MxMIndia

Category: Ad Agencies

  • Behind every great commercial is super strategy. Every week, MxMIndia will bring you the brief and the strat as given by the client and whatever else that went into creating a winning ad. AdStrat is compiled by Shubhangi Mehta.

    Ad Strat: Parachute Advansed Hot Oil

    Rahul Mathew, ECD, McCann Ericksonn

     

    Name of the Campaign/Ad: Parachute Advansed Hot Oil

     

    The Brief: Only Parachute Advansed Hot Oil gives deep conditioning in just 20 minutes

     

    Research: No one refutes the goodness of coconut oil, especially when it comes to conditioning the hair. But today’s young women have a grouse with traditional coconut oil – its efficacy takes far too long. They want the same efficacy at a fraction of the time.

     

    Parachute Advansed Hot Oil doesn’t just condition your hair. It deep conditions it, and in just 20 minutes.

     

    [youtube width=”380″ height=”230″]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7dhIxiJCpx8[/youtube]

    The thought process behind the creative: There are days when your hair is just not in the mood to listen to you. And that’s when it needs a little more than just a wash. It needs a little deep conditioning. Just to make it more manageable and a lot more cooperative.

     

    Media vehicles chosen: TV, Print, Outdoor.

     

    Key issues kept in mind while executing the ad: Imagery and visual language which is differentiated from the hair oil category. A relatable, relevant set-up which the audience can identify with.

     

    Does the treatment do justice to the brief?
    It captures a relevant emotion in a young woman’s life. And the brand comes as a quick, efficacious and effortless solution.

     

    What according to you is the differentiating factor about the campaign: It talks of all the goodness of hair oil with an imagery that’s young and aspirational. And it’s been seamlessly integrated into the film, even in the track that has been used. It’s from a 1960s film called Mere Sanam. A classic track made contemporary to appeal to today’s generation (by Dhruv Ghanekar), quite like the oil itself.

     

    Credits:

    Director: Sabyasachi ‘Zap’ Sengupta

    Production House: Gingerwater films

    Account Management: Loveleen Raina, Pradnya Sengupta, Rohan Parkar, Samruddhi Roge

    Creative: Rahul Mathew, Akshay Kapnadak, Trishay Kotwal, Ramchandra Patil, Godwin D’Mello, Deepak Jage

     

  • Suresh has the right combination of passion, talent and commitment to partner our creative and account management teams to take our creative product to the next level, says Rohit Ohri, Executive Chairman, DentsuIndia

    Suresh Mohankumar is National Planning Head @ Dentsu

    By A Correspondent

     

    Continuing with the series of senior-level appointments, the Dentsu India Group has announced the appointment of Suresh Mohankumar as National Planning Head, Dentsu Communications

     

    Based out of Bengaluru, Mr Mohankumar will lead strategic planning and brand management at Dentsu Communications across its offices inNew Delhiand Bengaluru. A seasoned planner with nearly two decades of experience, Suresh joins Dentsu from MudraIndiawhere he was Senior Vice President and Head of Planning – Mudra South.

     

    Welcoming Mr Mohankumar to Dentsu, Rohit Ohri, Executive Chairman, DentsuIndiasaid: “I’m really happy to have Suresh as a part of the leadership team of Dentsu Communications. Suresh has the right combination of passion, talent and commitment to partner our creative and account management teams to take our creative product to the next level.”

     

    Taira Kimura, Chief Operating Officer, Dentsu Communications said: “Suresh brings on board strong experience across brand, categories and regions. I have great confidence in his abilities and expertise to add value to our service deliveries and up the ante at Dentsu Communications.”

     

    On joining Team Dentsu, Suresh Mohankumar, National Planning Head, Dentsu

    Communications said: “The communications business is at a crossroads as convention increasingly gives way to real consumer engagement. That integration and media-neutral planning is the way forward and it is exactly what Dentsu believes in and I believe that Dentsu is uniquely structured to deliver that. Also as part of an organization at the cusp of an exciting transformation, I am very excited about my journey ahead and look forward to my mandate at Dentsu Communications.”

     

    Mr Mohankumar started his career in Account Management with RK Swamy/BBDO in Chennai. He worked with Contract and Lowe inBangalore. He switched to Account Planning in 2000 when he moved to Mudra Chennai. As a strategic planner he then worked with Contract and JWT in Chennai.

