark difference from the situation just a couple of years ago. Limited Partners also note that if the golden era of the real estate in India were to start now, it would last longer.

However, there are few hurdles before real estate industry hits the top gear. Policy reforms will play a key role and have to be implemented in the next 12-18 months to sustain the interest going forward. With the not-so happy return experiences from the past in the region, Limited Partners are quick to add that cautious optimism on the macro front might not necessarily translate into dramatic turnaround for the Indian real estate sector yet.

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Wells Fargo Commercial Banking Primes for Eastern Expansion

Wells Fargo (NYSE:WFC), No. 1 in lead banking relationships with middle-market companies, said today that New York City will serve as its new Eastern Region hub for Commercial Banking. John P. Manning, a 26-year financial services veteran and Wells Fargo executive vice president, will lead the continued expansion of the company’s Commercial Banking business in the Eastern U.S. and Eastern Canada. He is based at Wells Fargo’s Manhattan office, 150 East 42nd St.

Manning succeeds Carlos Evans, a longtime Wells Fargo Commercial Banking leader in Charlotte, North Carolina, who retired last May. Manning most recently led Wells Fargo’s 14-office Commercial Banking division in Southern California. Before that, he oversaw the Greater Los Angeles division. His teams doubled their loan portfolio between 2009 and 2014.

In the last few years, Wells Fargo Commercial Banking has grown rapidly in the East, with new operations in Maryland, Boston, and Toronto, among others. Manning’s new Eastern territory includes 23 Regional Commercial Banking Offices in 13 states, plus the District of Columbia and Eastern Canada. Wells Fargo has identified more Eastern urban and suburban markets for possible Commercial Banking expansion, including New York boroughs and New England communities where middle-market businesses cluster.

“As middle-market companies are feeling more confident about the economy, they’re seeking opportunities to invest in their operations, their people, and their communities,” Manning said. “Wells Fargo’s top priority throughout this region is putting resources on the ground. That means local teams, local decisions, and local lending authority where our customers live and work.”

A native of New Jersey, Manning earned his bachelor’s degree in finance from Rutgers University. He joined Wells Fargo’s Commercial Banking group in 1994 as a relationship manager in Los Angeles. He progressed through the organization and was promoted to head of the Greater Los Angeles division in 2009. Commercial Banking unified its Southern California offices into one region in 2013 with Manning at the helm.

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Axis Bank Launches Smart Self-Service Terminal

Axis Bank Launches Smart Self-Service Terminal

A self-service terminal that facilitates customers to deposit as well as withdraw cash from the same machine

Axis Bank, India’s third largest private sector bank, announced the launch of a smart self-service terminal that enables customers to deposit as well as withdraw cash from the same machine. Customers can initiate a deposit transaction through the smart self-service terminal even without using a debit card and will receive instant credit for the deposited amount.

There is no cap on the amount of cash deposited by the customer through these terminals, provided his/her PAN details are available with the bank.

The smart self-service terminal will reduce the frequency of loading cash in the machine as well as the cost of idle cash as it allows cash recycling operations by dispensing deposited cash for future withdrawal transactions, thereby improving efficiency of the bank's cash operations.

Speaking on the occasion Mr. Rajiv Anand, Group Executive & Head- Retail Banking, Axis Bank said, “Axis Bank has been a pioneer in launching customer friendly technology initiatives in the banking space. The self-service terminal is another innovative product by the bank which will help customers carry out all financial and non-financial transactions in a convenient and hassle free manner.”

Axis Bank has focussed on introducing innovative products and services and has always promoted the convenient and hassle free self-service environment through ATMs, Cash Deposit Machines (CDM) and Cheque Deposit Kiosks. The smart self-service terminal is another step by the bank towards offering a one stop solution to its customers for carrying out all their financial and non-financial transactions. The bank will convert its existing CDMs to smart self-service terminals in a phase wise manner.

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Shrenik Gandhi gets ranked among 50 Best Digital Marketing Professionals

CMO Council & World Marketing Congress awarded Shrenik Gandhi of White Rivers Digital and ranked him among “50 BEST DIGITAL MARKETING PROFESSIONALS” at the Mobile & Digital Marketing Summit 2014 which was held today at TAJ Lands End.

Shrenik Gandhi is a pure breed entrepreneur. Starting from an early age, Shrenik was actively involved in the social activities of Rotaract Movement for over 7 years, winning several awards for his work.

