Wildcraft Collaborates with IBM to Drive Higher Customer Advocacy

IBM has announced that Wildcraft India Pvt. Ltd, India’s foremost company in the manufacturing and distribution of head-to-toe products for trek-to-travel solutions, has selected IBM to implement a Customer Relationship Management (CRM) as-a-service-platform to drive customer advocacy and enhance customer experience.

The solution developed by IBM Services is powered by Artificial Intelligence (AI) & Machine Learning (ML) capabilities and analyses customer interactions with Wildcraft India Pvt. Ltd at multiple touch-points. This 360-degree view of every shopper will help the company provide its customers a personalized shopping experience across all its channels.

The CRM-as-a-service solution ties into ‘The Circle’, Wildcraft’s customer engagement program which provides consumers with a single window to get all relevant information about the brands, products and services of Wildcraft. This initiative is part of the company’s growth plan to drive higher customer engagement by understanding their preferences.

As part of this new CRM solution, Wildcraft is introducing a virtual chatbot on their website and via WhatsApp. This virtual chatbot will be available in English and eight Indian regional languages (Hindi, Marathi, Bengali, Kannada, Oriya, Telugu, Tamil and Malayalam). The virtual chatbot will handle a high volume of inquiries, from general FAQ’s to questions about multiple topics including products, policies and procedures and even customer complaints.

“At Wildcraft, we have always believed in harnessing the power of the unknown. In the last couple of months, we have been able to reach out to some of the remotest areas in the country to enable everyone to be safe and be ready. A lot of these consumers are first time users of Wildcraft and it was necessary to create a mechanism to reach out to them effectively. Partnering with IBM allows us a robust technology driven platform to understand our consumers and their wants. This will help us make our products better and customise them according to the larger needs,” said Gaurav Dublish & Siddharth Sood, Co-Founders, Wildcraft India Pvt. Ltd.

“We are proud to partner with Wildcraft India Pvt. Ltd to drive customer advocacy for higher brand affinity. IBM’s CRM-as-a-service platform has equipped Wildcraft with a 360-degree view to map their customers’ journey - from prospect, to customer, to brand advocate. Every customer will be nurtured at each stage to harness the real power of CRM, in today’s challenging times of the COVID-19 pandemic,” says Kamal Singhani, Managing Partner, Global Business Services, IBM India/South Asia.

The virtual chatbot will authenticate users and facilitate user-specific information and transactions. In addition to understanding the intent of customer conversation through natural language processing (NLP), it will analyse the sentiment of customer responses and transfer the conversation to a live agent, if need be.

FAITH Associations Want the Negative American Travel Advisory to India, be Addressed

 * Advisory of 4 to India is the most severe 

* A do not travel will adversely affect Indian tourism’s restart options 

* The USA is the strategically most critical travel market for India

* India is bunched with the likes of Syria, Iran, Pakistan, Iraq, Yemen 

Federation of Associations in Indian Tourism & Hospitality, the policy federation of all the national associations representing the complete tourism, travel and hospitality industry of India (ADTOI, ATOAI, FHRAI, HAI, IATO, ICPB, IHHA, ITTA, TAAI, TAFI) & cause partner AIRDA has urgently requested the negative travel advisory from the USA to India to be addressed. 

The United States of America currently has a travel advisory, rated level 4 for India (as on 23rd Aug 2020). On a scale of 1-4 this is the highest level of risk rating, carrying with it the advice of ‘do not travel’. As stated, reasons for the same, apart from restrictive COVID 19 protocols, the rating highlights terrorism, crimes against women and insurgency among others as concerns. 

FAITH Associations have highlighted that the USA is the most important long haul source market for India for most segments of travel. Over the past 10 years, it would have probably brought in between 10- 15 million tourists who could have been instrumental in creating an estimated 40 million foreign tourist visits across Indian states. The travelers from the USA also have one of the highest average stays in India of 29+ days as against the average of 22 + days for all source markets. This is a very strategic source of economic and job multiplier for India. 

Some of the few countries that were reflecting in this category as on 23rd Aug include Syria, Iran, Pakistan, Iraq, Yemen etc. This is perceptually extremely poor for India.

