Carat India has roped in Sujata Dwibedy as executive vice president. A media veteran with more than 17 years of experience, Sujata has extensively worked across sectors such as FMCG, telecom, airlines, finance, alcohol and beverages. Prior to this, Sujata was head – business development at Omnicom Media Group.
As per her new mandate, Sujata will lead the Mondelez business at Carat in India and ensure that the best possible solutions are provided across all media platforms. Meanwhile, she will also work closely with the Carat APAC team on the business.
Speaking on the appointment, Kartik said, “We are delighted to have the vast experience and capabilities that Sujata brings to the table. I am certain that she will bring to bear all of her learnings to deliver outstanding solutions for Mondelez in India.â€
Sujata added, “I have always aspired to work on brand Mondelez. It is a wonderful brand to work on. It is a matter of great pride for me that I will be able to leverage my planning, research, buying and strategic skills for a brand of this stature!â€
Scarecrow Communications has won the creative mandate of ALT Balaji. The agency was shortlisted after a multi-round pitch process, following which Scarecrow was brought on board.
Speaking on the win, Manish Bhatt, Founder Director, Scarecrow Communications, said, “Today, the entire world is shifting to the digital platform for their entertainment. Balaji Telefilms has a rich legacy of producing the most favoured content on a large scale for multiple platforms – from Television to Films. And with ALT Balaji, they’re gearing up to entertain the digital audience as well. Scarecrow is really enthused to be part of this ambitious and exciting brand visionâ€.
Nachiket Pantvaidya
Nachiket Pantvaidya – ALT Balaji, CEO said, “We’re excited to work with Scarecrow Communications and look forward to doing cutting edge creative work with them that will launch and build ALT Balaji for its consumers, both in India and overseas.â€
ALT Balaji will create highly differentiated, original digital content for the entire connected ecosystem spanning mobiles, computers, tablets, smart TVs and game stations. Through this endeavor, Balaji Telefilms will go beyond the current themes of television entertainment to set a new bench-mark with younger, edgier and smarter contemporary content.
While Scarecrow will be handling creative mandate, brand identity of Alt Balaji has been created by branding and design firm Mangoblossom and brand identity has been created by Mangoblossom Design.
Dentsu Creative Impact, the creative agency from Dentsu Aegis Network has made two major senior appointments in an attempt to further strengthen its creative product. The agency has roped in Anupama Ramaswamy and Akashneel Dasgupta as Executive Creative Directors. They will report to Soumitra Karnik, National Creative Director, Dentsu India Group.
Anupama Ramaswamy
Prior to joining Dentsu Creative Impact, Anupama Ramaswamy was Executive Creative Director at Cheil, Gurgaon and was in-charge of the Samsung Mobile account. In the recent years, Anupama has worked on the launch of the Galaxy J series, Note 4, Grand 2 and the extremely-popular “Fickle is Fun†campaign for Lavie Handbags.
Commenting on her new role, Anupama said, “I am very excited to join Dentsu Creative Impact. I have loved the vibe of the agency since the moment I walked in. Soumitra and Amit have been trying to get the best possible talent, and my mandate here is to have fun while building a vibrant and creative culture. This will involve less rhetoric and more hands-on hard work.”
She further adds, “While it is important to win metals, it is also critical for us to glamourize our day-to-day business as well. It can never be an ‘either/or’ situation. I would really like to see the more difficult every day work, which keeps the business ticking, to become more creative. Lastly, together we shall try and build a creative culture, which for me is the 3 P’s of advertising – People with a Positive Purpose. Once these three come together, we have a winner at hand.â€
Some of the agencies that Anupama has worked with include JWT, Lowe, Rediffusion, Havas and FCB. She has worked across a gamut of brands such as Nokia, Airtel, Woodland, Whirlpool, LG, Maruti, Lays and Boost. In her kitty are a number of  AdFest Golds, Spikes, Effies, New York Festival and a number of Abby’s. She was part of the One Show Jury in 2012 and is a regular face on the Goafest jury panel over the last few years.