He took this experience forward and led a host of businesses, latest being 'White Rivers Digital', established in 2012, which within a short period itself managed to become one of the fastest growing digital marketing agencies in the country.

From Retail Giants Future Group to Bollywood singers like Hard Kaur to F&B industry leaders Irish House to Balaji Telefilms to Dr. Philip Kotler himself, his company has become the go to destination for anyone seeking ROI driven Digital Marketing Solutions.

Here is what Shrenik Gandhi has to say, “I consider this as a milestone & shall be glad to fulfil the expectations set post this. Digital Marketing exploration in the country has not even touched the tip of the iceberg yet. A huge potential market awaits to go digital. It’s a very rare market combination wherein there is huge demand of services, growing supply of resources & a passion to perform.

With the above three said, Digital Marketing is here to touch greater heights every passing day and I am proud to be a part of this revolution. See you online! ”

The awards were intensely researched. The shortlists were then reviewed by a Jury comprising of senior professionals fromblue chip organizations across the globe. The criteria adopted for the above mentioned honor is Industry Digital & Social Media leaders, mentors and master collaborators whose work has earned them exceptional repute.

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How to Retain Customers?

How to Retain Customers? 

In business, customer is considered as God, who never wait for anyone. While doing business, one should take correct approach to deal with customers. Maintaining customers is a great art, and by adopting it into business one and lead upto the top.

Customers are the final reviewer of products, when judge after using it. Always remember, customers look for quality in the product - so that they would use it for a long term. And when they are most happy about the product, they start refereeing it to others.

Approval of customers about the quality is the best certificate about the product, there is not alternative to it. Successful brands of late, are having millions of satisfied customers across the world. And once the product is worth winning hearts of customers, it would become a brand that is associated with a tag as 'customers approved'.

Feedback about the products from customers should be taken carefully by the companies and need to focus on all the aspects that customers liked and disliked. Many companies have been spending huge amount of money on market research inorder to find out the actual customers view point about their product, which would give them a good return in future.

Marketing a product is not a easy task, if the quality of products is good enough, then customers would make it a world class product. The success of marketing is too depending on the choice of the customers.

In the case of close competition with rival company or similar product in the market, customers do support the product having good quality. When we talk about good quality, in customers point of view, they would consider good quality in product with best deal or price for the same.

Success of product is solely depending on the customers and their choice. While it must be also considered that best competition price is the key to attract customers. Marketing is the way to sale the products, while branding is to establish a signature style for the same product.

Branding would give a style and uniqueness about the product - that customers do remember for ever. Customers have been always look for the best deals to get their favourite product, and companies those understand & implement this concept - would at the top gaining and retaining customers all the time.

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ShopClues.com unveils new logo & website user interface to strengthen foothold

ShopClues.com, India’s largest horizontal player in non standard categories, has unveiled a new logo to reflect its strong position in the market, as a preferred online shopping brand.

The ShopClues website and mobile app have also been revamped to offer a more visually-appealing interface and enhanced user experience (UI/UX), while accommodating the rapidly growing scale of business in terms of category expansion, merchant expansion and optimization.

The new logo continues to hold the two strongholds of the brand- comprehensiveness and trust, while bringing a contemporary, simpler and stronger vibe to the brand.

The improved UI/UX of the website and the mobile app makes it easier to navigate through the growing scale of the marketplace in terms of categories, merchandize, partner merchants and optimizations.

Gearing up for the mobile revolution, even the mobile version of the site, m.shopclues.com, has undergone a facelift in terms of design and functionality.

Radhika Aggarwal, Co-Founder of Shopclues.com, said, “We recently undertook end-to-end advertising and branding initiatives to further entrench ourselves as a brand of mass consumption.

The new logo ably demonstrates our commitment to be accessible across demographics and geographies.

It’s bolder, catchier and more vibrant thus increasing top-of-the-mind recall and spelling out our core value of being the preferred online partner for Indian shoppers and providing them with value and great selection.” The marketplace has more than 75000 merchants, 7500 national, regional and local brands, over 9 million SKUs across 3300 categories.

The leading marketplace nurtured the brand by first establishing a formidable presence in India before unveiling its market position. In a bid to firmly foster its value proposition, it has now launched its revamped logo and website/mobile app design to perpetuate its image as the most accessible online shopping partner for all Indians.

