MxMIndia

Category: Ad Agencies

  • According to sources at the Paris-hqed conglomerate, all energies to be on Sapient play

    No Perfect Relations for Publicis. Focus on Sapient for now

     

    By Sandeep Puraname

     

    So is the Paris-based marketing services conglomerate Publicis Groupe gobbling up Perfect Relations? Oui or Non, we asked our source, and were subjected to a loud No. And is it a ‘No’ or a ‘Not yet’, we asked? Short of expletives, we were told “Bilkul Nahin, Kabhi Nahin”.

     

    Now that was something we weren’t willing to put on our headlines yesterday after we read a front-page highlighted reported in premier business daily The Economic Times. We decided to dig further, spoke to our friends at the MSLGroup who said they weren’t authorised to speak and could neither confirm or deny.

     

    Surely there can be no smoke without fire?

     

    Then on some probing over long-distance chatter within India and overseas, we got the inside story. Apparently there have rumours ever since a PR industry website flashed the news. While there may have been discussions with the MSL management, the suitor is clearly not MSL or parent Publicis.  Dentsu, Ominicom and WPP may be looking at buying up the agency, we are told.

     

    But why not MSL? After all Perfect Relations is well-pedigreed, has some interesting clients including Coca-Cola and is well-networked across the country? Because, the Publicis Groupe wants to concentrate on the Sapient buy.

     

    With Sapient, Publicis wants to up its 40 percent revenues from digital to 50 percent and it may be remembered that Sapient has nearly half its staff in India.

     

    It’s likely that all or at least most of the digital activity of the group(e) may be converged to Sapient making it a digital superpower in India and the rest of the world.

     

    While it didn’t need an industry forecast to do it, but with a Forrester research report saying that digital adspends will overtake those on television in two years in the US, most global media service corporations are getting their act together on the digital play. After all it’s no small reason that Publicis paid a 40 percent premium for Sapient at USD 25 a share.  According to reports, Publicis chairman Maurice Levy is reportedly looking at Sapient also being able to counter business going away to consultancies like Accenture.

     

    In India, Sapient has been strong on acquiring talent and turning into a well-rounded creative tech firm.

     

    Given this, it’s likely that some of the existing digital plays of the group – including in those like the MSLGroup – may not get zoned into one robust offering.  This bit is unverified, but that’s the thinking on in sections of the group. But then large networks like Leo Burnett and Publicis Worldwide have made their acquisitions so these issues need to be sorted.

     

    So, bottomline: for the now, MSLGroup is not making any new PR buys. The bosses are content with Hanmer & Partners, 2020 PR and 2020 Social.  There’s enough and more happening more.

     

    But aren’t the MSL bosses in town next week? We thought Olivier Fleurot will make the big announcement. Non, we were told.

     

    Now what if we have egg on our face if all of this is proved wrong, the boss asked this writer.

     

    We’ll know that soon.

     

    PS: Time to compose the resignation letter? Or await that long-awaited raise?

     

  • In his new role, Abhishek will oversee both, Mumbai and Delhi operations

    Jack in the Box promotes Abhishek Razdan to EVP & National Business Head

    By A Correspondent

     

    Abhishek Razdan, till recently Senior Vice President and Mumbai Business Head, has been promoted to Executive Vice President and National Business Head of Jack in the Box Worldwide, the digital agency brand of The 120 Media Collective, with immediate effect. In his new role, Abhishek will oversee both, Mumbai and Delhi operations, as well as client relationships in Bangalore. He will have overall responsibility for driving business growth and profitability as well as for strategic evolution. Mairu Gupta, Vice President & Business Head – Delhi, will continue to run Delhi operations, reporting to Razdan.

     

    Razdan joined Jack in the Box Worldwide as Head of Business Management in July 2012 and was promoted in 2013 to Business Head for Jack in the Box Mumbai after helping restructure and give focus and depth to the agency. He went on to demonstrate deft account management skills and business acumen and was a crucial part of big account wins including Pond’s Men, Vaseline, BeBEAUTIFUL and Nivea, helping create effective and award winning work and building successful client relationships on a consistent basis. Abhishek also championed the development of the Louis Philippe relationship, growing it into one of the agency’s most strategically robust, creatively exciting and award-yielding and financially rewarding clients.