Akashneel Dasgupta
Meanwhile, Akashneel Dasgupta’s last assignment was at ADK Fortune where he was heading the creative function. Akashneel started his career in advertising with strategic planning at Mudra. After spending a good 5 years in planning, he decided to venture into copywriting within the DDB Mudra group. In 2010, he joined Lowe Lintas as a creative director and then moved to ADK Fortune as vice-president and creative head in 2013. He has worked across categories such as automobiles (both two wheelers and four wheelers), FMCG, media, online travel, fashion, real estate, food and beverages, etc. Some of the brands that he has worked on are Maruti Suzuki, Paras Pharma (Moov, Itchguard, Dermicool, Krack, Livon, etc) Rasna, Johnson and Johnson, Yamaha, Honda, Emami, Woodland, Expedia, DLF and Wills Lifestyle amongst others.
Commenting on his new role, Akashneel said, “It’s an exciting time to join Dentsu Creative Impact where a young new team has taken shape and one cannot fail to notice the energy and enthusiasm. Also, it was a personal desire for some time to work with Soumitra and I am happy that an opportunity has presented itself. Hope you get to hear more from us, soon.”
Soumitra Karnik
Talking about the exciting new additions to the team, Soumitra Karnik, NCD, Dentsu Creative Impact said, “Great work happens when people commit to constantly raising the bar. We are young and tremendously hungry for qualitative growth. To satiate our appetite and to help us achieve our objective, people become easily our single most valuable asset and we cherry pick each one of them. Both Anupama and Akash are just the kind of people Dentsu Creative Impact needs to write its destiny. For me, they are our fantastic acquisitions.â€
After a multi agency pitch, Fortuity Gaming Pvt Ltd handed over the creative duties of PokerNation to Scarecrow Communications. As a part of the extensive pitch process, the agency had to cater to every aspect related to the brand, such as brand positioning, strategy and creative.
PokerNation is an online Poker gaming website promoted by Fortuity Gaming. It has been created like a virtual nation on the Internet – a nation, for the players, by the players and of the players.
The mandate for Scarecrow includes a complete digital campaign, blogs, digital videos, videos on how to play  Poker and TV commercials.
Gautam Thawani
Confirming the development, Gautam Thawani, Business Head, Fortuity Gaming, says, “Globally over 6.8 per cent people play Poker. That’s about 40 million people. Of this, a large percentage is below 35 years of age. In India too, it’s quite popular in Mumbai, Delhi, Goa and Bangalore most of which is played online and in offline private Poker Rooms. For us, it was a great opportunity to tap into the gaming category.â€
Arunava (Joy) Sengupta, Founder Director, Scarecrow Communications, adds, “The online Poker space is not properly regulated. Hence, people are hesitant about playing Poker on websites whose credentials are questionable. Essel Group’s entry will go a long way in reassuring the gaming community about online Poker. For Scarecrow too, it was a unique experience to partner Essel Group in this new age category.â€
Manish Bhatt, Founder Director, Scarecrow says, “It’s rare when an agency gets a mandate to create a virtual nation for Poker lovers. The challenge is to make it exclusive, yet inclusive. Scarecrow had the opportunity of being involved in the formation of this ‘nation’ from its birth. From naming it to designing its look. From writing the blog to the online communication. From designing merchandise like Poker chips to T shirts and jackets. This is a nation where anyone can migrate to, and become its citizen. The official game is Poker. This nation has its own currency, its own national animal and even its own national anthem.â€
Au Bon pain called for a review of its communication duties as it is aggressively looking at growing in the country. Bang in the Middle was awarded the business after review that included many well established names from the Advertising Industry. The incumbent agency was L&K Satchi and Satchi.