About ShopClues.com:

Founded in July 2011 in Silicon Valley, ShopClues.com is India's first and the largest managed marketplace that connects buyers and sellers online and offers a trusted and safe online shopping experience.

With our customer centric approach we provide the best online shopping experience to our customers - starting from the great selection, low price, ease of use, fast delivery, and ending with the best customer service you have ever experienced. ShopClues ships in over 12k cities across India and has thousands of online stores.

ShopClues is funded by leading institutional investors, is an Indian subsidiary of Clues Network Inc., a US Corporation and is based out of Gurgaon.

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ShopClues launches ‘Style My Catalog’ as a value-added service for merchant partners

ShopClues.com,  an ecommerce portal in India, has launched a new service for the benefit of its merchant partners called ‘Style My Catalog’.

As a part of this service, sellers can avail of professional styling assistance for showcasing their merchandise online in the best possible fashion and improve sales. ‘Style My Catalog’ is the first of a suite of value-added services that ShopClues is introducing for the merchants who sell through the platform.

Radhika Ghai Aggarwal, Co-Founder & CMO, ShopClues said, “ShopClues has over 70,000 registered merchants – the largest seller community for an ecommerce portal in India.

Nearly 65% of these are small and medium businesses, many of who don’t have the merchandising expertise or access to marketing tools. Our value-added services are meant to aid such merchants so that they can do better business on our platform.”

“After carefully understanding the shopping propensities of online customers, we have introduced the ‘Style My Catalog’ service to help merchants develop the best-looking catalog for their products. It encompasses a bouquet of professional styling services to create, enhance and enrich the catalog for online sales.

Our styling experts will pay attention to every small detail regarding the portrayal of merchandise online and will make necessary alterations to help attract more customers and get higher conversions,” she added.

The stylists will focus on aspects such as model shoots, photo shoots of the product, image editing, tech specs and catalog content writing. All the services have been developed after studying what it is that makes shoppers buy a product online. Attractive pictures, high quality shots, variety of angles and clear descriptions convince customers to make a purchase faster hence styling the catalog is an investment and not a cost for the sellers.

Well-designed catalogs get more clicks in the online space and improve the ranking in search results as well. Since the online shopper can’t touch or feel the product, the way the offerings appear in pictures and the aesthetic appeal of the catalog are the only factors that impact the buying decision. ShopClues has devised the ‘Style My Catalog’ service keeping these points in mind.

Merchants can avail of this service at prices as low as Rs. 25 that go up to Rs. 375 only.

About ShopClues.com:

Founded in July 2011 in Silicon Valley, ShopClues.com is India's first and largest managed marketplace that connects buyers and sellers online and offers a trusted and safe online shopping experience.

With our customer centric approach we provide the best online shopping experience to our customers - starting from the great selection, low price, ease of use, fast delivery, and ending with the best customer service you have ever experienced.

ShopClues ships in over 12k cities across India and has thousands of online stores.

ShopClues, ecommerce portal in India,  is funded by leading institutional investors, is an Indian subsidiary of Clues Network Inc., a US Corporation and is based out of Gurgaon.

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Economist Intelligence Unit Survey – More Retailers Using Analytics, but Barriers to Effective Use Remain

A new survey by The Economist Intelligence Unit finds that nearly all respondents’ businesses have seen a positive economic return from investment in data analysis for the strategy area. Also, the single biggest barrier to retailers making effective use of data is figuring out what is useful amidst the overload—a problem cited by half of the respondents. These are among some of the major findings of The Data Storm: Retail and the Big Data Revolution, a new report from the Economist Intelligence Unit, commissioned by Wipro Ltd. (NYSE:WIT), a leading global Information Technology, Consulting and Outsourcing company.

The report based on a survey of C suite executives from the retail sector in North America and Europe examines how retailers are reacting to, and how leaders are benefiting from, increasing volumes of data. It examines the role of data in customer experience, the benefits it is delivering in omni-channel commerce and corporate strategy and the regulatory challenges facing retailers, as they accrue greater and greater quantities of information.

Seventy-eight percent of all respondents’ businesses have seen a positive economic return from investment in data analysis for the strategy area. However, only 46 percent are confident that their firm’s analytical abilities are keeping up with data volumes. Tied for the second-biggest barrier to using large volumes of data is concern over whether doing so would really help improve decisions (32 percent). Nevertheless, respondents all say their firms are prioritizing data collection, but still only 36 percent of respondents believe that they have a well-defined policy for analysing the most valuable information.

