Dentsu India has roped in Asheesh Malhotra to head its Mumbai office. He will report to Simi Sabhaney, CEO, Dentsu India. His last stint was as Executive Director at PointNine Lintas.
On Malhotra’s appointment, Sabhaney said: “We are truly delighted to have Asheesh come on board to lead the Mumbai operations. His experience of having led omni-channel functions makes him the perfect choice in line with our growth strategy and the changing media landscape”
Added Malhotra on his new role: “My focus will be on building new partnerships and growing our existing client relationships. I believe that the age of transformation (from traditional to digital or vice versa) is over. If you haven’t hopped on to that wagon yet, you best not. You cannot be running an agency with a siloed mindset. DAN, with its true One P&L structure, has integration at its core and it brings together the best of creative minds, media, data and technology to bring the best ideas and value to our clients. In today’s context, this is true integration and I am truly excited to be part of this journey.”
Former McCann Health executives Daleep Manhas and Kamya Elawadhi have announced joining a new venture, Doceree, striving to transform healthcare professional marketing globally.
Before coming on board as the Chief Operations Officer at Doceree, Manhas held the position of Senior VP & Country Head at McCann Health India, with over 15 years of experience in leadership roles at pharmaceuticals and healthcare communications agencies.
Daleep Manhas
“Pharmaceuticals are one of biggest spenders on marketing globally, however the evolution of marketing practices in pharma has been painfully slow. As one of the highest regulated industry, the existing ‘one size fit all’ solutions for digital marketing are not effective for HCP marketing and needs fresh thinking,” said Manhas.
Kamya Elawadhi
Taking on the role of VP – Operations at Doceree, Elawadhi worked with McCann Health for over five years, before she moved out about a year ago. “I am excited to be working for Doceree in building an industry first solution, which not just impacts marketing but impacts all of us as consumers – consumers of healthcare and that’s what brought me to healthcare advertising over a decade ago,” she said.
DAN Programmatic along with Amnet has announced the launch of DAN Vision for Creative, a machine learning- and neuroscience-based engine that delivers new insights into the predicted performance of a creative even before the creative has actually run.
Commenting on the launch, Sidharth Rao, CEO and Co-Founder of Dentsu Webchutney said: “One of the biggest gamechangers in modern marketing is the use of data to better the decision making capabilities of professionals to yield better outcomes. Creativity without data is a shot in the dark. Even when a creative professional claims to follow his gut, he or she is in reality analysing data generated through experiences for a particular outcome. Having co-founded an agency that deploys new age solutions to solve common problems, ‘DAN Vision for Creative’ is just the right weapon to solve the age old creative problem of “Why are certain creatives performing better than the others?.” It is creating for us a unique differentiator by providing a justification or even starting points for our creative approach to deliver brand success.”
Added Gautam Mehra, CEO of DAN Programmatic and Chief Data Officer (South Asia) at Dentsu Aegis Network: “Today, creative testing is about determining which creative is performing better for which audiences. This involves testing 100s of creatives. The byproduct of this is, lots of budgets invested into creative production, time spent to create them, marketing budget spent towards testing them and the time involved to get a confident decision. All of this deters most marketers from doing comprehensive creative testing. To top it all, even after this, all we get is which creative is performing better, and no clue on which element is influencing it to perform better or worse. By combining advanced AI techniques such as RNNs (recurrent neural networks), Computer Vision and NLP (Neuro-Linguistic Programming), we are now able to provide predictive intelligence for the creative even before it goes live. This shortens the creative testing cycle and saves on time and money for our clients. Additionally, DAN Vision for Creative provides clues to the “Why” of the creative; making the future creative cycle even more sharper and focussed,”.
Soon arch rivals Ogilvy and Wunderman Thompson will work under the same roof. As part of its global growth strategy, WPP has announced invest in two co-location campuses in India. The roll-out will commence with more than 3,800 people moving into a new Mumbai Campus in late August, while a Gurugram campus will be set up next year. According to the information received, Ogilvy India (and its group agencies) will shift its office to the new location on Monday, August 26.
All co-locations will support the WPP community with world-class facilities. The campuses include conducive spaces for talent to work and engage in collaboration and will also provide clients with easier access to WPP’s network of agencies.
Said Mark Read, CEO of WPP: “India represents a region with immense opportunities for WPP. We are committed to building further momentum for our businesses there, through our campus investments. Having modern, dynamic workplaces creates real impact for our people, and enables collaboration and ideas to thrive. We work with some of the most progressive clients and teams in India and we want to support their efforts in creating outstanding work.”
