Birlasoft to Accelerate Invacare’s Business Transformation Services

Invacare Corporation and Birlasoft Ltd, part of the USD 2.4 billion diversified, The CK Birla Group, have signed a multi-year agreement wherein Birlasoft will deliver IT-as-a-Service to Invacare, the world's leading manufacturer of wheelchairs, bariatric equipment, disability scooters, respiratory products and other homecare products.

Birlasoft will accelerate Invacare’s business transformation by modernizing systems, taking responsibility for the provision of service desk, applications, server, network and telephony support. Birlasoft will build a new analytics platform and move the Invacare data center to the cloud. 

As a part of the IT transformation, Birlasoft will implement a new Product Lifecyle Management system and Invacare customers will benefit from a new ecommerce portal to access products, spares and supplies. Birlasoft will support Invacare in global implementation of SAP S/4HANA and associated SAP solutions, harmonizing business processes and information flows worldwide. New systems and processes will help drive innovation and operational excellence, in compliance with regulations.

“I am extremely excited about this partnership with Birlasoft as I believe it will allow us to harness the latest in process expertise, digital innovation and design thinking to connect our operations, move to the latest technologies, while making Invacare easier to do business with,” said Angela Goodwin, Chief Information Officer of Invacare.

“A business transformation of this magnitude requires significant capital investment. We want to improve customer experience and IT Operating Costs through automation and digitalization. By having Birlasoft deliver IT-as-a-Service through an Achievement-Based agreement, we have a partner in this transformation that is invested in our success,” said Matthew Monaghan, Chairman, President CEO of Invacare Corporation.

“At Birlasoft, we are completely committed to Invacare’s successful business transformation. We bring our focus on Enterprise Digital, and our strengths in transforming ERP and operations in both business and IT,” said Dharmender (DK) Kapoor, CEO & MD of Birlasoft Limited. “We are delighted to work together with Invacare to achieve our goals.”

TECNO Revolutionizes India’s Budget Smartphone Segment with CAMON 12 Air Priced Under 10K

TECNO, the premium smartphone brand from TRANSSION India, is known for its ahead of the curve approach towards bringing premium smartphone features at most compelling price points. Today the brand has taken yet another disruptive step by offering revolutionary dot-in display selfie camera at just INR 9999, letting today’s youth experience more while spending less.

Last month, the brand made its entry into an affordable entry-level segment with launch of its best-selling global ‘SPARK’ series in India, consisting of 3 phones – TECNO SPARK Go, TECNO SPARK 4 and TECNO SPARK 4 Air, all in the price range of 5K to 9K which has witnessed remarkable acceptance by the consumers led to sharp rise in demand.

Bolstered by the success of SPARK series and with Diwali just around the corner, TECNO once again is stepping-up the overall mobile experience targeted specifically fast-paced digital natives who are looking for top of the line specs at affordable pricing. TECNO CAMON 12 Air comes with segment-first 6.55 inches Dot-in display, AI powered 16MP+2MP+5MP triple camera with category defining Quad flash, backed by a powerful Octa Core Processor, 4GB RAM and 64 GB ROM and Android 9 pie out of the box. Together, these features will enable the youth from taking stunning photos with unprecedented clarity to delivering larger than life theatrical experience while viewing videos.

Star India Announces ‘Tyohar Ka Upahar’, a Special Festive Offer for its a-La-Carte Channels

In keeping with the festive spirit, Star India announces ‘Tyohar ka Upahar’, a promotional offer for its 16 a-la-carte channels including its popular channels -- Star Plus, Maa TV, Star Jalsha, Vijay, Asianet and Hungama TV. The festive offer prices will be available with immediate effect.

“The Star network is known to offer best-in-class content inspiring a billion imaginations, making us a household name today,” said Sanjay Gupta, Country Manager, Star and Disney India. “With this promotional offer for the festive season, we hope to spread even more cheer and get more families to experience and engage with our varied entertainment offerings,” he added.