“This research shows that while retailers realize the value of maximizing their use of big data and analytics, many are still unable to utilize the data they are collecting in full,” said Srini Pallia, Senior Vice President and Global Head, RCTG (Retail, Consumer Goods, Transportation and Government) Business Unit, Wipro. “To get the full value from the data they are collecting, retailers need to explore new avenues to apply data analytics throughout the organization that will improve decision making, efficiency and interaction with customers.”

Key findings of the report include:

Marketing is still the main focus: Marketing is the most common priority for data analysis spending by retailers in recent years: 46 percent of respondents put this spend amongst their top three areas of focus. Marketing also remains one of the core areas of big data spend in future, cited by 40 percent.

Using data to improve strategy is increasingly important: For the past two years, data analysis has been used more often in marketing than in strategy, which is on par with store operations. But in the next two years, strategy is set to take the lead, with 62 percent expecting to see relevant investment in data analysis to support strategy. Some 78 percent of all respondents’ businesses have seen a positive economic return from investment in data analysis for the strategy area, the highest figure for any function or process.

Data analysis is helping drive brand loyalty, but respondents think it can do more. Sixty-four percent of respondents report increased brand loyalty as a general gain from data analysis and 52 percent say big data has enabled them to expand their sales by offering the next logical item. Yet respondents remain uncertain that they reaping the full benefit of their data. Only 30 percent are confident that big data is delivering the sales increases that they had hoped, and most respondents (52 percent) simply are not sure.

Many retailers are still at the early stages of using big data: Only 46 percent of retail CXOs are confident that their firm’s analytical abilities are keeping up with data volumes. Meanwhile just 36 percent believe that they have a well-defined policy for analysing the most valuable information and 30 percent admit that they are not consistently obtaining value from it.

Data delivers in coordinating omni-channel commerce: Over half of respondents say that big data has brought gains in multi-channel sales (54 percent) and has made multi-channel customer tracking and management more profitable (52 percent). But 38 percent agree that managing differing pricing and margin strategies over varying channels is a major headache.

Legal restrictions on data usage are a major concern: Two-thirds of retail CXOs say that they have increased the amount of stored information on individual customers in the past year; 64 percent of them cite legal problems with data collection as a major barrier in its effective use. Data protection laws are tied for the second-biggest impediment to making effective use of use of large amounts of data in strategic planning and decision making in general, cited by 32 percent.


The Data Storm: Retail and the Big Data Revolution, is available free of charge at:
http://www.wipro.com/retail-big-data-revolution/

About Wipro Ltd.

Wipro Ltd. (NYSE:WIT) is a leading Information Technology, Consulting and Outsourcing company that delivers solutions to enable its clients do business better. Wipro delivers winning business outcomes through its deep industry experience and a 360 degree view of "Business through Technology" - helping clients create successful and adaptive businesses. A company recognized globally for its comprehensive portfolio of services, a practitioner's approach to delivering innovation, and an organization wide commitment to sustainability, Wipro has a workforce of 140,000 serving clients across 61 countries. For more information, please visit www.wipro.com.

About the Economist Intelligence Unit

The Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU) is the world's leading resource for economic and business research, forecasting and analysis. It provides accurate and impartial intelligence for companies, government agencies, financial institutions and academic organisations around the globe, inspiring business leaders to act with confidence since 1946. EIU products include its flagship Country Reports service, providing political and economic analysis for 195 countries, and a portfolio of subscription-based data and forecasting services. The company also undertakes bespoke research and analysis projects on individual markets and business sectors. More information is available at www.eiu.com or follow us on www.twitter.com/theeiu

The EIU is headquartered in London, UK, with offices in more than 40 cities and a network of some 650 country experts and analysts worldwide. It operates independently as the business-to-business arm of The Economist Group, the leading source of analysis on international business and world affairs.