WPP’s new Mumbai Campus will be named BAY99, which alludes to the city’s historical roots and is also the campus’ postal code reference. Situated within The Orb, a new complex next to the international airport in the Sahar area, the location offers various amenities, including convenient transport and social options. The Orb complex will also offer more than 40 dining and entertainment options within walking distance for staff to enjoy.
In a first for WPP’s India offices, the co-location will bring together more than 16 companies under one roof, with a space of 380,000 square feet over a 10-year lease. On-site, staff will enjoy a host of modern facilities, ranging from a rooftop terrace, recreation lounge, library, cafeteria and more.
Commenting on the new campus, WPP Country Manager for India, CVL Srinivas said: “India is one of the most exciting markets for WPP with great growth potential. By investing in co-location campuses in key cities, we are bringing to life our vision to lead the market as a creative transformation company and to build a strong, cohesive WPP community. We support some of the biggest brand names in India and more than ever, clients want to be connected to easy processes and solutions, as well as a complete suite of services. The new Campus means our teams will have increased access to each other’s expertise and this will go far in enabling our talent to do their very best work for clients.”
Every year, Lodestar UM shuts its offices on a work day and each employee engages in philanthropic work across Mumbai, Delhi and Bengaluru.
This year from educating destitute women on menstrual hygiene to helping children in government-aided schools to make the right career choices, the Lodestar UM teams came together to make a difference in their own small way to the theme of Better World.
Said Nandini Dias, CEO, Lodestar UM: “For us, this single day marks the beginning of a whole new year of commitment. Being conscious of what’s happening around us and finding solutions to create a better world is at the heart of our philosophy as an agency. I want to thank each one of my colleagues for the collective passion and goodwill they bring to this initiative. Their enthusiasm was heartwarming. Therefore, every year Impact Day turns out to be a day of fulfillment and achievement of a very different kind.”
On its 60th anniversary, Fevicol has pleasantly surprised its audience with a gem of a 90-second TVC.
Art Vs. Commercial Films
Earlier there were art films of what was known as parallel cinema and commercial films. Then someone bridged the gap by making art films that were a commercial success. Films like Arth, Salaam Bombay, Chakra, Masoom, Saaransh, Ardhsatya, Akrosh, 36 Chowringhee Lane, Mirch Masala, Utsav, Newton and others defined a new paradigm by engaging the audience. Now, we no longer have the term art films, but we have a parallel cinema of a different order. Cinema with empathises on experimentation, sequels and bold differential storylines.
Are We Seeing Birth Of BrandOperate Films.
In the advertising world, there have been classical corporate films and brand films. They were all about corporate glory and not really meant to make the consumer react to increase revenue, and they had a shorter life and audience. On the other hand, there was the 30-second Brand TVC meant to work in the market. Some brand like Tata Steel, Tata Tea, Ambuja Cement, Hamara Bajaj, Maruti were successful in bridging the gap to some extent.
Come Fevicol, maybe the first real example of a BrandOperate Film. It has all the ingredient of a corporate film, including the occasion and subtle message and the power to engage the audience.
What Makes Fevicol’s BrandOperate Communication Work?
Here the client thoroughly trusts the agency. They have a DNA of experimentation. They understand that the team consistency, along with adherence to the brand tonality and a clear benefit/purpose/role/focus is a must for engaging the audience and strengthen the brand. Remember the old ads of illogical examples having a foundation in real-life understanding. Fevicol took you places. You met the fisherman, an overcrowded bus, Boatman, a Mooch that gets stuck through generations, an egg that does not break and many more. These films stayed with well-defined film and brand grammar. Even in this 60th-year communication, the graph moves through locale, type of houses, people and growing affluence, as the colour pallet kept moving with the time.
The team and client must be complimented in their belief and eye for detail, not that we expected any less from the team at Fevicol, Piyush Pandey, Prasoon Pandey and the name Ogilvy.
Learning From Fevicol BrandOperate Communication.
It does prove that no commercial is long if its story engages the consumer. And when the brand has a focussed engaging and involving story, it does not need a celebrity to push the cause. If the brand idea is focussed, if it has been delivering the promise consistency through the ages, If it has adapted and evolved with the time and changes in the brand ecosystem, the brand name, logo or product shot tend to become immaterial to a large extent. It develops Positive Immunity. Similar thoughts were expressed by Anant Rangaswami in his article ‘Five Reasons Why The New Fevicol Commercial Sucks’.
Possibilities
I believe, brands like AajTak, Amul, TataSteel, Bajaj, Mahindra, Makemytrip, Stayfree can attempt such BrandOperate communication successfully.
