Sachin Tendulkar is Oxigen’s Brand ambassador

India’s Largest Payments Solutions Provider, Oxigen Services India Pvt. Ltd. has signed master – blaster – Sachin Tendulkar as its brand ambassador. Reflecting the core values of the company in his virtues of unshakable commitment and humility, Sachin is undoubtedly the perfect face for Oxigen.

Bringing the world’s greatest batsman on board, Oxigen signals a paradigm shift in creating a powerful drive for cashless transactions. Oxigen has aligned its vision to aggressively push for Digital India and financial inclusion, a key agenda on the radar of Indian Prime Minister. This theme could not have had a more befitting Brand Ambassador than Sachin Tendulkar himself.

Elaborating on the association, Pramod Saxena, Founder & CMD of Oxigen Services India Pvt. Ltd. commented, “We are absolutely proud and honored to be associated with the god of cricket himself who is renowned not only in India, but across the globe. It is not just his VALUES that inspired us to get him on board, but also his strong commitment towards larger national issues such as education and  upliftment of rural India that resonate with our own programs. Together we are set to take our initiatives towards Financial Inclusion, Digital India and Swachh Bharat Abhiyan to the next level.”

Forging this relationship, Sachin Tendulkar said “I am excited to be associated with Oxigen Services which is at the threshold of exponential growth. Oxigen’s effort to align with the needs of the common Indian and focus on offering convenience, flexibility and ease in payment solutions is admirable. With the Oxigen wallet providing so many features, I am sure it will be the preferred mode for payment emphatically replacing the present day need to carry physical forms of cash and plastic money.”

“Oxigen wallet has seen many firsts, the first to develop a wallet in the country way back in 2008, the first non-bank to connect with NPCI for instant money transfers, the first to launch a social media connect, the first to host a digital concert for its customers and the first to brand & play the host nation to an International Cricket Team from South Africa. We are proud to add one more first to our mobile wallet & that is a first by the way of endorsement, by not just a celebrity, but by the best India has seen, Sachin Tendulkar. We look forward to demonstrating the best and incomparable in true Sachin tradition for a long time to come”, added Ankur Saxena, CEO, Oxigen Wallet.

“The adoration/adulation for Sachin Tendulkar, as a person, cuts across demographics, states and cultures. He is a much loved & trusted sport personality, with an unblemished track record. We, at Oxigen as well, reach out to a large mass of people across the country, we have something for everyone, A mobile wallet for the youth and money transfer & payments services, through our retail network for all fellow Indians.  The city dwellers and rural Indians alike, see us as a dependable service provider. By associating with Sachin we are sure we reinforce the Trust & reliability factor with our customers, taking it to the zenith with his endorsement to the Oxigen Brand”, said Meher Sarid, President – Corporate Affairs – Brand & Marketing, Oxigen Services.

Oxigen recently became official sponsors of the Proteas – South African T20 Cricket Team who will be visiting India for The Mahatma Gandhi – Nelson Mandela Series this week. Oxigen Wallet is playing the perfect host to The Proteas – South African T20 Cricket Team with their #Playthehost campaign. Sachin’s presence would add a lot of warmth to this campaign inspired by the Indian code of conduct ‘Atithi Devo Bhava’.

Tendulkar bats for Oxigen wallet

Payments solutions provider Oxigen Services India on Friday said it had signed cricket star Sachin Tendulkar as its brand ambassador. The company is focusing its marketing efforts by using cricket as a mass reach tool. It is also sponsoring the South African Twenty-20 cricket team set to play in India in October.

The Master Blaster would create awareness about the product through traditional and new media in the first phase of marketing and in the second, he would be involved in on-ground activations and events in non-metro towns, cities and villages.

The duration of the association has not been revealed, but the company asserts it is a long-term deal.

Tendulkar said the service is at the threshold of exponential growth, becoming the preferred mode for payment emphatically replacing the need to carry physical forms of cash and plastic money.

“Apart from cricket, we are looking at entertainment for mass engagement and reach,” said Meher Sarid, president (corporate affairs).

Gautam Gambhir’s New Innings

On Saturday last week, we posted a picture of newly-weds cricketer Gautam Gambhir and his bride Natasha Jain. Since then we received many emails enquiring if we’ll posting more pictures. So here are some more photographs of the charming couple and the wedding, courtesy Wedding Planner Meher Sarid who managed the grand yet intimate affair at a farm house in West End Greens, on the Delhi-Gurgaon highway.

Natasha’s wow lehenga & Gautam’s wedding sherwani were designed by Tarun Tahiliani. The creations for the other family members were designed by Kolkata’s Sabyasachi and Delhi duo Shantanu & Nikhil.