Viewers can enjoy an exciting content line-up across the network including ‘Nach Baliye’ finale, ‘Yehh jadu hai jinn ka!’, ‘TED Talks India Nayi Baat’, ‘Dance Plus’ on Star Plus,  ‘Manasi Chi Choodo’ along with the World TV premiere of ‘Vinaya Vidheya Rama’, ‘Bigg Boss Telugu’ finale, ‘Sixth Sense’ on Maa TV, ‘Sreemoyee’, ‘Dance Dance Junior’ and ‘Mohor’ on Star Jalsha, ‘Kaatrin Mozhi’, ‘Thazampoo’ and ‘The Wall’ on Vijay, the World TV premiere of ‘Ambili’ and ‘Vanambaadi’  on Asianet, and ‘Upin & Ipin- new season, ‘Selfie with Bajrangi’- new season, ‘Shinchan’- new season and movie premier ‘Pokemon – Arceus Aur Jeevan ka Jewel’ on Hungama TV to name a few.

BIBA Expands Retail Footprint with 25 Stores in Bengaluru and Another 10 in Karnataka

Highlights

* BIBA spreads across geographies and touches 278 stores in 110 cities across 26 states
* The Brand continues with designer tie ups to offer innovation to its portfolio
* Successfully expands into standalone retail format for BIBA Girls and adds BIBA Jewellery to its portfolio

BIBA, the leading pan-India ethnic label, achieved a landmark in its retail journey as it touched 25 stores in Bengaluru city alone with another 10 in other parts of Karnataka, taking a total retail count to 83 stores in Southern India.

The largest and the newest flagship store of the brand is situated at Jayanagar and is spread across 2300 Sqft in the city. To celebrate the brands retail journey and add festive excitement to its extensive portfolio the brand announced the “BIBA by Anju Modi “collection with the acclaimed designer Ms Anju Modi. 

Ms. Anju Modi is the award winning Bollywood designer who’s known for her rich ethnic designs and  has designed outfits for some of the  biggest movies such as “Bajirao Mastani “ and “Ram Leela”. BIBA By Anju Modi is targeted at those consumers who are looking at designer designs and styles at smart pricing. The range starts from Rs.5995 and goes upto to Rs. 29,950.     

Since inception, BIBA’s journey has been a fascinating one. The brand has managed to evolve and innovate with its offerings, styles and digital communications. In 2011, taking a cue from the highly unorganised kids ethnic segment, BIBA launched a standalone dedicated line‘ BIBA Girls’; a vertical which caters to the ethnic apparel requirements for kids aged 2-15 years.

Today, BIBA Girls is available across 255 stores, along with being available through a shop in shop format in56 stores. The evolution did not stop with apparel as in 2017, BIBA successfully steered itself into launching a fashion jewellery line ‘BIBA Jewellery’ which has been launched in metro cites and so far is doing extremely well.

Commenting on retail growth, Mr. Siddharath Bindra, Managing Director, BIBA said, “BIBA as a brand has grown with its consumers and has kept its consumer’s needs very close to its heart. We are extremely excited to reach a count of 25 stores in Bangalore and would like to thank all our patrons for helping us reach this milestone and giving us such a great response. It’s an honour to be in Bangalore and to launch the Biba by Anju Modi collection which is our new offering for the festive season. Constant innovation and providing the best in style and quality to our customers is our endeavour at Biba.”

Over the last few years, BIBA has been adding layers to its portfolio by tying up with designers such as Rohit Bal, Manish Arora and recently launched an Indie Mickey range.

‘BIBA by Anju Modi’ is a fine amalgamation of Anju Modi’s signature design sensibility married into BIBA’s ethnic brand lineage which is a great combination  for the upcoming festive season. The range comprises of metallic and floral prints, intricate hand embroidery and fine zari work on pure fine fabrics like silk, chanderi, velvet and modal. 

Speaking on the association, Anju Modi said, “Working with BIBA has been great- as this association has allowed me to showcase my designs across the massive retail network of Brand BIBA. BIBA enjoys a great geographical spread and this partnership allows many more people to experience my designs and a good quality product. I am really excited and looking forward to a fruitful and a meaningful association going forward.”   