Forward-looking and Cautionary Statements

Certain statements in this release concerning our future growth prospects are forward-looking statements, which involve a number of risks, and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from those in such forward-looking statements. The risks and uncertainties relating to these statements include, but are not limited to, risks and uncertainties regarding fluctuations in our earnings, revenue and profits, our ability to generate and manage growth, intense competition in IT services, our ability to maintain our cost advantage, wage increases in India, our ability to attract and retain highly skilled professionals, time and cost overruns on fixed-price, fixed-time frame contracts, client concentration, restrictions on immigration, our ability to manage our international operations, reduced demand for technology in our key focus areas, disruptions in telecommunication networks, our ability to successfully complete and integrate potential acquisitions, liability for damages on our service contracts, the success of the companies in which we make strategic investments, withdrawal of fiscal governmental incentives, political instability, war, legal restrictions on raising capital or acquiring companies outside India, unauthorized use of our intellectual property, and general economic conditions affecting our business and industry. Additional risks that could affect our future operating results are more fully described in our filings with the United States Securities and Exchange Commission. These filings are available at www.sec.gov. We may, from time to time, make additional written and oral forward-looking statements, including statements contained in the company’s filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission and our reports to shareholders. We do not undertake to update any forward-looking statement that may be made from time to time by us or on our behalf.

Media Contact Details: Vipin Nair, Wipro Limited, ,+91 (80) 39916260 , vipin.nair1@wipro.com , Subhashini Pattabhiraman, Wipro Limited, ,+91 (80) 39916558 , subhashini.pattabhiraman@wipro.com

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This Republic Day, make the tricolor a part of your home furnishing

Some people are silent patriots; others love to wear their nationalistic hearts up on their sleeves. If you belong to the latter category and love to splash saffron, white and green on your faces or wear dupattas colored in the tricolor to display your patriotism, here is a unique opportunity you would not like to miss.

This Republic Day, home utility maker Bonita is coming out with a splendid tricolored ironing board that can thrill you. The ironing board will not only give you a desired space in a corner of your room to iron your clothes, it will also give a wonderful appearance to your room.

With its board draped in saffron, white and green, the ironing board looks every bit of a utility belonging to the home of a hard core patriot. Occupying a permanent place in your room, the board will be a delight every time you look up.

Like every year, this January 26 again some people will the tricolor as part of their clothing, others will carry flags and hoist them on top of their houses; yet some would just love it to bring the tricolor to their homes to play a dual role of utility product and home décor. Get Bonita’s tricolored ironing board; you will love it.

About Bonita India

Bonita comes from the house of Casa Brands India Pvt. Ltd. Bonita means beautiful in Spanish. The brand was envisioned to help Indian consumers experience convenience and comfort in their household work. Apart from being attractive, the most important aspect of Bonita products is their unsurpassable quality. Bonita’s talented team takes utmost care to ensure that only the best quality products reach you. This attribute comes from their parent company which is preferred partner for all major American and European brands of these products. All products are manufactured under strict quality control guidelines by using excellent quality raw material and state-of-the-art machinery like German Automatic Powder Coating machines, Robotic Welding and other automated machinery. The products are available through selected dealer network and also available online at http://www.bonitaIndia.com/

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Rajesh Aggarwal, Secretary IT, Govt. of Maharashtra Top Global CIO

Secretary IT Rajesh Aggarwal

Mumbai: Government of Maharashtra has scaled new heights in e-Governance with Shri Rajesh Aggarwal, Secretary IT being recognized as one of the leading CIOs in the world after being selected by IDG's Computerworld as a 2014 Premier 100 IT Leader honoree. The Premier 100 spotlights technology leaders for their exceptional leadership and innovative approaches to solving complex business challenges with the use of technology. Considered as one of the most coveted technology awards, Shri Aggarwal is the only IT leader selected from India this year.

The Premier 100 awards program, now in its 15th year, shines a well-deserved spotlight on a group of talented, creative and hard-working men and women. These IT executives are driving technology innovation in business, education and government across the country and around the world. The selection of Shri Rajesh Aggarwal as one of the IT Leaders of 2014 is a recognition of the fascinating work undertaken in IT and e-Governance in the State in the last couple of years. The State Government has also won 100+ awards at various national and international forums for e-Governance which highlights the exemplary work done during this period. The State Government has excelled in implementation of UID program, Implementation of Govt. Cloud, Implementation of IPV6, Launch of Mobile Applications, Localization and Accessibility, Implementation of Paperless Office, e-Tendering, Implementation of Citizen services through CSCs etc. under the leadership of Shri Aggarwal, which has now been recognized at the global level. Speaking on the occasion, Shri Aggarwal said "This award is a recognition of the exemplary work done by the State Government in the last couple of years. We have worked on various unique initiatives, which have led to significant improvement in service delivery to citizens. This motivates us to continue this growth path and be a game changer". Further details regarding the award is available at http://finance.yahoo.com/news/computerworlds-2014-premier-100-awards-140000735.html .