The groom Gautam was escorted by a league of Safa clad bearers carrying Zardozi umbrellas, and he entered the venue on special drum beat music put together by DJ Sunny Sarid. The bride entered the venue under a canopied veil, carried by safa clad bearers and she was accompanied by her brother and sisters, and close friends in a royal procession with special bell chimes music put together by DJ Sunny Sarid.

Roberto Cavalli theme inspired design at the Cocktails

The event and entertainment planning was done by Sound of Music- Meher Sarid, Parvez Akhtar and Sunny Sarid. The elaborate elegant decor was designed and implemented by Meher Sarid and her team members Rhea Malvai, Neha Gupta and Supriyaa Choudhary. The decor was based on a Floral theme and a Fleur-de-lis sequenced motif. All the flowers were imported from London, Thailand & Holland.er family members were designed by Kolkata’s Sabyasachi and Delhi duo Shantanu & Nikhil.

The Lounge

The Tent

The dinner spread included Indian, Thai and Continental delicacies specially put together by Meher Sarid and each table had a menu card for personalized service. The celebrities present included Virendra Sehwag, Yuvraj Singh with his parents, Rahul Dravid, Ashish Nehra, Ishant Sharma, Munaf Patel, VVS Laxman, Juhi Chawla and Jay Mehta, Rajiv Shukla and Arun Jaitley.

At the after-party DJ Sumit Sethi and DJ Sunny Sarid jammed for the guests and their families and friends.

The couple with cricketer Yuvraj Singh

With Juhi Chawla and her husband Jai Mehta

Behind the scenes

Caterers: Seasons and Nandi Caterers
Photographs: Badal Raja Jain
Fireworks: Israar
Doli: Puneet Sohan Lal
Flower Imports: Amrish
Tenting Support & Theme Implementation: Rama Tent House

Want to be a wedding planner?

Do you want to get your daughter married in a tapovan? Or have her walk down from the heavens straight to the mandap?

Oh yes, you can also have a Niagara-type waterfall as a backdrop to the rituals. Or get the groom to reach the bride’s house in a chopper?

Flights of fancy? Sure, and possible too — just get in touch with a wedding planner. He/she will deliver.

“Wedding planners are professionals who offer a range of services under one roof,” says New Delhi-based Vikaas Gutgutia, managing director, Ferns ‘n’ Petals.

The company started as flower retailers but moved into wedding planning a few years back. Says Meher Sarid, director (themes and concepts), Sound of Music, another capital-based entity: “We provide our customers with everything that a wedding needs — right from the pre-wedding events to sending “thank you letters” after the ceremony is over. Our USP is to provide a hassle-free wedding to our customers.”

Wedding planners take charge of a wedding. And that means planning and executing all functions, selecting venues, designing and sending invitation cards, decorating the venue (and that includes lighting, landscaping, music, etc), catering, entertainment.

Basically these professionals take over the management of a wedding leaving the host to have time to enjoy. “The trend started around 2000,” says Jai Raj Gupta, chief executive officer, Shaadionline, the Internet-based matchmaker.

“It sort of coincided with the rise in the disposable incomes of the rich and upper middle class Indians. And over the years weddings have become aspirational. Your wedding should be better than your neighbour’s.”

The recent spate of wedding exhibitions such as Bridal Asia and Vivaha have helped focusing the attention on getting in professionals to manage weddings.

Most wedding planners agree that their industry is still disorganised. The figures for the Indian wedding industry vary between Rs 5,000 crore and Rs 50,000 crore. Aspirants do not need any professional degrees/diplomas to become a wedding planner.

Working under a wedding planner and then branching off is the only way. The problem is worsened with every tentwallah and decorator calling himself a wedding planner.

Very few wedding planners disclose their real income. The problem is partly because their customers do not disclose the exact sum they spend on their daughter’s or son’s wedding. Charges vary.

Sarid’s rates are around Rs 50,000 for designing a function plus 15 per cent for services. Mumbai-based Gurlein Manchanda says that she charges roughly Rs 50,000 and can go higher depending upon what the customer wants.

Gutgutia takes a flat 10 per cent of the total billing. Shaadionline, on the other hand, charges a consultancy fee that ranges between Rs 1.5 lakh and Rs 2.5 lakh.

Investments in the wedding planning business is not much. As Manchanda says when she started around 1987, she didn’t have an office.

“Times have changed. Now you need a basic office set up. Wedding planning is not a product, but a service. Contacts and goodwill are the two ingredients you need,” says Gutgutia.

Because of the huge market, there is enough space for more players. As Gutgutia points out, “The real boom will happen when the middle class starts hiring wedding planners. Another four or five years and we’ll see this phenomenon happening.”

But the flip side according to Gupta is the tendency of every person, who has attended a wedding jumping on to the wagon.

“Credibility is our biggest USP. We must try to get the best deal for our clients. Not milk them as many in the trade do. The existing players should start to professionalise their approach. Only then can the industry grow.”