     

    “Over the past 24 months, we have evolved into perhaps India’s most strategically rooted agency in the digital space.  The combination of skills and resources we offer our clients is truly unique and it allows us to deliver a longer-term approach that has real business impact.  Having won several large new businesses over the past year, and being well on our way along our strategic roadmap, it became imperative to have singular leadership for the Jack in the Box brand and in the case of Abhishek, it wasn’t an “if” but a “when”. We have a fairly detailed roadmap outlined for the next 36 months and giving Abhishek more responsibility is a major measure to ensure we achieve our goals”, said Roopak Saluja, Founder & Chief Executive Officer, The 120 Media Collective.

     

    Armed with a Masters in Communications Management from Symbiosis, Pune, Abhishek has around 13 years of experience in the communication industry. Prior to joining Jack in the Box Worldwide, he was at BBH, Publicis Ambience, Contract, Ogilvy and Hanmer MS&L, having closely worked with leading brands like Vaseline, Citibank, Shoppers Stop, Diageo, Cadbury’s, to name a few.

     

  • Digital L&K Saatchi & Saatchi has announced two senior level appointments into its fold. Sandeep Sarma joins the agency as the Digital Director- Client Servicing while Arunima Singh joins as Group Head-Servicing.

    Digital L&K Saatchi & Saatchi announces key appointments

    By A Correspondent

     

    Anil K Nair
    Anil K Nair
    Arunima Singh

    Commenting on the new appointments, Anil K Nair CEO, Digital L&K Saatchi & Saatchi said, “Sandeep Sarma brings a healthy mix of traditional brand knowledge and digital planning skill sets to head and consult a few strategic business units at Digital L&K Saatchi & Saatchi. Arunima Singh is an out and out digital native having worked in various aspects of the digital industry. A strong leader, she will be leading and building quite a few cutting edge digital led engagement initiatives for us.”

     

    Sandeep has over 10 years of rich experience in digital and has worked with Times Internet, Zapak.com and RK SWAMY BBDO on brands like P&G India, Mars India, Mercedes-Benz India, LIC, Raymond, Pepsi, Axe. Arunima Singh brings with her 12 years of experience and has previously worked with Social Wavelength (JWT) and Sobhagya Advertising Agency on brands such as Magma Fincorp, Dr. Batra’s, Force Motors, Kotak Mahindra, HUL, Skyscape, Apollo Clinics, Rajiv Gandhi International Airport, Tata Housing, Intel, Piramal, to name a few.

     

  • The exhibition is being called 'Project Gallery'

    Grey India holds exhibition to showcase employees’ artworks

    By A Correspondent

     

    GREY group India believes in encouraging art, especially when it comes from its own employees. The agency is putting up its employee’s personal artwork on display in the office area, thereby providing a platform for the young artists to showcase their work and encourage creativity.

     

    Organized by the GREY INFOCELL, the agency’s information and knowledge resource centre, the exhibition is being called ‘Project Gallery – A pop-up presentation of creative work by the artists at GREY’. The types of art includes acrylic paint on canvas, watercolour paintings, pencil sketches, paper cut art, travel and wedding photography and digital manipulation art among others.

     

    The exhibition is open to all employees, stakeholders and guests. The agency has also invited all their holding clients to view the craft and nurture the young talent.

     

  • GroupM brings down 2014 global adspend forecast downward to 3.9% growth. Global growth will be 4.9% in 2015

    Global adspend growth down to 3.9% in 2014. Forecast for 2015: 4.9%

     

    By A Correspondent

     

    Global advertising will rise 3.9 percent in 2014 to $513 billion, GroupM has announced, revising its midyear forecast for 2014 global measured media spend downward from 4.5 percent growth.