     

    Tanishq, BPL, Ford, Volkswagen, Carbon, MRF, Lotte, TI cycles, Henkel, Fa, Reynolds, McDowell’s, Johnson & Johnson and Lipton are some of the brands that he worked on. He cites his experience while working on Tanishq’s ‘karatmeter’ campaign as something that motivated him to become a strategic planner.

     

    A commerce graduate, Mr Mohankumar completed his MBA with a dual specialization in Marketing and Finance from T.A. Pai Management Institute (TAPMI) in 1993.

     

  • Yatra.com finalises McCann as its creative partner; estimated account size INR 15-20 cr

    Yatra.com to partner with McCann for their creative business

    By Shubhangi Mehta

     

    Travel company Yatra Online has gone ahead and announced the appointment of McCann as its creative agency. McCann takes over from TBWA who handled the account for the agency until recently. On the appointment of McCann, a senior official from Yatra Online Pvt Ltd said, “Yatra and TBWA have decided to part ways. Though they helped us present ourselves as a ticketing brand and position us rightly in the online travel space, we felt the need to engage the services of a bigger agency and hence we called in for a pitch.” The official confirmed that the agencies that took part included Ogilvy, Percept H, McCann and TBWA.

     

    Sources close to the development have confirmed to MxM India that there is also a media pitch happening for the online travel company.

     

    Before TBWA, Yatra.com had appointed Rediffusion Y&R as its creative agency in 2009; while Leo Burnett was the official agency in 2007.

     

    The online travel company entered the market in August 2006. It had initially appointed Everest Brand Solutions as its creative agency, and Mudra’s media agency, Optimum Media Solutions (which was re-christened Mudra Connext), handled its media duties.

     

    Yatra Online is a travel company providing information, pricing, availability and booking facility for air travel, hotels, buses and car rentals across 5,000 large cities and small rural areas around the globe. It acts as a complete tour planner for travellers and is a one-stop shop for every travel need.

     

  • Yatra.com finalises on its creative partner, mandates will be now handled by McCann. Estimated account size,15-20 crore.

    From y’day: Yatra.com entrusts McCann with creative biz

    By Shubhangi Mehta

     

    On the appointment of McCann, Pratik Mazumder Head Marketing & Strategic Relations at Yatra Online Pvt Ltd said,” Yatra and TBWA have decided to part ways, the helped us present ourselves as a ticketing brand and position us but now we felt the need of a bigger agency hence decided to call for a pitch. There was Ogilvy, Percept H, Maccann and TBWA involved in the process and we decided to get MacCann on board.”

     

    Sources close to the development have confirmed to MxM India have confirmed that there is also a media pitch happening for the online travel company.

     

    Before TBWA, Yatra.com had appointed Rediffusion Y&R as its creative agency in 2009; while Leo Burnett was the official agency in 2007.

     

    The online travel company entered the market in August 2006. It had initially appointed Everest Brand Solutions as its creative agency, and Mudra’s media agency, Optimum Media Solutions (which was re-christened Mudra Connext), handled its media duties.

     

    Yatra Online Pvt Ltd. is a travel company providing information, pricing, availability and booking facility for air travel, hotels, buses and car rentals across 5,000 large cities and small rural areas around the globe. It acts as a complete tour planner for travellers and is a one-stop shop for every travel need.

     

  • Mr. Sanjay Mehta and Mr Hareesh Tibrewala, co-founders of Social Wavelength, were awarded 'Social Media Entrepreneurs Of The Year 2012'

    Social Wavelength wins 2 Biggies at WAT Awards, 2012

    By A Correspondent

     

    SocialWavelength,India’s leading social media agency, has been awarded the ‘Social Media Agency of The Year 2012’ for the outstanding all-round work done in the Social Media space at the recently concluded WAT Awards 2012.

     

    To make the evening more special, Mr. Sanjay Mehta and Mr Hareesh Tibrewala, serial Internet entrepreneurs and co-founders of Social Wavelength, were also awarded ‘Social Media Entrepreneurs Of The Year 2012’.

     

    WAT Awards is an initiative of WAT Blog to recognize and felicitate agencies and professionals who have done ground breaking work in the Indian digital media space.