As India has begun the process of opening up its air corridors, such an advisory for India is detrimental to kickstarting all leisure, business & mice tourists from the USA. Additionally, travel advisory as such from the United States of America tends to send a wrong signal for the rest of the developed countries as they start opening up their international air travel.

This advisory appears to have been last updated on 6th August 2020.  FAITH Associations have requested the tourism minister to urgently take it up with Minister of External Affairs, for him to take up with his American counterpart for an immediate revision.

The favourable revision of the travel advisory would be a big boost in beginning the process of creating a positive sentiment for travel, which will slowly put in motion revival for the inbound tourism industry

About FAITH: FAITH, Federation of Associations in Indian Tourism & Hospitality, is the National Federation of the 10 National Tourism, Travel and Hospitality organisations of India. These associations are ADTOI, ATOAI, FHRAI, HAI, IATO, ICPB, IHHA, ITTA, TAAI & TAFI

FAITH, on behalf of the whole tourism industry engages in key policy and strategy ideation with Central and State Governments of India for growth of the Indian tourism industry.

FAITH has worked with the governments on tourism components of various national strategic policies. These include e-visa, GST strategy , Monuments PPP policy, NITI Aayog vision document, Foreign Trade Policy 2015-20 ( SEIS), of economic surveys, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017& 2018, Udaan policy, Union Budget discussions with Finance Minister for budgets for 2015, 2016, 2017& 2018, cruise tourism policy, I respect women badges, tourism negotiations for trade blocs of SAARC, RCEP , Indo-US , Indo-Morocco , State Tourism policies for Rajasthan, Maharashtra, Karnataka, Delhi, J&K & Punjab, brainstorming sessions with aviation, railways, commerce, finance, BIs , road and highways, waterways among other national initiatives.

Five Sanitization Products for Hospitality and Aviation Industry

In a bid to revive traveler reliance in the tourism and hospitality industry which is badly struck by coronavirus outbreak, cleaning standards have been greatly enhanced for every facet of the hotels, resorts, and flights.

The quality, hygiene, and safety are one of the most critical success factors in tourism. Following weeks of ceased operations that permitted time for extensive planning the hotel, tourism, and hospitality industry along with the aviation sector have elevated safety and sanitization protocols.

As we have already passed the first phase of Unlock-1, contactless procedures and safe removing measures are turning into the new typical basics because of the COVID-19 pandemic. Safety and sanitation protocols are being applied in maintenance and operational areas, with the use of upgraded disinfecting products and increased frequency.

Here are 5 sanitization products essential for safe tourism:

The UVD Robot

The UVD Robots stands for UV Disinfection Robots The UVD Robot is used as part of the regular cleaning cycle, and aims at preventing and reducing the spread of infectious diseases, viral, bacteria, and other types of harmful organic microorganisms in the environment by breaking down their DNA-structure. The robot is safe, reliable, and eliminates human error. Furthermore, it is user friendly and is designed to be operated by every-day cleaning staff. UVD Robots' inventive arrangement, which joins profound microbiological know-how, self-ruling robot innovation, and bright light to make the world's best UV-C based sanitization arrangement, has been demonstrated to kill pathogens like coronavirus and microscopic organisms.

Milagrow imap9

Milagrow Humantech has deployed imap9, a floor disinfecting robot that can navigate and sanitize the floors without any human intervention at various places, including hotels, airports, museums, hospitals, offices, etc. The robot moves around autonomously without falling, avoiding obstruction while planning its own path, guided by LIDAR and advanced SLAM technology. Milagrow’s patented Real Time Terrain Recognition Technology (RT2RT) scans at 3600, 6 times per second to make a floor map in real-time with an accuracy of upto 8mm over a 16m distance. This enables the iMap 9 to perform successfully in the first attempt, whereas other robots can take twice or thrice the time. Additionally, the robot can do zoning, virtual blocking of avoidable areas, and sequential cleaning of zones based on specific needs.

Zesta

Launched for the first time in India by Zestaindia.com, Wall Mounted Automatic Thermometer is exactly the product you need for safe tourism in hotels and airports. Gone are the times when you see a person standing with a handheld thermometer to check the temperatures. With Zesta’s Wall Mounted Automatic Thermometer, you can just install it at the entrances of hospitals, hotels, airports and other public areas and let everyone scan themselves with zero physical contact. This thermometer is easy to install anywhere and comes with color code alarm, fast and accurate detection. Priced at 10,999, it is available at all leading online platforms like Flipkart and Amazon.