Here are some other Fevicol films for watching again.
Dentsu Aegis Network India has promoted erstwhile COO Deven Dharamdasani to the new role of CEO, SVG Media. The network took the decision following the demise of Anurag Gupta, former CEO – SVG Media, in July this year. Additionally, Nitin Sabharwal, former Chief Business Officer – SVG Columbus, has now been elevated to Chief Operating Officer.
Said Ashish Bhasin, CEO, Greater South, Dentsu Aegis Network and Chairman & CEO India said: “Anurag’s passing is a deep and a shocking loss for SVG, for DAN and for the entire Digital fraternity. Deven, Chirag, Ashwani and Nitin are integral to SVG and they understand and resonate with Anurag’s vision for the agency. I wish them all the luck and look forward to SVG’s growth under their vigilant leadership.” Meanwhile, SVG Media’s mobile business will continue to function under Chirag Shah, CEO, SVG Mobile.
Campaign for Good: (L- R) Harjit Singh Talwar, District Governor, Ms. Preeti Mehta, President, Rotary Club of Bombay presented #campaignforgood award to Adamya Mody, Kanchan Kesari, Reet Sawhney and Sanjana Dora of Ogilvy , seen with Abhishek Karnani, IAA INDIAA Awards Chairman and Suresh Narayanan, Chairman & MD, Nestle India Limited)
By A Correspondent
The India chapter of the International Advertising Association (IAA), world’s only globally-focused integrated advertising trade association, presented the IndiAA Awards in Mumbai on Monday. The fifth edition brought together great minds in business, marketing, advertising and media to celebrate the best of advertising in the industry. This year IndIAA Awards received 450 plus nominations across all the 18 categories.
Said INDIAA Awards Chairman, Abhishek Karnani said: “This year, the awards have a new special category that has been included in the prestigious IndIAA Awards. The attempt is to highlight a good cause leading to societal change, that would also encourage participation from young professionals in our industry.”
IndIAA awards felicitated the “Campaign for Good” award under the category IndIAA Young Professionals Award. In partnership with Rotary District 3141 and created by Ogilvy, the campaign was honoured for the exceptional communication in the category of elder care.
Viewed as the ultimate marketing accolade, the participants were judged by the jury that comprised of renowned business leaders including, Suresh Narayanan, Chairman & MD, Nestle India Limited, Eric Braganza, President, Haier Appliances India Private Limited, Abhishek Lodha, MD, Lodha Group, Neil George, MD, Nivea India, Marzin Shroff, MD & CEO, Eureka Forbes and Sangeeta Pendurkar, CEO, Pantaloons, Aditya Birla Group.
Said Suresh Narayanan, Jury Chairman and Chairman & Managing Director, Nestle India, encouraged the youth in the audience saying: “You can be decent, honest, truthful and yet succeed.”
Drawing leadership lessons from the mystic poet like Kabir and Rahim, he said:
“Gain the knowledge – Jati na pucho sadhu ki, puch lijiye gyan; Mol karo talwar ka, pada rahan do myan. Communication should be sweet to the heart, sweet to the soul – Aisi vani boliye, mann ka aapa khoye; Auran ko sheetal karein, Aaphu sheetal hoy. The right Attitude matters – Bigari baat bane nahi, laakh karo kin koye; Rahiman bigarey doodh ko, mathe na maakhan hoye.”
IndIAA Awards 2019 – Winners
Sr No
Category
1
AUTO FOUR WHEELERS
Land Rover-The Land of Land Rovers
Client : Jaguar Land Rover India
Creative Agency: Spark 44 India
2
AUTO TWO WHEELERS- (Joint Winners in this category)
Hyperspace India, the shopper marketing agency under Dentsu Aegis Network, has appointed former Madison Retail Paradigm’s Deputy General Manager, Sandeep Sawant to lead the operations. In this role, Sandeep will report to Haresh Nayak, Group MD – Posterscope – South Asia.
Sawant joins Hyperspace with close to 20 years of extensive experience in Shoppers Marketing, Retail Strategy and Solutions as well as Rural Activation. Prior to MRP, Sandeep was the Vice President at Costra Advertising.
Commenting on his appointment, Nayak said: “We are delighted to welcome Sandeep to Hyperspace. The strategy to triple our business by 2020 was laid one year back, while we have ticked off certain plans to reach our goal, we will now be pushing more aggressively by diversifying our operations in rural markets, combining shoppers experience and implementation capabilities in smart city solutions and future proof our services by bringing in data and technology. With Sandeep’s expertise and skillset, I believe he’s the right fit to take our business ahead.”