     

    “The ‘Social Media Entrepreneur Of The Year’ award is a recognition by our peers, for the passion and hard work we have put in to build the organization thus far. It also serves as an inspiration to scale greater heights”, said Hareesh Tibrewala, Joint CEO, on receiving the ‘Social Media Entrepreneurs Of The Year’ award.

     

    “The double success of being ‘Social Media Agency Of The Year’ and also the ‘Social Media Entrepreneurs Of The Year’ makes for a fabulous start to 2012. Coming as it does after the Red Herring Asia 100 win, it puts us in the perfect mind frame and motivation to make 2012 a big year for us,” added Sanjay Mehta, Joint CEO.

     

    Mihir Karkare, AVP, said: “Being recognized as the ‘Social Media Agency of the Year’ is a proud moment for our entire team. It makes all the sleepless nights and the hard deadlines worth their while.”

     

    Social Wavelength is a social media agency, headquartered at Mumbai. It’s suite of services include social media monitoring, online-reputation management, online PR, social media management and building online communities. Social Wavelength has a client portfolio of more than 50 Indian and international brands.

     

  • This is not something that will transform people from dull writers to sparkling geniuses in three hours, but will make them figure out, stumble on their own methods and ways of dealing with inspiration, says driving force Prathap Suthan.

    Alt Del to conduct writing workshop

    By A Correspondent

     

    Alt Del (The Delhi Alternative) is conducting a writing workshop, worDomination -make words obey you- on December 3 at the Alliance Francaise, New Delhi from 9 am to 12 pm. The workshop aims to help writers, aspiring, junior, upcoming, jaded, tired, et al.

     

    Elaborating on the workshop, Prathap Suthan, who is the driving force behind Alt Del, said, “I plan to share a few ideas on how to get words listen to people. Or how to get the right words to express. This is not something that will transform people from dull writers to sparkling geniuses in three hours, but this something that will make them figure out, stumble on their own methods and ways of dealing with inspiration.

     

    “I’ll be discussing effective ways that would impact them, and help them come out of the workshop better than ever. Writing is a process, and it’s a lifelong process, but if one is armed with mental tools and guidance systems to impel their talent, they could become more prolific. I believe that words ought to be subservient to writers, and writers need to be the masters of their words. Words cannot be disobedient little things that have a mind of their own. They need to heel, they need to pay obeisance, and they need implicitly listen to their writer. Hence, all the communication that’s gone out on the workshop has been created along the more contemporary theme of ‘domination’. The workshop is called ‘worDomination’- make words obey you.”

     

    The workshop is one of the winter’s many ideas from Alt Del and is open to everyone in the communications industry and not just restricted to advertising professionals.

  • Lavie releases its first ever TV campaign, capturing the essence of the brand, ‘Handbags for the Many Moods of Women’.

    First TVC from Lavie

    By A Correspondent

    [youtube width=”350″ height=”250″]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LI7X1r-42OE[/youtube]

    Conceptualized by TBWA, the new television commercial of Lavie featuring the brand ambassador Kareena Kapoor, hits across various  TV channels this season. The new television commercial for Lavie captures the dilemma of the sales person who attends to innumerable women, with varied demands. It also highlights the perplexity of a woman who has a picture of requirement in mind but is unable to convey the same and is trying various options to come to a conclusion of what to shop for. The new television commercial for Lavie is created based on the notion of women with various moods.

     

    Talking about the insight behind the creative idea, Mr Rahul Sengupta, National Creative Director, TBWA India states, “Probably the most complex machine is the mind of a woman. It means one thing while it says something else. The statement is truest of all when a woman is shopping. If you have ever been a brother, suitor, husband or salesman, you will know. Watching this can be bemusing and amusing at the same time.”

     

    The TVC captures the essence of Lavie which has bags for all the moods of today’s jet-setting women.

     

    Mr Sandeep Goenka, Business Head of Lavie says, “Kareena very well resembles the personality of Lavie and the association with her is synonymous with our brand. And with this ad, Kareena captures the essence of shopping, for every woman with her proficient expressions. The Lavie collection offers stylish and accessible handbags for today’s jet-setting women which are now readily available all over India.”