Manish Tandon, CEO, Au Bon Pain said “We are at a new and exciting phase of growth and are expanding both our offering and reach for which we needed a creative communication partner that could work closely with us to make this happen. Bang in the Middle brought in strategic clarity and backed it with truly out of the box creative execution. The task for Bang in the Middle is to ensure the brand gets the traction it is seeking.â€
Naresh Gupta, Managing Partner, Bang in the Middle said “It is a matter of tremendous pride to win Au Bon Pain. The brand has a very interesting approach and we feel that with its time we fell in love with what Au Bon Pain has to offer.â€
Global media agency network Mindshare has appointed Maneesheel Gautam to the role of Digital Leader of South East Asia. Gautam is currently based in Jakarta, Indonesia.
A true home-grown talent of Mindshare, Gautam has over 16 years of multi-function media experience across disciplines and countries. An MBA from IMDR Pune, Gautam schooled in St Xavier’s High School, Patna.
As Digital Leader of Mindshare South East Asia, Gautam will focus on strengthening FAST (Future Adaptive Specialist Team), Mindshare’s service offering aimed at building sector-specific solutions for marketers to drive marketing and media actions using real-time insights. He will also be responsible for the growth of the Agency’s performance business in South East Asia.
In his new role, Gautam, will report to Himanshu Shekhar, CEO of Mindshare South East Asia, and work closely with the Mindshare Asia Pacific team.
Commenting on the promotion, Shekhar said: “Maneesheel is respected by clients, teams, and media partners alike. Being named Planner of the Year by Campaign Asia Pacific, he played a key role in driving Mindshare and our clients’ digital ambition in the market. His great work not only won industry awards for the agency, but also helped grow Indonesia’s digital sector overall. I have no doubt that he will achieve even more in his new role.â€
DDB Mudra North announced the elevation of Subhashish Datta & Shivil Gupta to Executive Creative Directors, DDB Mudra North. In their new roles, Subhashish & Shivil will report to Sambit Mohanty, Creative Head, DDB Mudra North and will be based out of agency’s Gurgaon office.
Both Subbu and Shivil have been instrumental in adding to the creative strength of the agency. Their knowledge and experience have helped the agency grow and set new standards of creative output. Together they have successfully worked on key brands like Aircel, Adidas, Wrigleys, Dabur, McVitie’s, Dhara, Carrier etc
Sonal DabralSambit Mohanty
Commenting on the elevation, Sonal Dabral, Chairman & Chief Creative Officer, DDB Mudra Group said “DDB Mudra North is buzzing with energy and creating work that’s winning the hearts of consumers and award juries alike. It’s a hothouse of talent and it is people like Subbu and Shivil who are making all this possible. Their new role and new responsibility is a well-deserved salute to their talent, their passion and their energy. Here’s wishing the two all the very best.â€
Sambit Mohanty, creative head – North, DDB Mudra, said, “DDB Mudra North has grown from strength to strength in the last two years. Subbu & Shivil have been a key part of this unprecedented growth story. Anointing them as ECDs is an affirmation of their capabilities as creative leaders who inspire confidence and respect. I congratulate them and look forward to more magic.”
Publicis announced the appointment of Suraj Pombra as Executive Vice President for the Publicis Capital Mumbai operations. In this role Suraj will oversee all operations of Publicis Capital in Mumbai, while reporting in to Hemant Misra CEO Publicis Capital.
Suraj Pombra
Suraj discovered his attitude and aptitude for advertising two decades ago. In this time, he has sharpened his instincts across a plethora of categories and stewarded many a brand, including Marico, Citibank, Kotak, IndianOil, Bisleri, Park Hotel, Reliance Infrastructure, Meru, Legrand and more. Starting with Trikaya Grey in Kolkata, his tryst with advertising has taken him through DDB/Mudra, JWT, Grey again, Publicis Ambience and even the rare entrepreneurial experience of founding & running a startup agency. Having been there, done that, he returns to Publicis, a place he calls home.