Earlier, Shri Aggarwal was also selected for the prestigious Dataquest Editors Choice CIO Excellence Award. This award recognizes the work of leading CIOs in the country for bringing about significant changes in the manner in which government, citizens, and businesses interact with each other for effective delivery of services and information. The award will be conferred on him on 11th December 2013 at a function in Mumbai.

Source: Business Wire India

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First Free Flight-Road-Rail Educational Trip for Students

The first free flight-road-rail trip educational program conducted by UAE Exchange, India for St Thomas Girls High School, Perumanoor was a thrilling experience for the students. This was evident in the thanks letters, written after the trip, by the students to the company.

“The fourteen students for the program were selected based on their overall merit in academics and co-curricular activities. The students were accompanied by our three excellent teachers and an official of UAE Exchange,” said Sr. Leenus the Principal of the School.

The trip was conducted on Wednesday, December 04 from Kochi to Trivandrum by flight. After the visit to zoo and planetarium in Thiruvananthapuram, the group returned to Kochi by train. To motivate and make the students to study well and score good marks, this prize program was announced a year earlier in the school by Mr. V George Antony, Managing Director and Country Head of UAE Exchange.

“Students are precious for the nation's development. To make a bright future of the society it is clear that we should invest in our growing schools. So it is for the promotion and inspiration of talented students we have invested in this first free flight-road-rail trip program,” Mr. V George Antony commented.

UAE Exchange has been awarded by Public Relations Society of India and India Human Capital Award for its Corporate Social Responsibility initiatives.

Source:Business Wire India 

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Second Mobile Marketing Association Forum in India Goes Beyond Basics to Deconstructing Mobile for Brands

New Delhi: Speakers to include brands, digital and advertising solution providers from Coca Cola, GroupM, HUL, United Breweries, Marico, Puma, Starcom MediaVest Group India, AdMarvel , Mobilewalla, MakeMyTrip.com and Vserv.mobi among others

The Mobile Marketing Association (MMA) announced the second iteration of the Mobile Marketing Association Forum India(MMAF India), which will bring together senior marketing executives from brands, mobile and digital agencies, operators, technology enablers and other stakeholders of the mobile marketing industry. The MMA Forum, an annual event, will run from September 4th - 5th 2013 at the Leela Kempinski, Gurgaon. This year's event themed 'Deconstructing Mobile' will focus on how marketers can harness the power of mobile to disrupt traditional approaches to marketing.

exchange4media is the India partner for MMA. They are India's leading special interest publishing company and leaders in the media, advertising & marketing space. They host multiple event platforms to bring together leading industry players to share their learning, experiences and insights to move forward in the industry. Exchange4media co-hosts MMAF India, which is the Indian edition of the MMA's renowned Forums held around the world, bringing together the best and brightest in the mobile marketing and advertising industry including Coca Cola, GroupM, HUL, United Breweries, Starcom MediaVest Group India, AdMarvel , Mobilewalla, Marico, makemytrip.com, Puma India, Vserv.mobi and many others. The event will draw to a close with the awards ceremony - THE SMARTIEST INDIA Awards recognizing the most innovative work in the mobile marketing field.

According to the first mobile ad spend report for India, released last year by the MMA in partnership with exchange4media, the estimated size of the spend was Rs 180 crore (US$33 million) in 2012, expected to increase by 40 per cent by the end of 2013. According to the report, industry leaders, including brands and agencies, indicated that mobile advertising was 10 per cent of the overall digital advertising spends in India. The MMA believes that there are more than 12 crore (120 million) mobile internet users in India. Many advertisers are still to explore mobile as a channel, with overall digital spends in India at five to seven per cent of the overall advertising pie in India, pegged at Rs 27,000 crore to Rs 28,000 crore (US$5 billion to US$5.1 billion), according to industry estimates.

Over the past few years the MMA Forum has established itself as the premier event for marketers in Asia who want to fully embrace, utilize and execute mobile marketing as an effective medium for consumer engagement. The delegates expected at the Forum will have the opportunity to understand best practices in mobile marketing, connect and learn from experts and peers in the industry, and hear first-hand future opportunities for marketing using the mobile media channel.