Tata Motors Announces Countrywide Customer Dialogue Programme and Service Campaigns

Key Highlights:

* Initiated the Grahak Samvaad Campaign to apprise customers about the 30+ initiatives for an enhanced after sales experience from 10th to 21st October.
* Celebrating “National Customer Care Day” on 23rd October where in customers and channel partners are greeted and felicitated for association with company.
* Grahak Seva Mahotsav, a free service check-up campaign will be organized from 4th – 11th November across 1500+ dealer & Tata Authorized Service Stations (TASS) in India.

Tata Motors, India’s largest commercial vehicle player, is set to organize Grahak Samvaad campaign, exclusively for Tata Motors’ commercial vehicle customers between 10th to 21st of October. During this period Tata Motors employee will engage with customers and fleet owners to update them on the various initiatives company has taken for enhancement of customer experience. The team will also collect feedback form customers on their experience and expectations.

Grahak Samvaad will be followed by celebrations of “National Customer Care Day” on 23rd October. Tata Motors CVBU division celebrates National Customer Care day on 23rd October every year to commemorate the day the company got its first customer. On this day the 1st truck rolled out from its Jamshedpur plant in 1954. Associated channel partners staff and customers are felicitated by company for their long association and contribution.

Grahak Seva Mahotsav, a countrywide free service camp is also being organized for Tata Motors’ commercial vehicle owners. This unique customer centric initiative will take place across 1500+ Tata Motors authorized workshops between 4th November and 11th November 2019. At this service camp, commercial vehicle owners will be able to avail attractive discounts on spare parts & labour. The Grahak Seva Mahotsav conducted last year received an overwhelming response with over 1.5 lac customers visiting the camp.

Commenting on the occasion, Mr. Ramki Ramakrishnan, Global Head Customer Care, Commercial Vehicle Business Unit, Tata Motors Limited, said, “The trucking industry plays a major role in keeping a country’s economy moving. As the largest commercial vehicle brand, it is our responsibility to make sure our customers are provided with top quality products and hassle-free experience. The Grahak Samvaad initiative coupled with Grahak Seva Mahotsav is a perfect opportunity for CV customers and fleet owners to ensure smooth functioning of their vehicle along with complete peace of mind to the driver. The success of these initiatives over the years have been extremely instrumental for us in developing fine products while providing world-class customer service. Through the unique initiative of Sampoorna Seva, we hope to deploy top quality customer experience and convenience across our network partners.”

The company aims to achieve complete customer satisfaction and sustain it throughout the life cycle of the vehicle. To achieve this, Tata Motors has launched a revamped version of Sampoorna Seva 2.0, a comprehensive and complete solution for the maintenance and smooth functioning of the vehicles. This umbrella of after-sales services include maintenance, all type of repairs along with highway support or any breakdown which is attended to through dealers/ Tata Motors Authorised Service Stations (TASS) network free of cost.

Zendesk Delivers the Future of Conversational Business With Sunshine Conversations on API-based Platform

Zendesk, Inc. has announced Sunshine Conversations, an API-based platform that allows businesses to integrate messaging via today’s most popular social channels and directly interact and transact with customers. Additionally, developers can build messaging into their own apps and services to ensure that customers can engage with companies over websites, social channels and private in-app messaging.

With Sunshine Conversations, companies can also unify conversations across every digital channel to ensure that key business functions such as sales, service, and marketing have the context needed to align on and conduct follow-up.

“Messaging is evolving from a simple communication channel into a new interface for businesses to connect, engage, and transact with customers,” said Warren Levitan, Vice President of Conversational Business at Zendesk. “We're excited to power the future of conversational   business in which companies can extend traditional support and sales conversations into rich and interactive messaging experiences.”

Sunshine Conversations is part of Zendesk’s open and flexible CRM platform, Zendesk Sunshine, which helps businesses connect customer data in order  to  deliver  the  best  customer experiences. Launched in November 2018 and native to Amazon Web Services (AWS), Sunshine allows companies to integrate and understand all their customer data, wherever it lives, and gives developers the ability to build and deploy customer apps and services faster.