Digitas India has announced the appointment of Sonia Khurana as Chief Operating Officer. Khurana’s mandate would be to provide strategy and direction in making Digitas India’s leading digital marketing agency.
She joins from Ogilvy India where she was Senior VP & Head of Customer Engagement. She will report into Amaresh Godbole, CEO, Digitas India.
Amaresh Godbole
Commenting on her appointment, Godbole said: “Digitas India has been on the fast track for the last decade, and today we’re 450 plus experts partnering top-notch clients. To keep up with this growth trajectory, we need more leaders who are adept at solving business problems through modern marketing practices. Sonia is just that, a true T-shaped personality who has run digital businesses as well as capabilities such as CX and CRM. Further, she understands how to tackle the challenges of integration. It’s what we need to drive our next phase of growth as the premier connected marketing agency, and as a partner in Publicis Groupe’s Power of One Solutions.”
Sonia Khurana
Sharing her views on joining the agency, Khurana added: “I’m very excited to be part of a young, energetic team whose focus is at the nexus of creativity, data, technology and media. My goal is to partner with the team to chart the agency’s next chapter and make it the agency of choice for clients looking to take a leap in their digital journey. On my first day at work, I saw the Publicis Groupe’s Power of One strategy in action. It made me realize that I haven’t just joined the agency brand but that I am part of the enriching Groupe ecosystem committed to delivering truly integrated, client-focused solutions. Three weeks in and I can already see what makes this place so special!”
Ninety-year-old newspaper Free Press Journal is sporting a new masthead today. On the occasion of National Sports Day, Taproot Dentsu changed the masthead of the paper to “highlight the issue of free and easy access to sport”
Abhishek Karnani
Said Abhishek Karnani, Director, Free Press Journal: “Print has the potential to be an innovative and exciting medium. We, as a publication, are always on the lookout for bold, progressive, cutting-edge innovations and ideas that prove that statement to be true. And that allows us to stay relevant to our new-age audience. The Free Press Journal has constantly addressed social issues, through its fair and fearless reportage. But this idea allowed us to go beyond, to champion change. By changing our masthead to reflect the issue, we are reflecting upon and dedicating two full pages to amplify it. We will be taking this idea forward through the year, shining the spotlight on multiple issues – like access to education, healthcare, safety, etc., on relevant national and international days.” The idea was brought to the paper by Taproot Dentsu, informs Karnani.
Santosh Padhi
Added Santosh Padhi (Paddy), Chief Creative Officer and Co-Founder, Santosh Padhi: “A simple yet brave idea is what we had. One that was born out of the name of the newspaper itself – Free Press. We live in an era where less is more. I’m delighted that this new-age approach was liked the minute it was presented. And even more delighted that this won’t be a one-off – we’ll be running this campaign through the year, highlighting national issues on relevant days.”
Dentsu Aegis Network agency Happy mcgarrybowen has strengthened its creative team with the appointment of Mahendra Bhagat as National Creative Director.
With over 20 years of experience in the industry, Bhagat has worked with agencies like Enterprise, SSC&B Lintas, JWT and FCB for brands like Titan, Britannia, Times of India, Godrej and Unilever.
Agnello Dias
Commenting on his appointment, Agnello Dias, Creative Chairman, Dentsu Aegis Network India said: “I have worked with Mahendra during my last stint at an agency, and always felt he had a calm, collected, creative mind without the tantrums that some creative people have. He is keen to understand the brand’s point of view and apply his undoubted creative skills to find a solution. He has a keen art and design eye as well. I’m sure Happy mcgarrybowen will forge a great partnership with him and their clients. I wish him all the best.”
Soumitra Karnik
Added Soumitra Karnik, Chief Creative Officer, Happy mcgarrybowen: “I am thrilled to have Mahendra in our team as we plan to take Happy mcgarrybowen to the next level. He is a rare creative talent who is on top of the game as far as craft is concerned, and who has managed to use the new media platforms really well. Above anything else, he is a lovely person to work with and I am quite certain that we couldn’t have found a better leader than him. Happy mcgarrybowen is now happier with him around.”
Speaking on his appointment, Bhagat said: “The future of advertising lies in marrying creativity with technology. Instead of relying on traditional mediums, Happy mcgarrybowen is constantly in an exploratory mode; finding a new age communication solutions. Being a relatively young agency, it is buzzing with new ideas and energy. I look forward to channelizing that energy in creating some path breaking work for our clients.”
On its 60th anniversary, Fevicol has pleasantly surprised its audience with a gem of a 90-second TVC.