     

    The revised forecast, published in the company’s biannual worldwide media and marketing forecast report, This Year, Next Year, also projects 4.9 percent growth in global ad spend in 2015, bringing measured global ad investment to $538 billion. The detailed India numbers are not yet available.

     

    This Year, Next Year, is part of GroupM’s media and marketing forecasting series drawn from data supplied by holding company WPP’s worldwide resources in advertising, public relations, market research, and specialist communications

     

    In the United States, 2014 growth is fractionally revised down from 3.4 percent in the company’s midyear forecast to 3.1 percent, for a total $170 billion in 2014. GroupM is looking for ad growth in the U.S. to accelerate to 3.9 percent in 2015, to $177 billion, with digital again making the dominant contribution and turning in expected growth of 17% percent.

     

    “The world remains short of demand and uncomfortably short of inflation. However, two stabilising forces are the falling price of oil, which transfers spending power to the world’s consumers, and shrinking trade surpluses, especially China’s,” noted Adam Smith, GroupM Future’s Director and report editor of This Year, Next Year. “Smaller surpluses help aggregate demand. The Eurozone’s large surplus now makes it the biggest drag on world demand, and it remains the main headwind to ad growth”.

     

    “As it relates to media,” commented Irwin Gotlieb, Global Chairman, GroupM, “the proliferation of choice is steadily increasing media consumption (and consequently supply) around the world. The effect of increased supply is a mitigation of media inflation for clients – they can achieve their objectives with minimal increases in spend, thus holding down demand. In conjunction with our improved attribution analytics, these trends are improving return on investment for our clients.”

     

    “While growth has slowed, we see advertisers pushing for unprecedented levels of innovation that is both impactful and scalable. We believe this increase in demand for new uses of media substantially elevates the available level of learning and creativity, and will benefit the entire marketplace in the long-term,” said Dominic Proctor, President of GroupM Global.

     

    Less Dependence on Faster-Growth Markets

    One of the more striking features of this new forecast is the falling dependence on ‘faster-growth’ markets. Comprising around 44 percent of the world’s economy in 2014, they are still certainly punching above their weight, and are slated to contribute 55 percent of net new ad dollars this year, and 57 percent next year – but this is down from rates in the 70s for the period 2010-2013, peaking at just under 80 percent in 2013.

     

    The five main countries impacting ad growth in 2014, in order, are:

    :: China, where the forecast slows from 10 percent to eight percent and ad growth is presently trailing nominal GDP;
    :: Brazil, where a big World Cup and election year was a little less big than expected;
    :: Israel, for what we assess are geopolitical reasons;
    :: Nigeria, reflecting World Cup disappointment and a late start to election campaigning; and
    :: Russia, likely due to political reasons as well.

     

  • The aim was to make the communication capture the psyche of a first-time home buyer

    Ogilvy unveils new campaign for IndiaProperty.com

    By A Correspondent

     

    Ogilvy India has unveiled a new campaign for IndiaProperty.com. With property search being a high involvement and complex task, the aim was to make the communication capture the psyche of a first-time home buyer, the fears, anxiety and the struggle he/she goes through while entering the home search maze and the role IndiaPropety.com plays in simplifyingthe experience.

     

    Ganesh Vasudevan, CEO IndiaProperty.com said, “We are very excited to announce our new brand identity, reflecting our promise of hand holding the user end to end in the home buying journey. For the campaign, we wanted to reflect the emotional state of a first time home buyer when he is making one of the biggest decisions of his lifetime. The creative team at O&M Mumbai got the brief perfectly and have moulded the idea that on one hand epitomises the first time home buyers hesitation and emotional state, while on the other hand addresses how our brand adds value to overcome a buyers fears through a combination of technology solutions and human touch.”

     

    Piyush Pandey

    Piyush Pandey, Executive Chairman & Creative Director O&M, South Asia said: “Buying a property is life’s biggest and toughest decision. Fear, anxiety, lack of clarity and trust are the emotions a property buyer goes through. They desperately seek assurance. The challenge was to think of a story, an idea that encapsulates this feeling best and is unique. The metaphor of a kid who is jumping into the pool as he doesn’t know swimming portrayed the emotions of the first time property buyer beautifully.”