According to Gartner, "By 2022, 70% of customer interactions will involve emerging technologies such as machine learning applications, chatbots and

mobile messaging, up from 15% in 2018.” Sunshine Conversations allows businesses to maintain one continuous conversation while engaging on every channel, including popular messengers such as Facebook Messenger, WhatsApp, LINE, WeChat, Telegram, Twitter DM, Viber, Kakao   Talk, SMS text, RCS, and through native web, iOS and Android apps. The platform allows businesses to elevate their communication beyond texting to engage with customers, including:

●         Integrating bots and AI services to deliver personalized interactions and seamlessly hand-off conversations between bots and humans.
●         Building rich, interactive conversational experiences like browsing products, booking reservations and making payments directly within the messaging interface.
●         Sharing conversational data across the business so everyone has complete customer context to serve customers better.

“At Four Seasons, our people are the most important element of the guest experience. We therefore look to leverage technology in a way that lets us get more personal,” said Marco

Trecroce, Senior Vice President and Chief Information Officer of Four Seasons. “When it came to building a global messaging solution that would connect guests with our colleagues on property, we wanted to ensure that our guests had the ability to message us on their preferred channel   and in their preferred language. Sunshine Conversations was the only platform that met all of our global requirements, and allowed us to provide a truly personalized service that is safe and secure.”

Beyond social channels, Sunshine Conversations’ SDKs make it possible for modern messaging   to be customized and integrated natively into businesses’ websites and mobile apps for a truly tailored brand experience. For example, Sunshine Conversations  allows  businesses  to seamlessly transfer conversations from the web to any mobile messaging channel in order to meet the customer where they are, while retaining all context in one continuous conversation.

Columbia Pacific Communities Wins Gold for Best Website Content in Real Estate at India Content Leadership Awards 2019

Columbia Pacific Communities, India’s largest independent senior living community operators bagged a gold award for the ‘Best website content in the real estate industry' category at the second edition of India Content Leadership (ICL) Awards and Conference 2019.

The ICL 2.0 awards acknowledges efforts by various brands in the content sections across industries. It is designed to promote content developers, trends, and exemplary work in the content field. The award was received by Basav Mukherjee, Chief Revenue Officer, Columbia Pacific Communities and Piali Dasgupta, Vice President Marketing, Columbia Pacific Communities on October 4, 2019 in New Delhi.

The award-winning Columbia Pacific Communities’ website - www.columbiacommunities.in brings alive the concept of zest for life and positive ageing keeping true to its brand ethos. The website serves as an engagement platform that shatters various age related stereotypes.

With its recent digital campaign, #Relearn, it has set a benchmark for itself in breaking age related stereotypes. The Blog, which sits within the website, is a platform for and of the its 1600 residents to share their ideas, thoughts and experiences, thereby keeping them mentally agile and engaged.

Commenting on the website content strategy, Piali Dasgupta, Vice President Marketing, Columbia Pacific Communities, said, “The content on the website is a result of months of hard work, clutter breaking creativity and meticulous execution. The videos and static content on the website seamlessly integrate the brand's philosophy of positive ageing. The hand sketched imagery, our visual leitmotif, lends it an unmistakable charm. The huge number of repeat visitors on the website is an indication of the content appealing to our audience. Being recognised for daring to think out of the box is a special feeling. We are very proud to be receiving this award from industry stalwarts within four months of launching the website.”

On winning the glorious award, Basav Mukherjee, Chief Revenue Officer, Columbia Pacific Communities, said, “We are delighted to be recognised for our attempt at breaking stereotypes and for challenging the status quo. The concept and creative were a collaboration of the marketing team and our digital partner WAT Consult and it resonated with our audience. This recognition is an affirmation of our efforts at breaking age based stereotypes and we thank the jury.”

The engaging posts on the blog, all contributed by the residents, on interesting topics such as Listening versus Reading, Interesting facts on Cricket, and Unsung War Heroes. With time, the blog aims to grow into a platform for the residents to share their thoughts, experiences, stories and ideas with the world.

Columbia Pacific Communities is the largest independent senior living community operators in India and it has close to 1600 residences under management in 5 cities and 9 locations in south India. As a front runner in the senior living space, Columbia Pacific Communities is committed to providing world-class practices that exceed the expectations of its stakeholders.

The website acts as the face of the brand which stands for enthusiastic and active, positive ageing.