Plasma Air Purifiers

Plasma air purifiers are equipped with very small filters that have the capability to catch small particles that other types of filters easily miss. This means that Plasma Air Purifier is able to reduce/eliminate the amount of not only bacteria and viruses but other harmful particles, such as dust, smoke, and pollen.

While respiratory droplets are considered the primary transmission route, experts strongly suspect some form of aerosol transmission may be occurring. Plasma Air’s HVAC-mounted ionizers use proactive air purification technologies to deactivate airborne viruses safely. The air purifiers are available on their official website Plasma Air.

PCE Instrument Thermal Scanner

PCE-TC 34 is a thermal imaging camera used for visual inspection and non-contact infrared (IR) temperature measurement. It is ideal for industrial use in electrical, mechanical, and building installations (such as in the auditing of machines, engines, or heating, ventilation, and air conditioning (HVAC) systems).

This can be used to monitor the temperatures of people entering a particular public place and record all the data.

This is a high-definition, high-resolution thermal imager that captures and saves 640 x 480 pixel IR resolution images to the included SD card memory at a refresh rate of 50.

Godrej Protekt, Indian Railways Parner for Hygiene-Based Safe Rail Travel Program by Introducing Personal & Home Hygiene Range

Travel Safe

* With new products, Godrej Protekt forays in segments like soaps, disinfectant sprays, face masks, fruit & veggie disinfectant and dish washing liquid

* Partnership with Mumbai division of Central Railway for a social initiative to promote safe rail travel and hygiene

To empower people to live fearlessly in the ‘new normal’, Godrej Protekt, India’s trusted hygiene brand from Godrej Consumer Products Limited (GCPL), introduces a complete personal and home hygiene range of twelve products. Offering 99.9% protection against germs, bacteria and viruses, the range includes Godrej Protekt Health Soap, Body Wash, Germ Protection Fruit & Veggie Wash, Germ Protection Dish Wash Liquid, INR 1 Hand Sanitiser Sachet, Air & Surface Disinfectant Spray, On the Go Disinfectant Spray, Surface & Skin Anti-Bacterial Wipes, PW95 Face Masks, and Multipurpose Disinfectant Solution.

Till recently, Godrej Protekt was present only in hand hygiene segment with hand sanitisers and handwashes including Mr. Magic – India’s first powder to liquid handwash, in its portfolio. With the new range, Godrej Protekt becomes a complete personal and home hygiene brand. It is foraying for the first time in segments like soaps, disinfectant sprays, face masks, fruit & veggie wash and dish washing liquid. Thus, Godrej Protekt will now offer hygiene based protection for home, kitchen and personal use.  It has also introduced hand sanitiser in a sachet format at INR 1 for the first time.

 

Commenting on the occasion, Sunil Kataria, CEO - India and SAARC, Godrej Consumer Products Limited (GCPL), said, “Godrej Protekt's purpose is to alleviate hygiene concerns of consumers with the personal and home hygiene range. We have become a complete hygiene-suite for home, kitchen and personal use. Our key new products include Germ Protection Fruit & Veggie Wash, Germ Protection Dish Wash Liquid, INR 1 Hand Sanitiser Sachet, Air & Surface Disinfectant Spray, On the Go Disinfectant Spray, Surface & Skin Anti-Bacterial Wipes, and Multipurpose Disinfectant Solution. As a brand, Godrej Protekt aims to be INR 500 crore in next 3 years.”

 

He further added, “We have partnered with the Indian Railways' Central Railway zone to promote travel hygiene amongst passengers and rail employees. 2 lac products of our new range like Hand Sanitiser Sachets, On the Go Disinfectant Spray will be used in passenger trains for a safe travel experience. Our Air and Surface Disinfectant Spray will be used to disinfect surfaces of ticket booking counters as well. We look forward to the partnership with Central Railways to build an initiative which will positively impact people's lives.”

