MxMIndia

Category: NEWS

  • Design dominated discussions on the second day of the Kyoorius weekend in Goa, although it was technically Day One of the mainstay Kyoorius Designyatra

    Follow your heart and do good: Message from Day 2 of #KDY14

    By Abhijeet Amonkar

     

    Design dominated discussions on the second day of the Kyoorius weekend in Goa, although it was technically Day One of the mainstay Kyoorius Designyatra. The theme was the same as the Digiyatra on Thursday: ‘What If’.

     

    The day began with Jonathan Ford, Founding Partner and Chief Creative Officer at Pearlfisher whose presentation centered mainly on good ideas. “The most impossible ideas are the ones that bring about the most change,” Ford said. To truly improve your brand, you need to learn to say no, and if you find yourself conflicted, you need to follow your heart.

     

    The next speakers were Simon Manchipp and David Law, both Executive Creative Officers of SomeOne. Their presentations were humorous, earning quite a few laughs from the audience. The secret to their success has been their ability to turn a brand, into a superbrand. The standout statement from their session (which was tweeted a number of times) was: “Most brands are so busy telling their stories, that they forget no one is interested!”

     

    Meanwhile, David Berman, founder of David Berman Communications, spoke about a topic close to his heart. He believes that all designers must set aside 10% of their weekly time, and devote it to design solutions for the problems that our world faces today. His main agenda was sustainability, something that will reduce the clutter in the world tremendously, in addition to making creative designs. “Don’t just do design, do good,” he said.

     

    Post lunch, Natasha Jen, Partner at the global firm Pentagram, took over on the topic “The price of Creativity”. Her real inspiration to designing things stems from Legp, and most of her designs have them incorporated in some way. Most of her projects are pro-bono, since she believes that money can never buy you happiness, and that designing should be done because you love it.  Her belief:  “Stay calm and keep hustling.”

     

    Next up was Kayonaaz Kalyanwala from Video Volunteers which creates a low-cost medium for people to voice and uncover stories, and make the common people take notice.

     

    The Designyatra ended with a bang, literally. Karsh Kale performing along with Abhijit Jejurikar and the kids from Dharavi Rocks. They were given a standing ovation at the end of their rousing performance, and it was a fitting and energetic end to the day. Famous last words from Kale: “It’s very easy to become static if you aren’t curious.”

     

  • The Adclub has brought about interesting changes not only in terms of the categories and awards but also the venue

    Stage set for Adclub’s Emvies awards

    By A Correspondent

     

    Adclub’s EMVIES awards, will be presented at a glittering ceremony on Wednesday, 17th September, 2014 at 6.30 pm at the Palladium Hotel, Lower Parel, Mumbai.

     

    While it is the 14th year of the EMVIES awards it happens to be the 60th year of The Advertising Club. The Adclub has brought about interesting changes not only in terms of the categories and awards but also the venue.

     

    A unique feature about this year’s EMVIES is that an EMVIES trophy would be presented for every winning entry to both the agency and the client.

     

    This year the Adclub received 650 entries across various categories. The judging sessions were conducted at both Mumbai and Delhi. As many as 105 judges from the media fraternity graced the Round 1 judging sessions while 34 top notch clients judged the Round 2 judging sessions that takes the shape of case study presentations spread across three days at the WE SCHOOL. Thus Adclub had a jury panel of 140 judges judging the EMVIES entries. Out of the total of 650 entries 132 were shortlisted.

     

    EMVIES has always attracted an audience in excess of 1000 more importantly it has a fine blend of top notch professionals from the Media, Marketing, Advertising, Research and the communication world.

     

    An exciting feature about the EMVIES awards is the Band Baja Award which is Adclub’s own way of promoting musical talent from the media fraternity. This is a popular segment of the show in existence since the past four years.

     

  • Natasha Kapoor Joins Agency as VP, SMG Mumbai and Gautam Surath Appointed VP, Strategic Planning

    SMG beefs up senior leadership team

    By A Correspondent

     

    Starcom MediaVest Group (SMG) India has beefed up its senior leadership team with the hiring of two key executives. Natasha Kapoor joins the agency as VP, SMG Mumbai and Gautam Surath as VP, Strategic Planning.

     

    In a newly created role Natasha will be responsible for client service, product delivery and growth for the Mumbai market. Natasha has more than 15 years of media experience. Her last job was at Samsung India, where she handled investment, brand activation and strategy for its media procurement and process audit division. Prior to that, she was a media purchases director at Mediacom where she handled television buying for the Procter & Gamble team. She also has worked on the UniLever business at Fulcrum and Mindshare.

     

    Gautam Surath joins the agency as VP, Strategic Planning Director at a national level and will be responsible for strategic planning, training and guiding the digital transition of SMG’s clients across its offices. Surath is an SMG veteran having worked for the company from 2003 in both India and China. For the past four years he has been a Business Director at SMG China in Guangzhou, where he was strategy lead on multiple categories of the Procter & Gamble business.

