SVF has announced the appointment of RediffusionY&R as the creative agency for its new OTT platform Hoichoi. As part of the creative mandate, Rediffwill create the brands visual identity and its advertising campaigns. The brand name Hoichoi, suggested by Rediffusion Y&R, means non-stop excitement.
Hoichoi is an online platform for Bengali entertainment with over 500 movies, web originals and over 800 songs.
Vishnu Mohta
Said Vishnu Mohta, Co-Founder, Hoichoi: “We wanted an agency that will help our brand become a colloquial name in every Bengali household. The understanding of Bengali ethos that Rediffusion Y&R brings to the table is admirable, and we are sure we will see some exceptional award winning campaigns by them, in the months to come.â€
Nilanjan Dasgupta
Added Nilanjan Dasgupta, EVP & Executive Creative Director, Rediffusion – Y&R: “We are delighted that the brand name suggested by us, the logo and campaign ideas presented, have all been appreciated by SVF. Having been privy to what Hoichoi aims to bring to the lovers of Bengali entertainment, we believe it will stay true to its name.
Dentsu Aegis Network, the media and advertising conglomerate that operates 25 businesses in India, has now expanded its footprint into celebrity endorsement and sports marketing with the launch of CLab.
With the launch of this new agency, the network intends to bring in a differentiated approach into the field of celebrity endorsements that is intelligent and is supported through substantiated understanding of the industry.
Commenting on the launch, Ashish Bhasin, Chairman & CEO, Dentsu Aegis Network- South Asia said: “Today several of our clients invest huge amounts of money to establish their brand image with the help of celebrity endorsers. This is often done on gut feel. We hope to bring a data based, scientific approach in this area. Many of these celebrities are sportsmen and sportswomen and that gives us a great opportunity to offer both celebrity management and sports marketing under CLab.â€
Added Haresh Nayak, Managing Director – Posterscope Group, under whose executive mentorship the new agency has been set up, added, “Our vison with CLab is to bring accountability and informed decision making in a discipline which functions on perception, probability and gut feeling of advertisers in getting celebrities/sports personalities to associate with their brands. CLab aims to break the myth of notional acceptability that has its roots in experimentation rather than information. All the requirements of the Dentsu Aegis Network clients pertaining to celebrity endorsements and sports marketing will be directed to CLab for servicing and a team of experts is now in place to deliver this.â€
Said Deepak Kumar, Vice President- CLab, said, “Its exciting times for the group, which believes in constant innovation and service diversification into sectors that add value to media industry holistically and this has always been a part of our growth strategy. If we look at celebrity and sports marketing separately, the two might differ in their operational mechanism but the driving forces for the two are common. People, popularity, occasions and influence share the common angle, governing the dynamics of the business. We took timely cognizance of the lacunae that existed and focused our approach into forming India’s first data driven celebrity endorsement agency.â€
The announcement has been name. The new billion-dollar revenue, media, content and technology agency to be created from the merger of MEC and Maxus will be named Wavemaker. The brand mark Wavemaker reflects the agency’s heritage, born from WPP and GroupM.
Said Tim Castree, Global CEO of MEC and Wavemaker: “Our purpose is to provide advertisers with the power to transform and grow their business through our Purchase Journey obsession; and importantly to do this through the integration of Purchase Journey insights and data with [m]PLATFORM, GroupM’s proprietary global audience technology. Our Wavemaker brand and positioning is a compelling manifestation of that purpose.â€
Added Kelly Clark, Global CEO of GroupM: “Wavemaker is an exciting new global agency brand with a powerful proposition for clients. Tim and his team have the full support of GroupM’s scale, resources and expertise.â€
The brand, along with a new visual identity, will go live locally as the merger completes in each country, to be finalised by January 2018. Wavemaker will have offices in 90 countries and over 8,500 employees. Major global clients include L’Oreal, Vodafone, Marriott, Colgate-Palmolive and Paramount.
While senior appointments have been announced – including that of Kartik Sharma who will helm Wavemaker in India, the reorganisation of the rest of the teams has still not been announced.
