Career hospitality professional to oversee quality across all product verticals - OYO Rooms, Townhouse and OYO Home

Garima Nagpal, a seasoned hospitality professional with over four decades of experience has joined OYO, India’s largest hospitality company. In her new role as Head of Quality, Garima will be responsible for network-wide upgradation of OYO hotels to ensure highest levels of quality, including hygiene and ambience. The appointment is in line with OYO’s commitment to solve supply-demand imbalance and offer beautiful and quality living spaces.

Of her extensive hospitality career, Garima has spent nearly 30 years as the Head of Housekeeping across several hotel chains. She has worked with marquee brands including The Oberoi, Taj, Hyatt, Le Meridien and India Habitat Center. A pre-opening expert associated with opening some of the finest hotels across India, Garima’s skill-set complements OYO’s expansion plans for both its categories - OYO Rooms and Townhouse.

Garima joins OYO from The Imperial Hotel where she was the Executive Housekeeper for 9 years. Prior to that, she was at Aman hotel and The Shangri-La. In 2001, she was hand-picked by the Taj Mahal, New Delhi to help improve the hotel's guest experience scores. She has worked at multiple Oberoi properties including Oberoi Palace in Srinagar, Oberoi Cecil in Shimla, The Oberoi Chandigarh, The Oberoi Delhi, and finally in The Oberoi Towers, Mumbai.

Speaking about the appointment, Ritesh Agarwal - Founder & CEO, OYO, said “OYO was conceptualised to solve the lack of affordable, good-quality accommodation for travellers. In the last four years, our teams have worked incredibly hard to build processes from scratch and deliver a standardised quality of rooms and service. I am very happy to welcome Garima to the OYO family. Her experience and expertise in this domain will be invaluable as we expand further and add new forms of real-estate to our network. Her team will ensure a predictable high-quality experience, every time a guest checks into an OYO.”

Sharing her thoughts on the move, Garima said, “OYO has re-defined Indian hospitality industry through its innovative business model and processes. For someone who has spent their life in this industry, it is invigorating to be associated with this revolutionary brand and contribute to further growth and development of the hospitality ecosystem. I look forward to working with the team and cross-seeding core hospitality learnings in a tech-driven business.”

The summit facilitated an enriching experience on the ‘mobile first’ approach and mobile opportunity for brands

Modern Marketing Summit 2017 has been the quintessential thought leadership forum for brands, agencies and mobile leaders to network and gain insights on all things mobile marketing. Part of the global network of summits in the US, UK, Europe, NZ, Australia and Singapore, MMS India provided a powerful introduction to the region with 200+ of India’s top Brands, Agencies, Publishers and Mobile Innovators in attendance, the 2017 edition showcased the best in class mobile work from different perspectives. The theme of the 2017 summit was MOBILE AT THE CENTER OF YOUR BRAND AND CUSTOMER EXPERIENCE - ADOPTING THE ‘MOBILE FIRST’ APPROACH. The 2017 edition successfully showcased the best in class mobile work from unconventional perspectives.

MMS New Delhi was an eventful day bringing together the best minds in the industry who shared their insights and expertise on how they’re making mobile platform a priority. The agenda allowed in-depth discussion into topics that included Engaging your Consumer through Emerging Technologies such as AR and VR, Mobile, Mobility & Markets, 10 inventions to lookout for in the next 12 months, Winning the Micro Mobile Moments- how is data helping brands to crack the code, the Right Measure for Video on mobile, The Year Of The Chatbot: how AI and Chatbots are making brand marketing smarter.

Speaking at the MMS 2nd Edition, Jaswant Singh, MD, India, Comexposium said “The clear and dominant focus of marketers and brands is moving towards capitalising engagement through mobile platform. Mobile First approach is moving from just targeting to higher levels of engagement through innovative technologies like VR & AR. MMS 2017 was aimed to capture the true essence of this engagement and a journey of consumers and brands interacting with each other at various levels and how they both mutually benefit each other “

Key Highlights/Quotes from MMS 2017

· Sujit Ganguli, Sr. General Manager & Head - Brand and Communications Group, ICICI Bank- Social media today is inevitably a dynamic platform and players like us need to be 300% sure while mapping customer behavior and customizing deals for them. ICICI works broadly on three factors i.e. data usage, customer behavior on social media platforms, transactions which customers make on the ecommerce sites. Today, mobile is not only a gadget but the consumer behavior and it is really interesting how brands are harnessing this platform.

· Prasanjeet Dutta Baruah, Business Head – Auto, Telecom & New Business, Facebook India- Initially it was one to many- then one to one – and now it is one to community kind of transactions. The idea is to use info for relevant communication and how to make it micro momentish. E-commerce clients have a program for core customers and look alike audiences- it generates prospective buyers and we have seen 50% in CPRs and cost of acquisition went down.