Hemant Misra
Announcing his appointment Hemant Misra CEO Publicis Capital said, ‘Suraj is a seasoned Publicis man and I am delighted to welcome him back to our fold. He will lead a large team and have responsibility for some of our marque accounts like Garnier and Sanofi. I am very confident he will quickly make his mark with the value he will bring for our clients and their business.’
YU has appointed Contract Advertising as its creative agency for its overall brand campaign. YU has witnessed tremendous growth in first year of its launch and announced products including Yureka, Yuphoria and Yutopia. After having built YUÂ as a leading online brand, this year the focus will be to deliver the brand narrative in a refreshed way.
YU has built a noticeable presence for the brand and its products through well engaged social campaigns and by being close to its users and their feedback through community networks. YU is not only focusing on a true hardware driven smartphone experience but a complete consumer experience that’s enhanced by an impeccable software as well. Contract has been mandated to build this communication amongst the new age, all hooked in target consumers.
“This is an extraordinary time for us at YU Televentures,” said Shubhodip Pal, Chief Operating Officer, YU Televentures. “We have had a wonderful first year building YU as the No. 1 online brand with a connected community and a huge follower base. We are looking ahead to create and execute more successful campaigns with Contract Advertising.  We are also looking forward to harness Contract’s expertise to reach out to our diverse range of consumers through exciting campaign and in the process build YU as a premium technology brand. Our first campaign breaks on 1st June with our new flagship Yunicorn.”
Commenting on the appointment, Rana Barua, CEO Contract India, “We are excited to partner this new age brand with a pioneering eco-system and believe that it is poised to be the next big thing in premium handsets category. What is more heartening is the idea our Delhi Creative team presented at the pitch was bang on and is now being taken forward as the new thought. We look forward to a long and enriching relationship with YU, a fully owned subsidiary of Micromax.â€
The country is witnessing a wave of investment, positive sentiment and an increase in the sheer number of High Net Worth Individuals (HNWI). The luxury market in India has been growing at a CAGR of 25% over the last couple of years, says Publicis Media India CEO Anupriya Acharya. Â Adspends in India are said to be growing at 30% in the luxury sector.
Acharya spoke as Publicis Media agency Zenith’s new Luxury Advertising Expenditure Forecasts reports expenditure on luxury advertising will rise by 3.0% in 2016,up from 1.9% in 2015. This acceleration will be driven by recovery in Asia and Eastern Europe after a tough year in 2015. Luxury advertisers will spend a total of US$10.9bn across the Top 18 markets in 2016, up from US$10.6bn in 2015.
This is the second annual edition of the Luxury Advertising Expenditure Forecasts,which examines expenditure on luxury advertising in 18 key luxury markets. The 18 markets are China, Colombia, France, Germany, Hong Kong, Italy, Malaysia, Mexico, the Netherlands, Peru, Russia, Singapore, South Africa, South Korea, Spain, Taiwan, the United Kingdom and the United States of America. Yes, it doesn’t include India.
As with Zenith’s Advertising Expenditure Forecasts, this report provides historic expenditure figures and forecasts by medium. However, the study focuses specifically on luxury advertising, together with the sub-categories of luxury automotive, fragrances & beauty, fashion & accessories, and watches & jewellery.
The luxury advertising market slowed from 2.9% growth in 2014 to 1.9% growth in 2015 as advertisers reacted to slowdown in the BRIC markets as well as to local conflicts and terrorism. Adspend shrank by 1.4% in Asia and by a massive 20.3% in Eastern Europe (mainly the result of the oil crisis and rouble devaluation in Russia), but the global total was buoyed by strong growth in North America (3.6%) and Western Europe (4.7%).