Globally, it is said that there will be redundancies, though the status in India is still not known.
The Advertising Council of India (ACI) and The Advertising Club has announced the appointment of Sunil Kataria, Business Head, Godrej Consumer Products as leader of the Indian delegation for the AdAsia Congress to be held in Bali later this year.
Making the announcement, Srinivasan K Swamy, Vice Chairman, Asian Federation of Advertising Associations and a representative of The Advertising Council of India said:“Ad Asia is a great forum for the Indian creative and media maestros to interact with other global practitioners on evolving industry trends. Having someone which such rich and versatile multi-functional and sectoral experience as Mr Sunil Kataria lead the Indian delegation is sure to ensure that the India delegation plays an inspiring and impactful role at the Congress.â€
Speaking about the appointment of Kataria as the leader to the Indian delegation, Raj Nayak, President, The Advertising Club said: “India has been at the forefront of some ground breaking and high impact media campaigns. A coveted knowledge platform like Ad Asia 2017 is a great place to showcase the immersive and transformational work being done by the India media and advertising diaspora. With Sunil helming the Indian delegation, we are sure to receive the best representation at the form. Sunil with his in-depth understanding of the Indian market dynamics and global trends in sure to add significant value to the Indian delegation.â€
Speaking about being nominated to lead the Indian delegation, Kataria said:“I am honoured to be nominated to lead the Indian contingent to the prestigious Congress. The forum is a great platform for the fraternity to network with global creative leads and jam on media and marketing trends in the new social paradigm that  we are currently in. We hope to have significant Indian representation at the event and would hence urge maximum participation by corporates at the event.â€
Ad Asia 2017, Bali is expected that witness close to 2000 executives from marketing companies, advertising agencies, and media organisations attend this landmark event from all around the Asia Pacific region. To be held between November 7 and 10, the Advertising Council of India (ACI) and The Advertising Club have announced a special delegate fee applicable on early bird entries for India at US$ 870 per delegate as against the rate of US$ 1100.
Lifestyle and sportswear brand, Puma has decided to partner with the DDB Mudra Group for the brand’s creative mandate in India.
Speaking on the partnership, Abhishek Ganguly, Managing Director, Puma India said:“We firmly believed in new age media and have constantly strived to create our own differentiated patterns and modules; to engage with our consumers. I am confident that our partnership with DDB will help us create more resonance with our customers and bring forward the true spirit of our brand.â€
The business will be led by Ranji Cherian, President and Managing Partner, DDB Mudra South and Vishnu Srivatsav, Creative Head, DDB Mudra South.
Added Ranji Cherian, President and Managing Partner, DDB Mudra South:“We intend to bring Puma’s unique voice to life in the sports and lifestyle category. It’s a prestigious account win for us, and a great canvas for our own capabilities and creativity. We’re relishing the challenge and the opportunity to be Puma’s partner in embedding itself in India’s consideration and culture.â€
In a bid to strengthen and grow its business operation, Publicis has appointed Krishnendu Paul and Amitabh Sreedharan as Vice President- Account Management and Prateek Suri as Creative Director. Paul and Sreedharan will report to Ravpreet Ganesh, Executive Director, whereas Prateek Suri will be reporting to Nitin Pradhan, Head of Creative.
Commenting on the appointments, Srija Chatterjee, Managing Director, Publicis India, said: ‘’The new appointments reinforce Publicis Groupe’s commitment to strengthening our teams with the right leadership and empowering them to accomplish our goal of increased collaboration through immense creativity. With Krishnendu, Amitabh and Prateek on board, we look forward to a refreshed outlook that will deliver long term sustainable growth for the organization.â€
Added Ravpreet Ganesh, Executive Director, Publicis India: â€We’re glad to have some great minds working with us towards delivering greater insights and strategic direction to our clients. It’s always a pleasure to welcome newer members to our family and benefit from their diverse experiences. We warmly welcome them on our exciting journey ahead and look forward to reaching greater heights.”
The campaign urged consumers to break free from popular trends and display their original, unique selves. They could post on an activity which sets them apart from popular trends. The gratification lay in the fact that Maggi Hotheads made people trend on Twitter.