     

  • The Leo Group CEO writes a mail to his team reminding them of the ambition to be among the Top 5 creative agencies in the world within the next the two years

    It’s People, Product & Profit for Saurabh Varma, Leo Burnett Group CEO

    Sometime yesterday (Jan 5), our inboxes received this mail from a reasonably reliable source. It was written by Saurabh Varma, CEO of The Leo Group in India.

     

    We reproduce this as is:

     

    Dear Team,

     

    Welcome back. I wish you all a brilliant 2015.

     

    I wanted to start the year by reminding everyone of our Ambition – to be among the top 5 creative agencies in the world by 2017. Raj has set us this worthy target and we are all united in our pursuit of this single minded goal. Everything we do will be to reach this singular goal together. Overall the building blocks of our approach are guided by the 3 Ps. People, Product & Profit. In that order.

     

    You would have noticed that in 2014 we have moved massively on the People front. We are hiring what we call ‘the +A types’. People who want to reach the stars and they want to do that in the most positive and optimistic way possible. These are people who focus on the task at hand and do not let their egos get in the way. Their focus is the quality of our product and the need to solve our client’s problems. They know that to win we need to collaborate. They understand that to create symphony you need many different specialisations working seamlessly. The hiring of leaders like Neha, Kaizad, Sachin & Prajato, Harshad, Antony, Oindrilia & Rakesh in 2014 reflects our resolve to get the right kind of people who are future ready. You will see a lot of fresh talent getting infused in our Group in 2015. Many of these changes will start getting reflected in the next few days. A closer look at these leaders will also reveal that we are hiring a different breed of talent. Talent who can think beyond the 30 second TVC. We are really serious about winning with integration and these leadership changes will help us move rapidly in the new direction.

     

    I request you all to focus on the 4 Cs as you look at levels in the organisation. The first C is Curiosity. We want to be child-like in the way we live our lives. We want you to leave your tables and explore the world around you. Nothing will give us more pleasure than people taking all their leave. Sacrifice is in, but the right kind. Hard work is appreciated but not if it comes in the way of us experiencing life. You have our commitment of continuing with this new year break again, next year. Our hope is that next year we are even better organised to take this opportunity to slow down, relax and refresh. So please be curious in 2015. The next C is Champion. Great work stirs resistance. We need champions to help us sell great work. We need people who will not let the incredible idea just die. We all need more champions across the organisation who will challenge the work, shape the work and sell the work. The third C is Craftsman. Leo talked about that restless feeling that nothing you do is ever good enough. We want to live that spirit in our everyday life. We want to reach for the stars, everyday. No matter what you do in the Group, we want you to chase perfection. Average is out. Greatness is all that matters. Finally the 4th and the most important C. Citizens. We live in a world where an idea is shared and created by many. The spirit of knowing that we are all in it together is the fundamental to the organisation we are trying to build. Please populate the agency with people who embody these 4 traits. 2015, will also be a year where we will move forward and create a more performance driven organisation. We need to understand that Growth is everyones job. Growth gives us freedom. Freedom to reward our people. Freedom to train our people. Freedom to create a better destiny for our people. We will reward people who drive growth. Every senior leader will have clear KPIs. Creative leaders will have to deliver on 7+ work. We will need to use our understanding of clients to create and sell them work they need rather than the work they want.

     

    On the Product front, Raj and I are both excited about the momentum we have created. Work on KBC, HE (man’s day), Kindle, Imagica & Anchor shows that we are moving steadily in the right direction. With our marquee portfolio of brands, we hope to create incredible momentum in the next few months. Our People changes will help us create this new kind of work. We need to challenge the status quo in the industry and I urge you to be bold in the way you approach communication. Raj and I both think that our clients are ready for this change. They are asking for it. This is our moment and we have to seize this opportunity. Please use the specialisations at your disposal to create new work. Overall we need work which is true to ‘imaginative populism’. Work which is shared. Work which becomes part of peoples everyday lives. Work which our families are proud of. Work which delivers on the Purpose of our brands. Please create content. Please create branded utility. Please use the power of technology to create platforms which are always-on. Please try different things. We urge you to take the risks. We will support risk and failures. We are ready for change.

