Chuo Senko Advertising India started in India in the first half of 2013 as a full-service advertising agency, partnering with the DDB Mudra Group and getting its bearings in India. From mid-year 2014, it started hiring for its team and things really started kicking off from the last quarter of 2014 with some big wins including work for Daikin Airconditioning India, Panasonic India, Triumph Motorbikes, Woolmark and the Korean Cultural Centre India (part of the Embassy of the Republic of Korea).
Earlier this year, the Chuo Senko Group and the DDB Mudra Group mutually decided to part ways in the joint venture they setup in 2013. However, in recognition of the growth opportunities and potential the India market offers, Chuo Senko is now investing aggressively in expanding capabilities and additional capacity in Chuo Senko Advertising India. 2015 expects to be its best year for the company.
Chuo Senko has offices in Indonesia, Vietnam, the Philippians, Myanmar, Cambodia and India.
DDB Mudra Group announced the elevation of Sameer Mehta to the post of President, TracyLocke India. TracyLocke is the DDB Mudra Group’s Shopper Marketing, Field Marketing and Retail Solutions agency. In his new role, Sameer will report to Madhukar Kamath, Group CEO & MD, DDB Mudra Group.
Sameer has been a part of the DDB Mudra Group since 2005 and has been instrumental in setting up and growing the Field Marketing, Retail Solutions and Shopper Marketing services for the group. Over the past decade, he has led the business transformation of this agency to offer the entire spectrum of these services under one roof. With 17 years of experience in this field, Sameer has knowledge and experience in helping businesses grow through interventions at the point of purchase and this has been utilized extensively for brands like Samsung, Motorola, Hindustan Unilever, Marico, Panasonic, Sony, Spice, Canon, Ricoh, Castrol, Nerolac, LG and TVS.
Post the Mudra Group’s acquisition by Omnicom, Sameer has been a part of the team that has been entrusted to build the TracyLocke brand in India.
Madhukar Kamath
Madhukar Kamath, Group CEO & MD, DDB Mudra Group said, “Since we announced the leadership restructure at DDB MudraMax earlier this year, I have been working very closely with Sameer. This has reaffirmed the belief that I always had in TracyLocke India’s capabilities to become one of the flagship businesses of the DDB Mudra Group. I am excited about the potential that we have to deliver technology led solutions in this space with Sameer at the forefront. He has a core team that has helped him grow this business and I am sure will continue to do so. I congratulate him on this well-deserved elevation within the group and look forward to working closely with him.â€
After the recent news of the global union of IPG agencies Mullen, and Lowe and Partners (to form Mullen Lowe Group), the India operation of the network, Lowe Lintas + Partners is now rebranded as Mullen Lowe Lintas Group. As part of this move, the Group also announces their plans for a two-creative-agency structure. In addition to Lowe Lintas, the group will be soon launching an independent new creative agency, Mullen Lintas.
Amer Jaleel and Arun Iyer, currently joint National Creative Directors at Lowe Lintas have been promoted to Chief Creative Officers. Arun Iyer takes on the role of CCO at Lowe Lintas, and Amer Jaleel takes on the role of Chairman and CCO of the newly created agency, Mullen Lintas.
R.Balakrishnan ( Balki ) and Joseph George ( Joe ) continue as Group Chairman and Group CEO respectively, of Mullen Lowe Lintas Group.
Arun Iyer
Arun Iyer joined Lowe Lintas in 2003 and became National Creative Director in 2010, along with Amer. Over the years, he has been the force behind some of India’s most celebrated campaigns for brands including Tanishq, Fastrack, Idea Cellular, Surf Excel, Kissan, Flipkart, Britannia, Axis Bank, Freecharge and many more. Arun firmly believes in work that makes brands a part of popular culture. His campaigns have consistently swept effectiveness awards around the world including Kissanpur, which won India’s first ever Silver at 4A’s Jay Chiat Awards in 2014.
Amer Jaleel
Amer Jaleel has been with Lowe Lintas since 2002 and has been National Creative Director for the last 5 years. He has led the creative on some of the most iconic brands managed by the agency. As global creative lead on Unilever’s Lifebuoy business, he has contributed disproportionately to the brand’s success over the past decade in India and across the world; built brands like Micromax and Havells from scratch into billion dollar plus businesses; and conceived and led the journey for Tata Tea’s ‘Jaago Re’ movement. Amer’s portfolio over the years has also included some great work on Google, OLX, Maruti Suzuki, Hindustan Times and Bajaj. More recently, the Lifebuoy initiative ‘Help a Child Reach 5’ was named among the most effective campaigns in the world (WARC 100, 2015).