Tanmay Mohanty
Said Tanmay Mohanty, Group CEO, Zenith India: “We are delighted to be at the forefront of this innovative and exciting campaign.  #UntrendLikeHotHeads hits the mark because it is fun, quirky, engaging and resonates with the Indian youth. There is an instant connect with the Maggi  Hotheads brand, also known for its distinct positioning and taste. The campaign is a resounding success. It has sparked off viral conversations, amplified brand messaging, and generated rich insights. #Untrend has significantly added to the followership and popularity of Maggi  Hotheads.â€
Added Taranjeet Singh, Country Director, Twitter India: “Our endeavour has always been to create enriching experiences for brands to connect with their fans on Twitter. Nestle’s #UntrendLikeHotHeads is a breakthrough idea, the collaboration saw extraordinary participation on the platform and enabled Maggi to be what’s happening on Twitter. We look forward to working closely to be part of more of such creative, strategic partnerships.â€
The Advertising Club, Bangalore’s Big Bang Awards will be held this year on Friday, September 15.
“The response we received this year is very good and we are gearing up for putting up a great event for our prestigious annual award night., said Sanchayeeta Verma, President of Ad Club Bangalore. “The Big Bang Awards, is unique as it is fully online from its entry to judging stage. This enables both, people from across cities to participate and judges from across the country and APAC to evaluate the entries, Verma further added.
Malavika Harita, former President and Chairperson of The Big Bang Awards Committee, said We have put together a jury of over 50 eminent people drawn from Creative, Media, PR, Marketing, Advertising, Research and Healthcare, to judge the entries received this year. We have been conducting the Big Bang Awards for over 20 years now, without ever courting a controversy. The Big Bang Awards 2017 is presented by Colors Viacom18 and powered by The Times of India and Vijay Karnataka. Red FM is the Radio Partner.
Creativeland Asia has won a Silver at the CLIO Fashion & Beauty Awards (Social Good) for United Colors of Benetton’s #UnitedByHalf campaign. The campaign first aired in India on Valentine’s Day following which, Benetton released it globally on International Women’s Day.
Sajan Raj Kurup
Said Sajan Raj Kurup, Founder and Creative Chairman, Creativeland Asia Group: “With the #UnitedByHalf campaign, the Benetton India team rolled out a movement that seeks to involve both men and women in achieving equality of both genders in India. It was heart-warming to see the response to the campaign when we launched it – both in India and across the globe. What I’m really proud about is that true to the Creativeland way, this Silver has been won on a real piece of work on a global brand like Benetton.â€
dentsu X, has roped in Roopam Garg as Chief Client Officer (CCO). Garg brings with him experience of 22 years across multiple markets; India, MENA, China, Vietnam, London.
Commenting on the appointment, Divya Karani, CEO, dentsu X India said: “We are elated to welcome Roopam in the team. He brings immense value to the company with his extensive experience and holistic world-view on best practices. We want to increasingly bring on board senior talent who can carry forward the learnings of seamless integrated Consumer and Brand interaction to bear on our clients’ business.â€
Divya Karani
Speaking about the new role, Garg said: “In my experience across markets, I have come to realise that it’s critical to keep it simple, actionable and measurable for the client. Media is growing in complexity and the agency of the future needs to harness deep learning to innovate relentlessly. I am thrilled to be starting a new chapter with my role at dentsu X India.â€
Garg will report to Karani and will be based out of Delhi.
IdeateLabs has won the digital mandate for Fino Payments Bank, the newly launched bank of Fino Paytech, a payments technology company. The account was won following a multi-agency pitch.