     

    On the Profit front, I promise you a brilliant 2015. Last year we as a group won 37 clients. Many of these wins came in the last quarter. These wins will come into play through the year. Our leaders are committed to zero complacency. We will not slow down. We will build on the incredible momentum we have created. We plan on both organic growth and new business wins. In 2015 we hope to pitch less and win a lot more. Prospecting will play a critical role in the way we approach our pitches. Please be ready for a lot of action.

     

    My ask for you is to be brave. Challenge status quo. Be positively paranoid. Win as a team and celebrate your wins. Let 2015 be a year of some outrageous parties.

     

    I remember a beautiful quote, ‘The secret of our future is hidden is our daily routine’. Please get your best to the office everyday. Let us together create and shape a new destiny for the Leo Group in India.

     

  • He will work closely with Raj Deepak Das towards creating work that strongly reflects the agency’s HumanKind philosophy

    Aman Mannan appointed Group ECD at Leo Burnett

    By A Correspondent

     

    Leo Burnett India announced the appointment of Aman Mannan as Group Executive Creative Director. Aman will be based at Leo Burnett India’s head office in Mumbai and will work closely with Raj Deepak Das towards creating work that strongly reflects the agency’s HumanKind philosophy.   Speaking on his appointment, RajDeepak Das, Chief Creative Officer, Leo Burnett India, said, “I am really excited about Aman joining us as this further strengthens our creative team that is not only young but also extremely talented.

     

    Aman brings with him a lot of positive energy and newer storytelling ways that will help us find the right solutions to our clients’ problems.”

     

    Aman joins from DDB Mudra where he was Executive Creative Director. Prior to DDB Mudra, he has had stints with McCann Erickson and Interface Communications. In a career that spans more than a decade, he has worked across categories on brands such as Union Bank of India, Future Group, Godrej No. 1, Lipton, HBO, ICICI Lombard, Saffola, Parachute, Onida, Nerolac, Radio Mirchi, Tata Indicom, NDTV, Mahindra and Mahindra (Scorpio, Bolero, Maxx), Nerolac and Blue Star to name a few.

  • For J Walter Thompson CEO Gustavo Martinez, the 2020 agenda is about growth, work, new kind of talent and a new way of working

    Why India is a key office for JWT

     

    By Pritha Mitra Dasgupta

     

    Gustavo Martinez, the new global CEO of J Walter Thompson (JWT), says India will have to play a big role in pushing the advertising agency’s global growth rate to 6%-7% a year from less than 4% now. Mr Martinez, who spent about a year to know the network offices and set a growth agenda for 2020 before officially taking over as global CEO on January 1, 2015, started out by announcing new management structures in two of JWT’s biggest offices – New York and India.

     

    “I spent about 11 months to define and understand the company, to create and plan and now it is time to implement,” Mr Martinez said. He said the 2020 agenda is about growth, work, new kind of talent and new way of working. “I think we need to grow at least 6-7% per year globally between organic and inorganic,” he said. “Non-organic is clearly through acquisitions in new capabilities like digital, social content agency, content agency, digital platforms …. Organic is trying to expand our portfolio of clients.

     

    And that’s why it is important for people like Colvyn Harris to join my growth global team to specially deliver the organic growth,” Mr Martinez said. He expects India to be one of the biggest growth providers for the firm, adding he will be happy if JWT grows at about 8% rate in India. “India is a continent. It’s a region in itself,” he said. While JWT is still the largest agency network in India, industry estimate reveals that the JWT India suffered severe revenue losses of about Rs 55-60 crore, in the last two years. Mr Martinez denied this. “The facts are wrong. JWT India is still one of our largest companies and one of the most profitable companies we have in the organisation,” he said.

     

    “I also don’t want to measure JWT one year or the last six months performance. I will see the whole trend of the organisation. Clearly, in order to deliver the growth, we have set very ambitious targets and India needs to push the envelope.