As a purpose-driven brand, Godrej Protekt has effectively utilised the new range for an initiative in partnership with Indian Railways’ Central Railway zone. In the new normal, regular activities like rail, flight, and road travel, will be impacted. Health risks perceived by people will need immediate acknowledgement, to boost their confidence and reassure a safe travel experience. Under the aegis of Protekt India Movement, Godrej Protekt and Mumbai division of Central Railway will run a joint program to improve travel hygiene and its awareness amongst passengers and rail employees. The following activities will be undertaken as part of the joint program: 

* Safe travel awareness-raising activities will be conducted at railway stations under Central Railways

* Godrej Protekt Health Soap will be given to railway employees to boost their hand hygiene

* Godrej Protekt Hand Sanitiser sachets to be distributed amongst passengers on Central Railway local trains as well as long-distance trains originating from Mumbai for cities like Bengaluru, Hyderabad, Thiruvananthapuram, Patna, Lucknow, Varanasi, Bhubaneswar, Guwahati, Gorakhpur, Darbhanga, and Gadag

* Godrej Protekt’s On the Go Disinfectant Spray, with 99.9% germ protection and anti-bacterial capabilities, will be used in the above mentioned long-distance trains to disinfect hard surfaces like passenger’s luggage along with handles, seats, armrests, door handles

* Surroundings and surfaces of ticket booking counters of Central Railway stations in Mumbai will be disinfected with Godrej Protekt Air and Surface Disinfectant Spray, an aerosol spray which kills 99.9% germs and bacteria. 87 ticket booking counters of 53 stations between CST upto Karjat, Panvel and Kasara, will be covered

* Both entities will co-create digital content around hygiene practices necessary for rail travel during COVID-19 times. This will be to build awareness amongst 4.12 lac combined followers of Central Railways on social media platforms like Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.

The program will cover close to 400 local and long-distance COVID-19 special trains. The on-train activities will benefit passengers of long-distance trains traveling from Mumbai to states like Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Assam, Karnataka, Odisha, Telangana, Kerala and other parts of Maharashtra. Passengers of Mumbai local trains running under Central Railways will benefit as well. Around 2 lac products from Godrej Protekt new personal and home hygiene will be offered by Godrej Protekt for this program.

Commenting on the joint program, Gaurav Jha, Sr. DCM, Mumbai Division, Central Railway, said, “Through a joint awareness program with Godrej Protekt, Central Railways highlights its commitment towards health and safety of our passengers and employees. This is a unique social initiative aiming to boost hygiene standards awareness as well as gear them with relevant solutions at select touchpoints. This will encourage people to travel more by rail. We will connect with passengers on-ground, in-train and via digital media through this program. Seeing its success, we can replicate this program across various zones of Indian Railways.”

About Godrej Consumer Products Ltd:

Godrej Consumer Products is a leading emerging markets company. As part of the 123-year young Godrej Group, we are fortunate to have a proud legacy built on the strong values of trust, integrity and respect for others. At the same time, we are growing fast and have exciting, ambitious aspirations.

Today, our Group enjoys the patronage of 1.15 billion consumers globally, across different businesses. In line with our 3 by 3 approach to international expansion at Godrej Consumer Products, we are building a presence in 3 emerging markets (Asia, Africa, Latin America) across 3 categories (home care, personal wash, hair care). We rank among the largest household insecticide and hair care players in emerging markets. In household insecticides, we are the leader in India, the second largest player in Indonesia and are expanding our footprint in Africa. We are the leader in serving the hair care needs of women of African descent, the number one player in hair colour in India and Sub-Saharan Africa, and among the leading players in Latin America. We rank number two in soaps in India and are the number one player in air fresheners and wet tissues in Indonesia.

But for us, it is very important that besides our strong financial performance and innovative, much-loved products, we remain a good company. Approximately 23 per cent of the promoter holding in our Group is held in trusts that invest in the environment, health and education. We are also bringing together our passion and purpose to make a difference through our 'Good & Green' approach to create a more inclusive and greener India.

At the heart of all of this, is our talented team. We take much pride in fostering an inspiring workplace, with an agile and high performance culture. We are also deeply committed to recognising and valuing diversity across our teams.