The forum will include a great mix of seasoned speakers like:

-- Tomi T Ahonen, Author, Consultant and Motivational Speaker

-- Wasim Basir, Director - Integrated Marketing Communications; Coca-Cola India

-- CVL Srinivas, Chief Executive Officer, GroupM

-- Rajiv Mehta, Managing Director, PUMA India

-- Anindya Datta, Chief Executive Officer and Chairman; Mobilewalla

-- Atit Mehta, Senior Media Services Manager; Hindustan Unilever Limited

-- Samar Singh Sheikhawat, Senior Vice President Marketing; United Breweries Limited

-- Mallika Shankarnarayan, Human Experience Strategy Director P&G Asia & SMG India; Starcom MediaVest Group India

-- Manoj Malhotra, CEO; AdMarvel, an Opera Mediaworks company

-- Manish Kalra, Marketing Head; MakeMyTrip

-- Aditya Save, Head, Digital Marketing and Media; Marico

-- Dippak Khurana, Co-Founder and Chief Executive Officer, Vserv.mobi

-- Phalgun Raju, Regional Director and General Manager; InMobi

-- Raghu Venkatraman, Head of Big Data and Digital; Nielsen India

-- Annurag Batra, Chairman and Editor-in-Chief, exchange4media

-- Rohit Dadwal, Managing Director, Mobile Marketing Association Asia Pacific Limited

For more information about the MMA Forum India 2013, including the updated agenda and speaker bios, please visit mmaglobal.com/events/forums/india2013/agenda.

About the Mobile Marketing Association (MMA)

The Mobile Marketing Association (MMA) is the premier global non-profit trade association representing all players in the mobile marketing value chain. With more than 700 member companies, the MMA is an action-oriented organization with global focus, regional actions and local relevance. The MMA's primary focus is to establish mobile as an indispensable part of the marketing mix. The MMA works to promote, educate, measure, guide and protect the mobile marketing industry worldwide. The MMA's global headquarters are located in the United States and it has regional chapters including North America (NA), Europe, Middle East and Africa (EMEA), Latin America (LATAM) and Asia Pacific (APAC) branches.

For more information, please visit  mmaglobal.com.
Source: (Business Wire India)

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Tip of the day: Marketing

Continuously market yourself, your ideas and your organization – unknown

Marketing is the core element in a process to each target customers. And you business solely depend on the marketing strategy.Continuous marketing efforts and consistence in adopting new marketing strategies will help you to make your business successful.Without the best marketing strategies, business can’t stand firm in the race of throat cut competition.

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Customers Buy with Heart or Head?

Right from the corporate to the small business establishments, there is competition for one thing customer’s money. But there are few who succeed and excel in this competition, know who? Those who know the importance of touching customer’s hearts and emotions. It is a bare truth we all experience in our life.

We go to a particular shop or to a particular person to buy something because of the relationship we have with that person. And if we get everything that we need from that particular persons store we prefer going there. Why? Because that particular person was successful in touching our heart and emotions. Those people who know this and implement this become very successful in business.

“The essential difference between emotion and reason is that, emotions lead to action while reason leads to conclusions”. - Donald Calne

This one quote says it all. As humans we prefer going to places and person who fill us with good feelings and emotions. If as a business person, your aim is to get more clients and generate repeat business it is very important to keep this fact in mind. We prefer going to places and people where we are made to feel special, good and important. And customers are humans; the day you understand and implement it you need no worries about your business.

Many people make the mistake of thinking that, it is not important to have a good relationship with customers or clients. Because they think that people prefer those goods or services that are more beneficial and economical and in this emotions and relationships play no role. But it is a wrong notion; customers and clients become loyal when they have a relationship with you, when you become a part of their life by constant good relationship over time.

The day you are successful in establishing such relations with clients and touching their hearts. No matter what your competition may do and market may change, you have no worries. Point to think.

Photo Credit - AIGA

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Fundamentals of .Com Business

Ever since, internet has come into existence, there are many sites popping up, with the intention of developing business, or to make .com itself a business. The speed at which the sites are popping up every day, at the double speed, half of them are crashing down. There are few who are doing good very good in the .com business, withstood the test of the time, and are making profits. Ever wondered what is the reason?