     

    Talking about the objective of the campaign, Mr Nirmalya Sen, Managing Director, TBWA India says, “We aren’t the only brand that claims it has a wide range of styles and colours. But then, that truly is the competitive advantage of this brand – the widest range of colours, styles, genres of handbags. The challenge was to communicate range in a manner that is distinctive and endears the brand to its audience – confident, young, style-conscious women.”

     

    Credits:

    National Creative Director: Rahul Sengupta, (NCD TBWA India)

    Creative team: Rahul Sengupta, Rahul Ghosh, Siddharth Deo, Shagun Seda & Kimberley Flanagan.

    Account Management: Nirmalya Sen, Anand Narayan, Priya Chandni & Geetanjali Sharma

    Planning: Rajesh Sharma & Reny Thomas

    Production house: 30 Secs of Fame

    Director: Uzair Khan

  • Creativeland Asia has won the creative mandate for two verticals of Godrej – Godrej hair colour and a new product line to be launched soon.

    Creativeland bags Godrej verticals

    By A Correspondent

     

    Following a multi-agency pitch, Creativeland Asia has won the creative mandate for two verticals of Godrej – Godrej hair colour and a new product line which is soon to be launched.

     

    Commenting on this partnership, Mr Sajan RaJ Kurup, Founder and Creative Chairman, Creativeland Asia said, “Godrej is one of India’s most trusted and prestigious brands, and it gives me great pleasure to see them place immense faith in Creativeland Asia. I am also excited about the opportunity to launch their new product line. We are looking ahead to this partnership and are certain that our work culture and beliefs will match the unsurpassed legacy of brand Godrej.”

     

    Creativeland was founded by  Mr Kurup in the summer of 2007, and since has grown to an over 80-strong team with two full-fledged offices in India and nine strategic offices in Asia. Creativeland’s work has been awarded at the D&Ad, One Show, Adfest and Cannes.  It recently became the first ‘Independent Agency of the Year’ at the Spikes Asia 2011.

  • Lowe Lintas drives new business at a scorching pace

    Lowe aims high

    By A Correspondent

    Lowe Lintas, one of India’s largest and most storied communication groups has won a staggering number of new accounts across the country this year. In just the first 9 months of this year, the agency has signed on 80 new clients; and with three months left to go this year, is hoping to cross the 100 mark for the year. Lowe Lintas has won these businesses across the country – in both metros and non-metros; and in advertising and in specialist communication fields like PR, Healthcare, Rural and Design.

     

    So while wins for Lowe Lintas’ advertising division include names like Suzlon, 3M,Tata Interactive, Birla Ultratech, Videocon D2H, GE Healthcare, UIDAI, Muthoot Pappachan Group and Expedia; its specialist PR division, LinOpinion’s wins include businesses like Tourism Victoria, Starwood Hotels & Resorts,  Samsonite and Times Now.  Lowe Lintas’ specialist Healthcare division, LinHealth’s wins include Cadila Pharmaceuticals, Bayer Pharmaceuticals and Sun Pharma; its specialist Rural Communications division, LinTerland has been signed on by Johnson & Johnson and Nokia.

     

    Speaking on this performance, Mr Joseph George, CEO, Lowe Lintas India said, “I personally believe that the tremendous equity that Lowe Lintas enjoys is under leveraged. Which is why, we set ourselves an aggressive growth target for 2011 and simultaneously went about putting in place an “enabling eco system”. I am happy to say that the first three quarters have been spot on plan; with every win making everyone across levels and functions hungrier the subsequent quarter. What is equally gratifying is that we have been able to win businesses across not just diverse categories, but also across all our offerings – Lowe, LinOpinion, LinHealth, LinTerland, LinProductions, LinTeractive and dCell.”

  • Veteran adperson Ranjan Kapur has agreed with the Regional Management of Bates Asia to step into the role of Chairman Bates India. It will be in addition to his current role as Country Head, WPP, India

    [Flashed y’day] Ranjan Kapur is new Bates chairman

    Veteran adperson Ranjan Kapur has agreed with the Regional Management of Bates Asia to step into the role of Chairman Bates India. It will be in addition to his current role as Country Head, WPP, India.

     

    In his new role, Mr Kapur will work closely with the senior management of Bates India to fire a new ambition and help develop an organization structure that offers more relevant ways of engaging with clients and consumers “Bates has developed an exciting new ‘changengage’ philosophy that helps provide solutions that are both media and discipline neutral, and it has through the line capability and resources, to deliver them. To drive this thinking forward we are in conversations with a few new age thinkers and we hope to finalize on the CeO for bates India very shortly,” said Mr Kapur in a communique.