Mai Phir Aunga Sparks Our Desire to Rediscover Travel with Club Mahindra

Club Mahindra, India’s leading vacation ownership brand, is inspiring people to reignite their passion and zest for travelling, with their digital campaign, #LoveIndiaSeeIndia. Through their ‘India Dekho’ initiative, they’re calling upon people to share their favourite holiday destinations in India and relive those magical memories once again, while staying indoors. As part of the #LoveIndiaSeeIndia campaign, the brand will now engage with audiences through the eyes and voice of Ayushmann Khurrana, one of Bollywood’s most popular and loved artistes.

The actor, who has won over social media with his poignant verses and couplets, will be sharing an evocative message online, through the digital film ‘Mai Phir Aunga’. In this video, the actor professes his love for India and its multi-dimensional attractions – the beautiful terrains, mesmerising experiences, mouth-watering cuisines – and his deep desire to be back and enjoy all of these.

Talking about the campaign, Ramin Saherwala, Chief Marketing Officer, Mahindra Holidays and Resorts India Limited, says, “All of us have fond memories of our favourite travel destinations and experiences, and it is during these times that there is a sense of nostalgia about them. This film builds a resonance with the audience and evokes a strong desire to relive their travel memories and recreate magical moments with their loved ones.”

Though the lockdown has forced people to stay indoors, their love for travel has not diminished. They are yearning to reconnect with engaging and exquisite experiences that only travel can offer.

Club Mahindra offers access to over 100 resorts in India and abroad, with over 200 immersive experiences. As the country steadily emerges from the lockdown, the brand is evolving their resort experience to prioritise the safety and well-being of their members and staff, ensuring that they exude the same warmth and service while delivering the signature ‘Club Mahindra’ experiences.

About Mahindra Holidays and Resorts India Limited

Mahindra Holidays & Resorts India Limited (MHRIL), India’s leading company in the leisure hospitality industry, offers quality family holidays primarily through vacation ownership memberships. While Club Mahindra is the flagship brand, the other brands offered by the company are – Club Mahindra Fundays and Svaastha Spa. As on March 31, 2020, MHRIL has 70 resorts across India and abroad and its subsidiary, Holiday Club Resorts Oy, Finland, a leading vacation ownership company in Europe has 33 resorts across Finland, Sweden and Spain.

IDC says India's domestic BPO market to touch $6.82 bn

After establishing itself as a major player in the international BPO market, India is now set to shift focus on the domestic market, which is projected to grow at over 30% annually.

According to a report by IT research firm IDC India, the country's domestic BPO market, with nearly 500 players, will grow at a CAGR of 33.3% to touch revenues of $6.82 billion by 2013, up from $1.62 billion in 2008.

The report said the domestic BPO industry would evolve from just running isolated processes for customers to engaging more deeply in identifying and transforming core business processes.

"Positive market indicators of an economic recovery, unbundling of mega outsourcing deals and large unaddressed white spaces such as regional language services support the current optimism," the report said.

Currently, the BFSI vertical contributes the lion's share of 37% to the domestic sector's revenues, while telecom contributes about one-fourth to it.

Other verticals like utilities and services, energy, food and hospitality, aerospace and automotives, consumer durables and government contribute 17%, while the travel segment contributes 8% to the revenue.

Agencies

Microsoft's Bing to take on Google

Microsoft has unveiled a new search engine named Bing, renewing its efforts to challenge the dominance of Google in the Internet search market.

The company said the new service will begin to roll out over the coming days and will be fully deployed worldwide June 3.

"Today, search engines do a decent job of helping people navigate the web and find information, but they don't do a very good job of enabling people to use the information they find," Steve Ballmer, Microsoft's chief executive officer, said in a statement.

"Bing is an important first step forward in our long-term effort to deliver innovations in search that enable people to find information quickly and use the information they've found to accomplish tasks and make smart decisions," he added.

Microsoft said the Bing service, billed by the company as a Decision Engine, will initially focus on shopping, travel, local business and information, and health-related research - areas in which people want more assistance in making key decisions.

The software giant still has a long way to go to increase its share in the search market.

According to latest analysis by market research firm comScore, in April this year, Google led the US search market with 64.2 per cent of the searches conducted, followed by Yahoo with 20.4 per cent, with Microsoft a distant third with 8.2 per cent.

CXOtoday