     

    And therefore we are… reinforcing and reenergising the organisation.” On Tuesday, the firm had announced Tarun Rai as the new CEO of JWT South Asia, replacing Colvyn Harris who has been promoted as executive director, global growth and client development.

     

    In terms of improving skillset in JWT, Mr Martinez said ‘shopper marketing’ is an avenue that needs to be built in India. “Retail is still very traditional in India. I think because of the implementation of the new laws, the regulations it will catch up with the rest of the world. Shopper marketing will definitely become one of the fastest growing disciplines within our communication portfolio,” Mr Martinez said.

     

    He said that while global investor sentiment is positive towards India, the government needs to simplify regulations and processes as they are currently “extremely complex”. “My clients are definitely willing to increase their investments in the country. There was some kind of bitterness before because India didn’t crystallise enough.

     

    I think after the formation of the new government the sentiment is up again,” he said. Mr Martinez listed lack of infrastructure and legal problems among the hurdles that stopped big investment flow into India. “That for me will be the big challenge. It exactly what happened with Mexico two or three years ago. The new president put in the right changes and the laws but the problem was implementation.

     

    In India, the Prime Minister (Narendra Modi) will be successful only if he can implement his plan,” he said. He also said mobile phone will play a dominant role in the future. “We are already becoming a multi-screen kind of consumer. Everything is going to be mobile. Data is going to fundamental and third is creativity. How can be more creative taking advantage and leverage all the new resources and channels that we have?” Mr Martinez said.

     

    To deal with this kind of challenges, Mr Martinez is introducing a new style of management in the system that he called “channel agnostic”. “Focus on how we can deliver the new demands of the clients. More focus towards digital orientation and technology orientation. We need to have a management ready to embrace the challenges and try to even foresee those challenges and to readopt the structure in a nimble way for these changes,” Mr Martinez said.

     

    Source:The Economic Times

    Copyright © 2015, Bennett, Coleman & Co. Ltd. All Rights Reserved

    Licensed to republish

     

  • Shine.com has introduced a new friend for all seasons – a young working professional who happens to be a mouse

    DDB MudraMax-OOH unveils Mr. M for Shine.com’s latest campaign

    By A Correspondent

     

    In their latest 360 degree campaign called ‘Kaam ka Dost’, Shine.com has introduced a new friend for all seasons – a young working professional who happens to be a mouse. The brand has unveiled a television, online and print campaign featuring Mr. M.

     

    The objective was to reinforce Shine.com’s positioning of being ‘Kaam ka Dost’. DDB MudraMax-Outdoor was briefed to reach out to the corporate audience and to create a recall value for the brand. The challenge was to create on ground visibility for Mr. M and engage with the target group – working professionals.

     

    The core idea was to create an impact in the corporate hubs where the target audience, working professionals, can directly interact with the brand. Thus, DDB MudraMax-Outdoor churned out an idea where the notice ability of the character and engagement would be high.

     

    Diptakirti Chaudhuri
    Mandeep Malhotra

    Diptakirti Chaudhuri, Head – Marketing, Digital Business of HT Media said, “The basic idea of creating a huge replica of our mascot Mr. M was exciting but the biggest challenge was to create something that was very close to the original TVC character. After several rounds of iterations, the agency came with a version that we were really happy with. Mr. M being a cool character, we wanted to be in a ‘cool place’ and DDB MudraMax did a great job of identifying the perfect location in Cyberhub. With a great replica and a great location, Mr. M is now the newest selfie spot in town!”

     

    Mandeep Malhotra, President, DDB MudraMax quoted, “The joy of setting new benchmarks is of matter of pride for us at MudraMax. The team was super thrilled to work on the brief with the enthusiasm encouraged by the client team at Shine.com. A larger than life piece of art like Mr. M opens a prospect of not only opportunity to See (OTS) for the brand but also generates an opportunity to be part of various social updates. Also, it generated a great ‘Opportunity to forward’.”