Specifically on India, Acharya adds: “Currently, it is estimated to be in the region of $14.7 bn and estimated to soon cross 18.3 $ bn. Fragrances, watches and jewellery are top sellers in the luxury market, followed by skincare, apparel and fine dining. Consumers today aspire for value, even if it means paying a premium for it.â€Â The Delhi NCR market accounts for the highest SEC A market, followed by Mumbai, Bengaluru and Chennai. Non-metro cities such as Ahmedabad and Chandigarh are also growing in terms of income and propensity to buy luxury goods.
Zenith forecasts Asia to return to 2.9% growth in 2016, while the decline in Eastern Europe slows to 2.8%. North America will stay strong, with 3.9% growth, but Western Europe will slip back to 1.7%. Overall ZO forecasts 3.0% growth in luxury adspend across our top 18 markets in 2016.
Luxury advertising is growing less rapidly than advertising as a whole. Notes the report: “Across our top 18 markets, luxury advertising grew by 2.9% in 2014, compared to 5.6% for advertising as a whole, and 1.9% in 2015 (compared to 4.1%). We forecast this underperformance to continue, with luxury advertising growing 3.0% in 2016 compared to 4.5% growth across all categories. “
The USA and China are driving growth in luxury advertising: Between 2015 and 2017, ZO forecasts luxury advertising to grow by US$705m. 82% of this growth will come from the US (US$347m) and China (US$228m). The US and China are the largest and second-largest luxury ad markets respectively, accounting for 45% and 21% of luxury adspend in 2015. Germany is third, followed by France and the UK. “We expect to see very little growth from France, which is suffering from persistent unemployment, low confidence and low economic growth,†the report adds. Zenith forecasts the UK to overtake France to become the fourth-largest luxury ad market this year.
Digital will be the largest luxury advertising medium in 2017: Digital advertising is by far the biggest contributor to the growth in luxury advertising, growing consistently at double-digit rates. ZO expects digital media adspend by luxury advertisers to increase by US$837m between 2015 and 2017. Over this period, television, radio and cinema will increase by a total of US$26m between them; outdoor will shrink by US$10m; and print will shrink by U$150m.
By 2017, print will account for 28.6% of total luxury adspend, down from 31.9% in 2015. TV’s market-share will also decline over the same period, from 32.7% in 2015 to 30.7% in 2017. Digital’s market-share will increase from 26.3% in 2015 to 32.1% in 2017, when it will overtake TV and print to become the single largest medium for luxury advertising.
Print rules for ‘high luxury’ advertisers: Despite its decline in marketshare, print remains particularly important to luxury advertisers, specifically those in the fashion and accessories and watches and jewellery sub-categories. In 2015, fashion and accessories advertisers spent 83% of their budgets in print, and watches and jewellery advertisers spent 60%. Print titles –especially glossy magazines – provide high-quality, immersive yet relaxed reading experiences, a particularly suitable environment for luxury advertisers wishing to showcase their brand values.
Dentsu Aegis Network organised the third edition of its corporate social responsibility programme, ‘One Day For Change’, on June 3, 2016.
With children playing the central role in the programme this year, the India chapter of this global initiative successfully reached out to as many as 2500 children across the country. An estimated 1,500 Dentsu Aegis Network employees across offices in Mumbai, New Delhi, Bangalore, Kolkata, Chennai and Kochi were engaged to execute the project, “Champions For Childrenâ€.
In India, the key focus of the ‘One Day For Change’ (ODFC) programme was held across four categories – digital, education, health and entertainment.
As part of the digital push, the network’s Delhi office visited Kushi Rainbow Girls Home to donate  laptops and conduct sessions on excel & IT skills. Meanwhile, the employees also visited the Earth Saviours Foundation and interacted with more than 300 mentally challenged children.
In Mumbai, Dentsu Aegis Network touched the lives of 1100 kids across nine child welfare organisations. It is pertinent to note here that the Dentsu Aegis Network employees also created a Fun Fair for more than 200 children suffering from various forms of cancer to entertain them all through the day. The event was attended by none other than Bollywood actor Sanjay Dutt, the chief guest for the day at the Tata Memorial Hospital, Parel.