     

    Mr Kapur has been informally engaged with Bates ever since he stepped down as Chairman of Ogilvy. Mr Dheeraj Sinha, Regional Head of Planning feels that Ranjan will help galvanize the people at bates India. “His reputation precedes him and he hasn’t lost any of the passion and drive he displayed when he led Ogilvy to the top.”

     

    “The recent departures at Bates India, have presented us with an opportunity to put the right leadership in place”, says Mr Tim Isaac, Regional Head of Bates Asia. “I am delighted to renew my partnership with Ranjan. I have worked with Ranjan many times since I first arrived in Singapore in 1986. With Ranjan as Chairman and a new CeO in place shortly we will be looking to accelerate our growth in India”.

     

  • Aegon Religare 'hijacked' the letter 'i' from yesterday's national daily, The Times of India. The innovation was done to introduce the new and improved iTerm Insurance plan for Aegon Religare

    Aegon Religare hijacks ‘i’ from TOI

    By A Correspondent

     

    Aegon Religare ‘hijacked’ the letter ‘i’ from yesterday’s national daily, The Times of India. The innovation was done to introduce the new and improved iTerm Insurance plan for Aegon Religare. The front page of the TOI in 8 metros carried the letter ”I’ in the masthead and headlines in the colour blue and in small font similar to the ‘i’ used in the word icon in the main copy advertising for Religare.

     

    Talking about the objective behind this campaign, Mukesh Waje, AVP, Branding, Aegon Religare said, “It is very clearly to announce the launch of a product that has been a pioneer in the market. This campaign is to announce the comeback of an icon. The campaign will unfold further on the web and will heavily rely on this medium. Besides we will have radio and print to support for the duration of the next three weeks.”

     

    The campaign is designed by Ogilvy and BCCL has partnered on media. Though Mr Waje refused to put the amount spent on the campaign, he added, “We have already started getting calls post the ad and we are positive that the campaign will do well for us.”

     

    Aegon had earlier created a stir with its KILB campaign during its launch which talks about being underinsured. Last year, during the same time, the company had done another print campaign on the jacket of TOI where the print of the first page was hardly legible, thus asking if one’s insurance was as faint as the words on the paper, again pointing to being underinsured.

     

  • The General Body of the Asian Federation of Advertising Associations (AFAA) has unanimously elected Pradeep Guha, representing the Advertising Council of India, as the Chairman of its newly mandated Executive Committee for a period of four years.

    Pradeep Guha is Chairman of AFAA

    By A Correspondent

     

    The General Body of the Asian Federation of Advertising Associations (AFAA) has unanimously elected Pradeep Guha, representing the Advertising Council of India, as the Chairman of its newly mandated Executive Committee for a period of four years.

     

    Talking to MxM India on the agenda for AFAA, Mr Guha said, “We will have a steering committee meeting in Bali in May this year where we will take a decision on the way ahead. However, I do feel that there is a need for some joint action across Asia on issues concerning the changing media environment particularly with regard to self regulation and advertising.”

     

    He continued, “There is a real need for an umbrella body like AFAA which represents the interests of marketers, agencies and the media to play a more proactive role in the Asian subcontinent.”

     

    Raymond So who represents Taipei Association of Advertising Agencies was elected Deputy Chairman. The new four-person committee consists of Bharat Avalani, Anthony Kang (representing Association of Accredited Advertising Agents, Singapore), Soon Dong Lee (representing Korea Federation of Advertising Associations) and Ramesh Narayan (representing the Advertising Council of India ).

     

    Founded in 1978, AFAA has representations in 15 Asian nations including Japan, Korea, Taipei, Thailand, Vietnam, Malaysia, Singapore, Philippines, Indonesia, Bangladesh, India, Sri Lanka, Nepal, Pakistan and UAE. Its primary objectives are to unify all Asian associations involved in the various aspects of advertising and upgrade the standards, ethics, and practices of advertising and to bring about a meaningful contribution from advertising activities to both regional and national socio-economic development. Under its aegis, AdAsia, Adfest and the Asia Pacific Media Forum is held.