     

  • Rachita will work closely with Samir Gangahar to help grow the agency's revenue

    Leo Burnett appoints Rachita Dutta as Business Head

    By A Correspondent

     

    Rachita Dutta

    Leo Burnett India has appointed Rachita Dutta as Business Head at its Delhi office. In her new role, Rachita will work closely with Samir Gangahar to help grow the agency’s revenue by focusing on organic growth and winning new businesses.

     

    Commenting on the appointment, Samir Gangahar, Executive Director, Leo Burnett, said, “I am delighted to have Rachita on board. Her depth of knowledge and experience across categories and geographies would really add to the agency’s capabilities. Moreover, having had the experience of heading an agency, Rachita will add immense value to the leadership team in Delhi.”

     

    Rachita Dutta commented on her joining, “I have always admired the work produced by Leo Burnett from a standpoint of strategy and the final creative product it delivers to solve its clients’problems. With changing times, the agency is evolving as a holistic unit which is not only equipped to offer traditional communication solutions but also more contemporary services like digital,activations, etc. I look forward to work with Leo Burnett Delhi’s young and talented team to create communication that is creatively stimulating and relevant in the real world.”

     

    Rachita has joined Leo Burnett from Grey Sri Lanka where she was Country Head since 2013. During her tenure there, she played a hands-on role of consolidating existing businesses and growing the agency’s revenue through new business wins. Prior to joining Grey Sri Lanka, Rachita led Rediffusion Y&R’s LG business out of its Delhi office and also held a two year stint as the Vice President of Lowe Delhi.

     

  • Ogilvy & Mather India has announced a new management structure. No, Piyush Pandey isn't going anywhere. Yes, he isn't. SN Rane will be there too

    Ogilvy India gets a new top deck of suits. Kunal Jeswani to be CEO

    By A Correspondent

     

    Ogilvy & Mather India has announced a new management structure. No, Piyush Pandey isn’t going anywhere. Yes, he isn’t. SN Rane will be there too.

     

    So what’s changing? Loads. But first read what Messrs Pandey and Rane have said in a statement:  “It is time that our very strong senior team joins us in all key management decisions of Ogilvy & Mather. Our clients should look forward to even greater impact from Ogilvy & Mather in the days ahead.”

     

    Effective March 1,2015, this is what the new structure will look like:

    :: Kunal Jeswani, currently Chief Digital Officer of Ogilvy India network, is promoted to CEO, Ogilvy & Mather India

    :: Hufrish Birdy, currently Exec Finance Director, Ogilvy India, is promoted to CFO, Ogilvy & Mather India
    :: Hephzibah Pathak, President – Advertising, Ogilvy India will assume a new role-Global Clients’ Director, Ogilvy & Mather India
    :: Kawal Shoor, earlier Head of Planning, Ogilvy India, has been promoted to National Planning Director-Ogilvy & Mather  India.

     

    Mr Shoor’s elevation had happened effective January 1. Meanwhile, the Board of Directors is also being expanded. Currently it comprises Piyush Pandey, SN Rane, Madhukar Sabnavis, Poran Malani, Hephzibah Pathak, Miles Young, Paul Heath, Paul Cocks and John Goodman. Kunal Jeswani  (CEO – India), Rajiv Rao (National Creative Director), Navin Talreja (President- Mumbai & Kolkata Geography Head) and Hufrish Birdy (CFO – India) will be Additional Directors.

     

    Ogilvy India has been CEO-less ever since Pratap Bose left the organisation in June 2008.  Mr Jeswani, a postgraduate in communications from MICA, started his career in advertising around two decades ago, joined Ogilvy in 2005 as Vice President-Client Servicing and has headed OgilvyOne Worldwide with the responsibility of managing Ogilvy’s digital business in India. Currently, he is Chief Digital Officer of the Ogilvy India group companies and he will retain this responsibility with his new role. He will report directly to the Chairmen’s office and will work in very close association with Geo/Discipline heads, Creative, Planning and business leaders. Last year, he was among the two captains of the crack Ogilvy group team appointed to orchestrate the BJP campaign.