The Gurgaon office of Ogilvy has recently announced a number of additions to its senior management team.
Alok Sinha
As part of this exercise, Alok Sinha has been brought in as President, Planning. With over 20 years of experience across research, advertising, media and digital, Alok has worked with brands like IBM, Unilever and Vodafone. He has also had extensive experience across South East Asia, in a regional communications planning role at Aegis and subsequently as lead on the P&G businesses at Carat, Philippines. Most recently, he led the strategic digital mandate for Mindshare in South Asia, where his focus was on strengthening Mindshare’s planning product and the strong integration of digital thinking on businesses including futuristic projects like the Loop Room.
Kapil Arora
Kapil Arora, Branch Head, Ogilvy Gurgaon said “Over the last three years, the office has grown significantly across disciplines and we felt the need to bring in the right talent to help navigate our clients’ businesses through a rapidly changing environment.â€
Ajay Gahlaut
Ajay Gahlaut, Executive Creative Director, Ogilvy North said, “As our business gets more dynamic and interconnected every day, we are constantly looking for leaders who can join the dots effectively and enable a better, more integrated creative product.â€
Chandana Agarwal
Chandana Agarwal has taken on the role of Managing Partner of the Advertising function. Chandana has been with Soho Square and Ogilvy Gurgaon for over four years now and has been responsible for great work across brands like Philips, Sprite, Taco Bell, Pernod Ricard & Honda, amongst others. In her role as Managing Partner, she will work with Kapil to steward the advertising business of Ogilvy.
Namrata Balwani
Namrata Balwani has been appointed as Senior Vice President and Head of Ogilvy One, Gurgaon. Namrata moves in from Media2win, a digital agency she co-founded, where she was CEO. A graduate from MICA, she has been at the forefront of media & the digital medium in particular, leading a host of brands to success and recognition across the Abbys, Yahoo Big Idea, IAMAI, Campaign India & many other industry awards.
Publicis Worldwide South Asia has announced the promotion of Bobby Pawar and Partha Sinha to Managing Directors. This moves comes as the India agency consolidates following a period of sustained growth that has seen it double its size in the past two years.
In their new roles, Pawar and Sinha will continue to report to Nakul Chopra CEO of Publicis Worldwide South Asia as they will take on larger responsibilities to partner him in managing all business units in the region. A key focus will be to elevate the agency’s effectiveness in communication that helps lead the change for clients.
As Managing Director and Chief Strategy Officer, Sinha will lead all strategic development. He will take additional responsibility for the P&L of the Consulting, Design and Digital services in South Asia. Meanwhile, Pawar will be Managing Director and Chief Creative Officer. He will lead creative development and ensure the increasing infusion of digital channels for all Publicis Worldwide entities in the region.
According to Chopra, the promotions were clear recognition of the positive impact and leadership both executives had demonstrated in leading their agency teams and client relationships, adding: “Both Bobby and Partha have played pivotal roles in delivering the expectations of our clients and in vastly improving our product. They have worked very closely with me and taken the lead in helping Publicis grow at a very rapid rate. These promotions not only recognise their past achievements but also focus on the future where we have high expectations for the continual transformation of our business.”
In a statement, the new MDs said, “Publicis is on a fast growth track and is increasingly becoming a significant power in partnering clients in the new age environment. Our objective is to become the most significant partner available in this market for brands to navigate and lead the change in society, culture and the marketplace. We are on our way there.â€
Added Loris Nold, CEO for Publicis Worldwide, APAC and Emerging Markets: “Publicis South Asia without doubt has a world-class management team and have achieved great results in the past few years. With Partha and Bobby taking a bigger role, I am very confident that we are best positioned to help our clients in their marketing transformation.â€
WPP and the Indian School of Design and Innovation (ISDI), a fast-growing recognized leader in arts and design vocational education, jointly announced the establishment of the ISDI WPP School of Communication.
Located on ISDI’s state of the art campus in the heart of India’s business capital, Mumbai, the ISDI WPP School of Communication marks WPP’s first foray into the Indian education sector. The partnership will help create India’s first professional three-year undergraduate diploma program in communication based on a unique work-study model that will bring together a strong academic and creative curriculum combined with practical application.