Christopher Higgins
Said Christopher Higgins, Business Head, IdeateLabs comments on the win: “We are excited to be associated with Fino Payments Bank. We will be aggressively executing the planned strategy to help them target the right market and achieve their growth plan of 3-4 million customers in the first year.â€
Shailesh Pandey
Added Shailesh Pandey, Executive VP & Head – Strategy & Marketing, Fino Payments Bank: “Our customers are spread across segments and with the increased penetration of smart devices, reaching out to those present on the digital spectrum has become critical to create top of the mind recall. Having designed some of the most innovative digital campaigns in the country, we believe IdeateLabs will help us expand our digital footprint. We look forward to having a strong digital presence through clutter-breaking buzz in the digital world and increased brand awareness that drives business growth.â€
At Abanti Sankaranarayanan, Chief Strategy & Corporate Affairs Officer at Diageo India and former Vice Chairman, Confederation of Indian Alcoholic Beverage Companies (CIABC) has been elected as Chairman of the Advertising Standards Council of India (ASCI).
D. Shivakumar, Chairman & CEO PepsiCo India was elected as Vice-Chairman and Shashi Sinha, CEO, IPG Mediabrands was re-appointed as the Honorary Treasurer.
Other members of the Board of Governors are Al Rajwani (Managing Director & Chief Executive, Procter & Gamble Hygiene and Health Care Ltd.), Benoy Roychowdhury (Executive Director, HT Media Ltd.), Gurmit Singh (Vice President India Business, Oath), N.S. Rajan (Global Partner & Managing Director, Ketchum Sampark Pvt. Ltd.), Narendra Ambwani (Director, Agro Tech Foods Ltd.), Prashant Singh (Managing Director, Nielsen India Region), Raj Jain (Chief Executive Officer, Bennett, Coleman & Co. Ltd.), Rohit Gupta (President – Network Sales & International Business, Sony Pictures Networks India Pvt. Ltd.), Sandeep Kohli (Executive Director & Vice President, Personal Care, Hindustan Unilever Ltd.), S.K. Palekar (Adjunct Professor & Advisor – Executive Education, Institute of Management Technology), Srinivasan K. Swamy (Chairman & Managing Director, R K SWAMY BBDO P. Ltd.), Subhash Kamath (Managing Partner, BBH Comms India Pvt. Ltd.) and Sunil Lulla (Chairman & Managing Director, GREY Group India).
Said Swamy, who is the outgoing Chairman of ASCI: “2016-17 has been an interesting year for ASCI as it marked some impressive advancements. In a noteworthy achievement, ASCI received positive re-enforcement for the role it plays as a self-regulatory body in a landmark Supreme Court Judgement. Renewal of the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with The Department of Consumer Affairs (DoCA) which is currently on its third year, and the signing of two new MOUs with the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) and the Ministry of AYUSH, has collectively proven credibility ASCI enjoys with the Government. Other noteworthy aspects include ASCI being included as an Expert Committee member to look into matters pertaining to advertising of High Fat Sugar and Salt (HFSS) foods and Sugar Sweetened beverages (SSBs), and as a key stakeholder in the committee constituted by the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI). ASCI is now a part of the Executive Committee of International Council on Ad Self-Regulation (ICAS). Interestingly ASCI was a Gold winner at Global EASAs Best Practice Awards for its mobile app, a service that was introduced in 2016. Another significant step was introduction of an Independent Review Process by a retired Supreme Court/High Court Judge, when CCC decisions are sought to be reviewed by affected advertisers. Guidelines were issued relating to Celebrity endorsements of products/services given the importance consumers attach to such association.  Im delighted to have been an enabler for this years journey for ASCI and Im sure the Council will take proactive steps in the cause of self-regulation in advertising.â€
Added Sankaranarayanan: “ASCI has seen a remarkable year on year progress through formalised collaborations with various regulators, notable recognitions from eminent external organisations, further facilitation of robust codes and guidelines and swifter processes to promote the cause of self-regulation in advertising. I feel privileged to be elected as Chairman of ASCI and Im elated to take over as the torch bearer for several more successful initiatives and significantly contribute to effective self-regulation in advertising. Its heartening to see ASCIs relentless efforts being recognised by the judicial body, prominent regulators and government bodies and we shall take all efforts to continue to keep it so. Core to ASCIs mission to ensure protection of the interests of consumers, through supporting Honesty, Decency, Responsibility and Fairness in Advertising, ASCI shall carry on to keep true with its consumer focused tagline, So you can trust advertising.â€
