Mobile marketing company Brandtone launches India operations

Mobile marketing company Brandtone has launched its India operations, and announced the appointment of Mandeep Singh as managing director.

The company, which has three people currently, will expand organically starting with offices in Delhi and Mumbai.

“We are already working with various Unilever brands globally and have collaborated with the FMCG giant in four other markets - India, China, Indonesia and USA. In India, we have just commenced our operations,” the company said, responding to a query from Campaign India on brands it will handle in India.

Singh was MD at solar lighting consumer products MNC d.Light Asia till November 2012, and has been ‘chief advisor’ to Brandtone since then. He was appointed MD in August 2013, informed a Brandtone spokesperson. He has worked with Amul, Dhara, Kodak, Western Union, Bayer and Reed Exhibitions India in previous assignments.

On the move and the mandate for Brandtone, he said, “We have entered India at a time when the mobile penetration in the country is at an all time high. Our partnership with Unilever has helped us open up to this key growth market and has taken our association with the company to a new level. We will develop strategies and region specific campaigns for Unilever brands in India to responsibly and sustainably engage consumers across various states. Over the next three years, Brandtone India will endeavor to become the most trusted organisation having the permission to engage and reward the ever growing mobile user population by partnering the best brands in India and together create a positive eco-system where purchase and loyalty is rewarded through meaningful value exchange.”

The India foray follows a deal between Brandtone and FMCG giant Unilever to drive mobile presence of the FMCG giant in the emerging markets. As part of this association, Brandtone said in a statement that it will help Unilever brands in India use mobile and big data ‘to build long-term one-to-one relationships with consumers’.

Dublin-headquartered Brandtone’s model is based on providing incentives such as free mobile airtime using codes on product packaging, to reward consumers for interacting with brands and sharing information via their mobile phones.

Besides Unilever, Brandtone’s global clientele includes SAB-Miller, Kellogg’s, Kimberley Clark, PepsiCo, Kraft and British Petroleum.