Those who have understood the fundamentals, of the business and have stick to them are doing well, in the .com business as well as outside. The fundamental point is that internet is a tool which you can use to increase your sales, apart from existing business. Many forget this point and depend on the internet solely to generate business, this is where most of us for the fundamentals.

Business is done with people, and by building relationship with people, once you have established your ground market, and are thinking for expansion or to increase sales then you can go for, online sales. Instead of doing this, if you are solely dependent on the internet to generate business, beware my friend you are wasting your time. Internet is a great tool which you can use for the benefit of the business, and to increase your contacts, reach you customers and provide services to them in a better way.

If used like this it is a great tool that will help you make profits. If you have an idea that will help people in any way, make their life easy and better by the services or goods you provide, you can go for .com business. Instead of doing this if you get carried away by the income you can generate through .com business and start something just with the intention of making money, and with no other thought, you are sure to end up soon.

Business, whether traditional or .com, is always built on need of the consumer and the relationship we have with the consumer. These are the fundamentals on which any successful business runs. If we remember this always, and focus on developing relationship with clients and meeting their needs, we can be sure of success.

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Advertising is a Waste of Resources

Definitely not, now a day’s hardly can anyone imagine taking or launching a new product into the market without advertising. Advertising is a medium that bridges the gap between the consumer and the company’s product. It is because of advertising that people come to know about a particular product, its features uses, etc. Hardly does any person has a time to esquire about a new product, its features etc, nor would any one bother to do so. Even in case of purchasing the products for which they pay very huge amounts, take for example, Gold, Electronics, and Appliances, people depend on ads.

Now a days each and every company is struggling hard to make its own mark in the market, and for that they are constantly concentrating on improving and inventing new kinds of products. So, every day there are various kinds of qualitative and quantitative products launched in the market. If you are the one among those who believe that if the quality of the product is good, and you have been there in the market since how long. You are wrong to some extent.

Every day people watch and come across so many ads through seeing hearing etc. This definitely has an effect on them. People who spend crores on ads, hire professionals and stars or sports person, are not fools when they are doing so. They know that, what is there repeatedly in the view of the consumer, is there in his mind also, and influences his purchasing or choosing, decision while purchasing a particular product. Even if you are there in the market for a long time and are well established, you still need to advertise. Because there are new kinds of more qualitative and quantitative products flooding the market every day.

So, definitely advertising is not a waste of resources but the need of the hour.

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Shopping Mall: Think and Spend Wisely

By Jyoti Parida

In this fast paced life how everything is getting modernized and people are having very less time to spend with the family. So by keeping these criteria in mind these big malls have been created. So it is one stop shop. Inside these malls one can get clothing, fooding & entertainment.

How these shopping malls are trying to attract people. Basically on the weekends its traffic is being very jam. I mean the meaning of MALL is Mai Aapko Loot Loonga. And how this is being done I am going to explain it step by step.

When you enter into a multi-storied shopping mall from ground floor to the last floor it is full of numerous retail stores, food courts, multiplexes; entertainment zones. They give so many offers to attract people and also discounts on clothes.

But people never think about the profit or loss they are bearing from these shopping malls. They simply go by listening the offers. I think that the offers they are giving that are not on the fresh items but on the remaining & old stocks.

Then if we really want to buy some old stuff then we can get it from outlets and in very less price from that of the malls. The same is for the food products also. When we buy biscuits, chocolates, soaps, pulses or any other items then you may see the offers are not on all items.

If they are really interested in giving discounts then why not in all items why only on selected products. So, from this we should learn that how for their profit they are attracting us. Now after shopping you may go for some entertainment by going to multiplex or you may choose the games zone for your children.

In the multiplex the movie tickets always varies. In the games zone the rides charges are very high. And the games that maximum children playing are all electronic games. There are no games that they can play physically, that they usually play in the public parks.

If a child will play for hours in front of the computer then he is only concentrating on that game other than that he is doing nothing. But when children play in the park they are not sitting, but they are running here and there and learning so many physically games and simultaneously they are doing exercise, which is very necessary for them in now a days.

So no parent is having interest to think that whether the games their children are playing is good or bad for their health. They are only maintaining the fashion that everybody is following. Now- a- days, it has only become a fashion to visit the malls do shopping, eating in the food courts, children playing in the games zone or watch movies and etc.

But can you think that a middle class family can afford these malls offers? I don’t think because of the high charges. From this we must be clear that these offers are for the high-class people not for the middle class people for whom money really matters.

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