· Maneesha Khanna, Director – Global Media & Content COE, PepsiCo- Mobiles today attract much more eyeballs than TVs for viewing videos. 60% of the video today is viewed on mobiles and as a brand; we can’t afford to ignore this fact.

· Ashish Tiwari, Head, Digital Marketing and PR, Hero Cycles Ltd- Today’s business model is mobile first and mobile only world i.e. screen, location, context and intention aware. Mobile centricity is required for search, advertisement, content engagement, sales and support. Today, every user including digital employees, customers think, act and expect differently. They want every business to feel, serve and work just like their favorite app.

· Sujatha V Kumar, Director - Category Marketing & Corporate Brand, The Coca-Cola Company- To engage more consumers a brand needs to create more content. Small screen today gives users a freedom to watch content as per their personal choice. Content viewing has evolved from what was broadcasted on television earlier. We as a brand, now are increasingly utilizing the mobile platforms to build engaging content and increase reach.

· Bhaskar Ramesh, Head of YouTube Sales & Brand Advertising- The role of video is different for brands to understand the customers’ journey. More than the established players, it is the small players who have to customize their video content to engage more with their customers. Video from daily soaps to On-Demand Web-Video shows assisted by dramatic growth in 4G & cheaper data, the Shift on Mobile has been substantially visible to engage with customers across regions.

With innovative Data owners such as Zeotap, ComScore and 100+ brands like Jubilant FoodWorks, Tata, GSK, PepsiCo India, The Coca-Cola Company, the summit facilitated a holistic view across industries on mobile. The Street Food Fiesta and Mobexx Awards entertained the attendees delightfully at the conclusion. The key note sessions at the MMS 2nd Edition included Winning The Micro Mobile Moments - How Is Data Helping Brands To Crack The Code, Engaging Your Consumer Through Ar And Vr – How Brands Are Innovating Using These Emerging Technologies, Mobile Ad Fraud – Is Enough Being Done To Curb This Menace, Data In The Digital Advertising Era And How Brands Can Benefit From It and Mobile, Mobility & Markets.

Some of the biggest names from the industry including Sunder Madakshira, Head Of Marketing, Adobe, Ramesh Bhaskar, Head Of YouTube Sales & Brand Advertising, Google India, Kedar Gavane, Vice President, India, ComScore, Tushar Vyas, Chief Strategy Officer – GroupM, Pankaj Munjal, Managing Director, Hero Motors Company, Abhinav Kumar, Country Development – Trivago, Maneesha Khanna, Director- Global Media & Content COE – PepsiCo India, and Subroto Gupta, SVP & Head of Innovation & Business Excellence - Jubilant FoodWorks Limited. Other eminent speakers included Tejinder Singh, COO - Arvind Internet , Tomas Hrdlicka, Chief Marketing Office - HomeCredit, Sauvik Banerjjee, CTO TataCLiQ, VP-Digital Initiatives- Tata industries & Advisor to Group Companies, Anita Nayyar, CEO India-SouthAsia – Havas Media Group were of part of the 2017 edition.

The consultancy will provide overall strategic direction to Samco’s communication

Samco Securities, India's leading online discount broker, has signed Pitchfork Partners Strategic Consulting, a new-age strategic advisor, to provide them with direction on their communication campaigns to support their ambitious growth plans.

SAMCO Securities has maintained its position as one of India's fastest growing companies in the Discount Broking Industry. It is one of the most sought-after brands by customers who actively trade or invest in Indian capital markets and are looking for solutions to complex problems like high brokerage and unproductive capital application. The company’s retail broking solutions at a flat fee model (Rs. 20 per transaction) on India’s leading exchanges (NSE, BSE, MSEI, MCX and NCDEX)across stocks, futures, options, currencies and commodities have disrupted the broking industry.

Jimeet Modi, CEO, SAMCO Securities, said: “We are delighted to have Pitchfork Partners on board as our strategic communications partner. We are positive that their expertise will play a pivotal role in the success of our communication agenda. We have aggressive growth plans and we need a partner who can work as our extended team to create communications and public relations strategies that defy norms. We look forward to a long-lasting affiliation.”

Sunil Gautam, co-founder, Pitchfork Partners Strategic Consulting, said: “We are excited about our association with Samco Securities. We are impressed with the company’s growth; they have done phenomenally well in a short span of time. It shares a unique proposition with its differentiated offering of simplifying the intimidating experience of trading and investing in stock markets for Indians at an affordable cost. We are looking forward to merging our wealth of experience and expertise with the business goals of our new partner to create a strategic and insight-driven communication that resonates with the brand’s target audience.”

Socialyse, Havas Group’s social media solution, has announced that Philippe Torloting will be joining the agency as Chief Operating Officer.

His responsibilities will include developing new offers (influencer marketing, listening, performance content, etc.), improving Socialyse’s platform and products, leading the organization of the global trading team, connecting and amplifying the agency’s international network, as well as strengthening and driving the development of Socialyse’s global business.