The admissions process is currently underway through an online application form. The school recently hosted its first Accepted Students day where students and their parents had an opportunity to interact with the leadership team and faculty. The inaugural batch will commence in August 2015 with the first cohort of 60students.
The ISDI WPP School of Communication is WPP’s second education initiative globally. In 2011, WPP in partnership with the Shanghai Arts and Design Academy established the WPP School of Marketing and Communications in China. The program has just successfully completed its fourth year with 220 students enrolled.
WPP and WPP companies, which are globally recognized for their in-house training and development programs, have worked closely with ISDI to develop the School’s curriculum and hire full-time faculty. Radha Kapoor, Founder & Director, ISDI, will lead the School’s board of directors. Additionally, senior staff from WPP companies will serve as part-time faculty and act as mentors. Internship and training opportunities will also be provided to students. An Executive Council has also been set up to oversee the smooth functioning of the 3-year program. ISDI is represented by Dr. Indu Shahani, Dean HR College, Radha Kapoor & Siddharth Shahani, Directors, ISDI; and WPP India by Ranjan Kapur, Country Manager, Paul Mower, Country Finance Director and Madhukar Sabnavis, Vice Chairman & Country Head of Discovery & Planning, Ogilvy & Mather.
While the list of visiting faculty will be marked by celebrated names such as Piyush Pandey, Executive Chairman and National Creative Director at Ogilvy & Mather, and Roshan Abbas, Managing Director at Encompass Events, the program directors will include the likes of Madhukar Sabnavis, and CVL Srinivas, CEO at GroupM for South Asia, among others.
Commenting on the partnership, WPP CEO Sir Martin Sorrell said, “Amid strong growth in the wider economy and, more specifically, in our sector, India is facing a pronounced talent shortage, one that is expected to become even more acute in the future.†He added, “As the leading communications group in India and the world, WPP is committed to helping India to further develop the already high level of creative and professional talent in this sector.â€
Speaking on the supply-demand gap for fresh talent in the industry, Ranjan Kapur, Country Manager – India at WPP, said, “We employ approximately 15,000 people (including associates) and on an average, we need 3,000 new recruits every year, including replacements and first timers and this school is just a small beginning. We hope to expand this to be able to cover a significantly large part of our requirements and turnout 400-500 young men and women every year from our school. Our first batch of 60 students is just the beginning.â€
The School will offer students a three-year undergraduate program, wherein, the first year comprises of basic marketing and communication subjects and the second and third year offers students four major specialisations to choose from- Advertising and Communications, Media, Activation and Digital Marketing and Public Relations. WPP Lectures will run from Monday to Saturday, in the afternoons. Throughout the three years, students will be taught and mentored by top professionals from WPP and the industry, will work on live projects, build a portfolio, develop practical work skills, and have the opportunity to intern with WPP companies and get international exposure through student exchange and study abroad programs.
Eight-year-old independent Creativeland Asia (CLA) known for its benchmark work on large brands like Cinthol, Frooti, Audi, Mercedes and MTS telecom is back with a bang.
CLA has signed on integrated mandate for Domino’s Pizza, Godrej No1 soaps, the Rs 1000 cr soap brand from Godrej, the Indian Express Newspaper, She comfort Sanitary Napkins from Emami and the digital mandate for Jet Privilege.
The total spends size of all these brands put together is estimated at Rs. 250 cr. The pure revenue to CLA could be estimated at Rs 21 to 25 cr which would not only compensate for the Parle Agro split in January but actually adds more than double the revenue it lost.
Sajan Raj Kurup
On the big wins, Sajan Raj Kurup, Founder & Creative Chairman of Creativeland Asia said “We stepped up the game when it was required. Every one did their bit as planned and the results are quite obvious. We have added substantial new business in the first two quarters of the year. Not a bad way to start a year I suppose. We have surpassed our target for the year in the first two quarters, so we have decided to opt a slightly different business strategy for the rest of the quarters.
For Domino’s the apart from mainline work, Creativeland has been entrusted with integrated marketing duties which includes precision marketing and digital mandates as well.
Said Harneet Singh, VP Marketing, Dominos: “We needed more strategic and creative minds to work with us, as partners,  to grow the brand and hence we selected CLA as our new agency partner in addition to our incumbent creative agency. We believe the strengths of CLA are very complimentary to our thinking and approach and together we can do some very interesting work on brand Domino’s.â€
For Godrej No1, Creativeland has been entrusted with integrated marketing communications mandate and to design and grow the No1 range including soaps face-washes and other NPDs.