The company also arranged an educational excursion for 100 underprivileged children, supported by Umang Foundation, to Nehru Science Centre, Worli. Additionally, the group set-up a dental health check-up camp at Madras Wadi, a slum area near Worli, where 300 children turned up for the event.
The network was sub-divided into teams of 20-50 in Kolkata, Chennai, Bangalore and Kochi. Each team visited a particular child welfare shelter to execute a variety of creative workshops.
Delhi, Bangalore and Mumbai also tied up with various hospitals and NGOs to organise a blood donation drive for kids with Thalassemia and Cancer. Over 250 bottles of blood were donated by Dentsu Aegis Network staff across all regions.
Ashish Bhasin, Chairman & CEO South Asia Dentsu Aegis Network said, “One Day For Change is extremely important to us at Dentsu Aegis Network. It gives all our employees an opportunity to give back to the society, as a team. More important than what we volunteer in kind and cash is the time we all volunteer together. We hope to continue many of these activities throughout the year. It really feels good, as a team, to be able to do our bit.â€
One Day For Change is an annual social commitment by the Dentsu Aegis Network, where employees from each of the countries are encouraged to go out and volunteer on the same day.
Last year, over 800 employees volunteered in India contributing 2,200 staff hours. While the final numbers are still trickling in, it is estimated that in 2016 in India 1,500 employees volunteered over
Mindshare is partnering with Gramener, leading data visualization company to create data-driven visual solutions for actionable insights across the marketing and communications ecosystem.
Data increasingly powers every element of the marketing mix –source of growth, consumer behavior, content creation, mix optimization and measurement. This partnership leverages GroupM & Mindshare’s strong customer reach and Gramener’s compelling visual analytics platform to create solutions that leverage dormant data assets and bring them alive through cutting edge visualization.
The first project undertaken after the partnership was for the leading English news channel Times Now on May 19th 2016, when the State election results were announced. The team put together a unique, real time visualization of historic and current data that helped Times Now stand out strongly in the news clutter and gave viewers a compelling Visual Data Journalism experience.
Speaking about the data visualization products created especially for Times Now, Arnab Goswami, Editor-in-chief, Times Now said, “We were able to collate historic data dating back to the year of independence, and with the help of the Mindshare and Gramener team, we showed our viewers the latest trends and changing political scenario of the country, as the results of the latest State Elections were announced on May 19th 2016. Our reportage on the elections was holistic, and the data presentation helps the viewer understand our political environment better with the in depth analysis of our editorial team.The seamless workflow integration between the production teams of our news network and Gramener on a real time extremely fast paced election result day was a path breaker. I am absolutely delighted with this association.â€
Mindshare is a leader in providing strategic media services to a host of blue-chip clients. Adaptive Marketing is the driving philosophy of Mindshare and data is at the core of Adaptive Marketing. This partnership will enable the creation of bespoke products in the data management & visualization space.
Prasanth Kumar, CEO, Mindshare South Asia said, “To truly deliver on our philosophy of Adaptive Marketing, it is critical that Data is brought alive and put to best effect. Our partnership with Gramener will help us deliver this consistently and in a compelling fashion. We will announce our first joint product very soonâ€
Naveen Gattu, co-founder at Gramener added. “We are excited by this partnership. It will help us untangle the data footprint and create powerful decision making tools for every marketing manager and executive.”
Au Bon Pain is a bakery café chain with 24 cafes across Kolkata, Bangalore and Gurgaon. Au Bon Pain’s offerings include soups, salads, sandwiches, sweet and savory bakery, beverages, and has just introduced a host of new innovative dishes like Croi-Mosa, Conewich and Keema Kouign Amann.
Dentsu Aegis Network organised the third edition of its corporate social responsibility programme, ‘One Day For Change’, on June 3, 2016.