Philippe joins Socialyse after 11 years of experience at Publicis Groupe, where he was Deputy General Manager of Blue449, developing new business with the group’s experts. Prior to Blue499, Philippe was Digital Strategist for Moxie, where he was responsible for the agency’s marketing strategies and key clients’ business developments. During his time at Moxie, he also held the position of Innovation Leader which led him to manage the connection with the investment funds (such as VivaKi Ventures and Iris Capital). In 2007, Philippe created for Permormics Publicis Groupe’s first Social Media department and, in 2012, the “Social Tools” benchmark tool for Publicis Groupe. At the start of his career, Philippe worked at DigitasLBi, Publicis Groupe’s global marketing and technology entity, where he was Social Media Consultant and Head of Digital Accounts. During his time at Publicis, he managed key accounts such as LVMH, Richemont, Coke, Toyota, Warner, BPCE, Nissan and Ferrero; he was also involved as a mentor in several training programs.

Passionate about everything digital, Philippe brings a wealth of social media experience to the agency. In his spare time, he enjoys developing and managing websites. He also enjoys writing and is the author of a book about Google.

Olivier Gonzalez, Global Head of Socialyse stated: “I am proud to welcome Philippe to our global team. His experience and past success will ensure stronger collaboration, renewed innovation and added value for our clients across our global network.”

Philippe Torloting added: “In this day and age, a strong social presence is key for brands to stay relevant to their consumers. New social media developments such as influencer marketing and performance content help brands stay on top of their game and build genuine and lasting bonds with consumers. I am thrilled to help develop new offers to improve Socialyse’s holistic suite of products across our global network to unlock brands’ full social potential.

Today, we're announcing steps to dramatically increase transparency for all ads on Twitter, including political ads and issue-based ads. We will also be improving controls for our customers and adopting stricter advertising policies.

All Ads: Advertising Transparency Center

In the coming weeks, we will launch an industry-leading transparency center that will offer everyone visibility into who is advertising on Twitter, details behind those ads, and tools to share your feedback with us.

Specifically, the Transparency Center will show:

All ads that are currently running on Twitter, including Promoted-Only ads

How long ads have been running

Ad creative associated with those campaigns

Ads targeted to you, as well as personalized information on which ads you are eligible to receive based on targeting

People can also report inappropriate ads or give negative feedback (i.e. “I don’t like this ad”) for every ad running on Twitter, whether the ad targets you or not. This feedback will help us more quickly remove inappropriate ads from Twitter, and show you more relevant ads in your timeline.

Political (Electioneering) Ads

Electioneering ads are those that refer to a clearly identified candidate (or party associated with that candidate) for any elected office.* To make it clear when you are seeing or engaging with an electioneering ad, we will now require that electioneering advertisers identify their campaigns as such. We will also change the look and feel of these ads and include a visual political ad indicator.

In the Transparency Center, there will be a special section for electioneering ads that will include:

All ads that are currently running or that have run on Twitter, including Promoted-Only ads

Disclosure on total campaign ad spend by advertiser

Transparency about the identity of the organization funding the campaign

Targeting demographics, such as age, gender and geography

Historical data about all electioneering ad spending by advertiser

We are also updating our policies for electioneering advertisers to:

Include stricter requirements on who can serve these ads and limit targeting options

Require electioneering advertisers to self-identify as such

Introduce stronger penalties for advertisers who violate policies

Regarding Issue-Based Ads

We are committed to stricter policies and transparency around issue-based ads. There is currently no clear industry definition for issue-based ads but we will work with our peer companies, other industry leaders, policy makers, and ad partners to clearly define them quickly and integrate them into the new approach mentioned above.

The Way Forward

We will make these updates first in the U.S., and then roll them out globally. We will share our progress here with all of you along the way.

Last week, Senators Mark Warner (D-VA), Amy Klobuchar (D-MN) and John McCain (R-AZ) and Representatives Derek Kilmer (D-WA), and Mike Coffman (R-CO) introduced the Honest Ads Act legislation. We thank these members and others for their foresight in drawing attention to these issues as well as Chairman Hurd (R-TX) for holding a public hearing today on political advertising laws and regulations to facilitate a thoughtful discussion on disclosure policy. We look forward to engaging with Members of Congress and other key stakeholders on these issues as the legislative process continues.

*“Electioneering Advertisements” Definition

Twitter is basing our definition of “electioneering” ads on the FEC’s existing definition: this means ads that refer to a clearly identified candidate (or party associated with that candidate) for any elected office, are targeted to the relevant electorate for that federal candidate and are publicly distributed within 30 days of a primary election or 60 days of a general election. This policy will also apply to ads on our platform that run at any time and expressly advocate for a clearly identified political candidate.

Written by Bruce Falck,GM Revenue Product and Engineering, Twitter