Sunil Kataria, Head of Sales & Marketing, GCPL said: “We have been working with CLA since 2011 and one of the things that I really appreciate about them is the ability to come up with genuinely creative ideas for the big moments . One of the reasons they are able to do this is because the top leadership themselves get involved into understanding the brand essence and tonality in depth and that makes a difference.â€
For Emami, Creativeland will be relaunching their newly acquired She comfort Sanitary napkins, Apart from Integrated marketing communications, CLA has been entrusted the responsibility of redesigning and revamping the brand including its packaging design.
CLA has also been entrusted the responsibility of revamping brand Indian Express with their integrated marketing communications mandate. Their multimedia campaign which involves print, TV and digital will hit later this week.
Currently, Creativeland has 14o-odd people working across disciplines and offices. On this new phase of the agency, Raj Kurup elaborated: “As most organisations that are born in the internet generation, Creativeland has always been in a constant state of reinvention. We have had eight awesome years, where work has always been Centre-stage. During these years, we had also sown seeds of our own ventures that are outside of advertising and design. CLA 2.0 is going to be Creativeland in a different gear. We are preparing for the next 10 years. We have made some fundamental changes in our organisational structure and added a Culture & Marketing team. Our technology team is all set. We have also spun out or Digital production department into a separate tech company called Creativeland Technologies which now houses end to end tech solutions spanning front-end and back-end solutions with a CLA edge. Our design team is looking beyond brands and identities alone and venturing into retail, space, environment and infrastructure design.
In terms of people, we are a diverse set. From technologists, to economists, to UI designers, to writers, to designers, to sociologists, we have them all. And that’s key to CLA 2.0’s ambitions.
Our new office in Bandra-Kurla Complex one of the fastest growing, global business hubs in India, is well-appointed to keep the team motivated. Conscious of the long hours and the intense pressure the nature of our work commands, we are making amends by making our environment fun and rejuvenating. From a leisure room with a pool table, a table tennis table and a foosball table, to a spa with massage chairs and hair treatments, and a pantry that is the size of our first office, the office has everything one may want.
It’s now official. Former Dentsu India chief Rohit Ohri is joining FCB Ulka as Group Chairman and CEO. This is effective January 2016. Ohri, who is currently in Singapore, told MxMIndia that he will serving a cooling off period as per the Dentsu contract and is looking forward to the FCB Ulka stint.
Ohri told MxMIndia that he would be located essentially in Mumbai when he joins FCB Ulka. This will be the first time he will have Mumbai as his permanent base, having worked first in Kolkata and more recently in New Delhi NCR.
So did he decide on the FCB offer before he accepted the new opportunity at Dentsu in June? Not at all, said Ohri. “I signed on the FCB papers only last week and moved to Singapore in June itself,†he said.
Meanwhile, Carter Murray, worldwide CEO of FCB, issued a confirmation on Ohri’s appointment. Ohri will succeed current CEO and Group Chairman Nagesh Alai who, after 25 years with FCB, is moving into the role of Global Vice-chairman at FCB, working on special initiatives for Murray.
“I want to thank Nagesh for dedicating his career to our FCB operations in India and for helping FCB Ulka become one of the strongest agencies in the country. I look forward to working with him on special global initiatives,†said Murray.
With FCB’s newly restructured global company, Ohri will serve as a member of the global operating committee and report directly to Murray in New York.
“FCB has gone back to its roots and is reigniting its brand essence under Carter’s leadership. The opportunity to partner with him, in what could be the most defining time in the history of FCB convinced me to quit my regional assignment and come back to India,†said Ohri in the statement.“FCB Ulka has a rich legacy of creating solid brand-building work. It’s a company that values partnerships, people and culture. The opportunity to build on this legacy and to take a great agency to greater heights is truly exciting. I’m delighted to be at the right place at the right time and with the right people.â€
Ohri will be supported by FCB Ulka’s management board, which includes Shashi Sinha, Executive Director, Lodestar Media and CEO – IPG Mediabrands; Niteen Bhagwat, Executive Director, Interface Communications and Asterii Analytics; MG Parameswaran, Executive Director of FCB Ulka Mumbai and Bengaluru, FCBi, Cogito and Arvind Wable, Executive Director, FCB Ulka Delhi.
McNROE Consumer Products has announced the appointment of 22Feet Tribal Worldwide as its digital agency. The company, which is known for its brands Wild Stone and Secret Temptations, has brought the digital agency on board to lead its digital efforts across online platforms with a special emphasis on consumer engagement.
22feet Tribal Worldwide will be responsible for the digital strategy across the McNROE’s entire portfolio- Wild Stone and Secret Temptation. The agency will lead digital brand planning across businesses and develop strategic brand campaigns for the digital platform to strengthen the connection between the two brands and their respective consumers.
NK Daga, Director-Founder, McNROE said, “We have always been committed to bringing top international quality fragrances to Indian consumers and delivering the best innovative experience in the industry. As we continue to grow, our intention is to place even greater emphasis on engaging with our customers through online experiences. 22feet Tribal Worldwide’s strong strategic capabilities combined with the understanding of our business made them the perfect agency partner to help us engage with our customers online.â€
Commenting about the partnership, Vineet Gupta, Managing Director at 22feet Tribal Worldwide, said, “We are extremely excited about our partnership with McNroe Consumer Products Pvt. Ltd. for its brands Wild Stone and Secret Temptation. Wild Stone is a brand that has cemented itself in Indian consciousness with their distinctive communication and offering. Secret Temptation has created a niche for itself by appealing to young girls with its contemporary fragrances. We want to bring this equity into the web and create a robust digital framework that yields results for the brands and the business.”
Orchard Advertising has announced the appointment of Lubna Khan as National Strategy Head. Lubna will be based out of Orchard Advertising’s Mumbai office.
Lubna’s inclusion in the leadership team of Orchard Advertising is a significant development in the agency’s journey of growth, where the ambition is to offer business solutions to clients backed by strategy and insights and not just communication ideas.
Kaizad Pardiwalla
Kaizad Pardiwalla, Chief Operating Officer, Orchard Advertising, said, “Lubna is an award winning brand and innovation strategist. I’m truly delighted to state that in her we have found an exceptional leader to drive Orchard’s strategy. She is a rare talent who understands innovation, business strategy, and creativity, and possesses an impressive track-record of creating communication with demonstrable impact on brands, businesses, culture and people. I found her extremely passionate about the prospect of leveraging the power of psychological and cultural insights, to create work that can deliver game changing solutions for clients. Lubna will play a key role in collaborating with Orchard’s robust creative leadership team across our offices in India and partner clients in helping them achieve their business goals.â€
Rajeev Sharma
Rajeev Sharma, National Planning Director, The Leo Group India, adds, “We are proud to bring Lubna on board to lead strategy at Orchard. She is a rare combination of an exceptionally penetrative mind, passion for great work and a truly impressive knowledge base honed over a broad spectrum of multinational and Indian leadership brands across the country.â€
GroupM media agency Maxus has bagged the media mandate for Paper Boat. This win comes after a multi-agency pitch by the Maxus Bengaluru team headed by Sanchayeeta Verma, South Head, Maxus.
Commenting on the occasion, Parvesh Debuka, Marketing Head, Paper Boat, “’My love affair with Maxus began some time ago. I was bowled over by their charm (and the data analytics). I think it will be lots of fun working together.â€
Commenting on the win, Verma said, “We are extremely delighted to have Paper Boat with us. Our vision is two-fold – one to make the drink extremely popular and increase their visibility. The second would be to communicate their brand proposition of „memories‟ through an effective media mix and creative strategies. Our approach will be both strategic and tactical for meeting our goals!â€
Media agency Maxus, with GroupM ESP, has won the sponsorship rights for PayTM, for all home cricket series to be played from September 2015 to October 2019. The bids were opened by the BCCI in New Delhi yesterday and announced immediately. The deal is valued at Rs 203.28 crores for 84 matches for the four-year period.
This is the first time a sponsorship deal for the BCCI has been concluded by a media agency.
Kartik Sharma
Kartik Sharma, Managing Director, Maxus South Asia said, “We are extremely happy for partnering with PayTM, and helping them win the BCCI rights. Until now cricket has been dominated by other mature categories and this is the first time an e-commerce brand will be using the platform to connect and engage with its consumer base.â€
Shankar Nath, Senior VP commented: “We are delighted at becoming the Title Sponsor for all BCCI India cricket for the next four years. We firmly believe the partnership with cricket in India will help establish us even more as the dominant mobile commerce company in the country. As a growing brand which has big plans for a billion strong Indians there is no platform better than cricket in India.â€