     

    “Natasha and Gautam bring key skillsets to complement and enhance our offering to clients in India and both Malli and I look forward to working with them,” said Hanley King, Chairman, SMG India.

     

  • The event will witness attendance from over 400 CXOs heading India’s top companies

    Second edition of Zee Leadership Series announced

    By A Correspondent

     

    ZEE Entertainment Enterprises Limited has announced the second edition of its Intellectual Property - ‘ZEE Leadership Series’ which will be held on 19thSeptember, 2014 at Hotel Sahara Star in Mumbai. The event will witness attendance from over 400 CXOs heading India’s top companies.

     

    Roland Landers, Head – Corporate Brand, ZEE Entertainment Enterprises Limited (ZEEL) said, “ZEE Corporate Brand has not just formed a family of millions of loyal viewers, but has also enriched the lives of its internal and external stakeholders. ZEE considers each one of these stakeholders as family and aims at making the entire World a part of this family. Inspired with this thought, ZEE has incorporated its brand positioning of “Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam – The World is my Family”.”

     

    This year, the two renowned keynote speakers for the ZEE Leadership Series are Alan Krueger and Divya Narendra. Alan Krueger is one of the most-respected and thoughtful economists. He served as Chairman of President Obama’s Council of Economic Advisers (CEA) and a member of his Cabinet – roles that recruit from the upper echelon of the nation’s best and brightest. From 1994-1995, he also served as the Chief Economist at the Department of Labor in the US Government. In his session, Krueger will share his insights on world economy with relation to corporate India’s contribution, and will also touch upon the key areas of improvement.

     

    In the other session, Divya Narendra, an American businessman, will share his views on the innovation and creativity expected in the current digital era. Narendra is the CEO and co-founder of SumZero along with his Harvard classmate Aalap Mahadevia. He also co-founded HarvardConnection (later renamed ConnectU) with Harvard University classmates Cameron Winklevoss and Tyler Winklevoss.

     

    Since its inception in 1992, ZEE Corporate Brand has carved a special place in the hearts of over 730 million viewers, achieving presence in over 169 countries. ZEE’s pioneering vision has set its position, starkly different from the rest, with numerous industry firsts to its credit. ZEE’s expertise of offering relevant entertainment to its viewers, has led to consistent growth, making it a clear leader in the television industry space. The journey of over two decades has been replete with many prestigious awards, and a peak rank in the media & entertainment sector.

     

    ZEE Leadership Series 2014 is powered by Chintels. The other event partners are Zee Business – Telecast partner, LiveMedia and Cash ur Drive – OOH Partners, dna – Print Partner, Business World – Magazine Partner and Business Standard – Business Newspaper Partner.

     

  • The objective was to make each and every household in the target cities aware of the ACT Fibernet brand through one media or the other

    Post rebranding, ACT Fibernet undertakes massive outdoor promotion activity

    By A Correspondent

     

    ACT Broadband, now ACT Fibernet, the fourth largest internet service provider in the country, undertook a high decibel, three-month OOH campaign to promote the company’s new brand identity. The campaign, executed in Bangalore, Chennai and Hyderabad, is designed to introduce the new brand name to consumers, and also to project the ‘fastest’ internet service that the company offers to users.

     

    The campaign has been deployed on various properties available in different cities that include hoardings, metro pillars and BMTC bus panels in Bangalore. The company maintains that the objective was to make each and every household in the target cities aware of the ACT Fibernet brand through one media or the other.

     

    Commenting on the OOH campaign, Bala Malladi, CEO, ACT Group, said, “OOH is part of a 360 degree campaign that we are executing to announce the launch of our new brand – ACT Fibernet. The campaign has been designed keeping in mind two key objectives – to announce the brand change from ACT Broadband to ACT Fibernet and to establish the positioning of the new brand, which is “incredibly fast” internet. Lending further credibility to the brand positioning and the messaging is our newly launched portfolio of incredibly high speed plans in the range of 20 to 80 Mbps.”

     

    With an aim to break the clutter, the activations have been rolled out in extremely novel and unique ways. The key touch-points covered as part of the activation engage college students, working professionals at corporate parks and shoppers at malls. Another unique feature of the activations was the digital integration which amplified the participation and overall effect of the campaign multi-fold.

     

  • The channel will air the National Football League over 4 years across the Indian subcontinent

    Sony Six bags rights to broadcast National Football League

    By A Correspondent

     

    SONY SIX has acquired the broadcasting rights to National Football League (NFL). The announcement follows a multiyear television partnership between the National Football League (NFL) and Multi Screen Media (MSM), making SONY SIX the NFL’s broadcast partner across the Indian Subcontinent. The partnership includes television rights to live regular season games, playoff games and most significantly to the tournament’s paramount sporting event, the Super Bowl.

     

    Prasana Krishnan

    On acquisition of the sport, Prasana Krishnan, Business Head, SONY SIX said, “We are extremely thrilled and excited about this partnership, as we look to deliver on providing the audiences an opportunity to experience the best of American football. The raw nature of the sport promises audiences a combination of high speed action and thrill. This acquisition brings us a step closer in reiterating our efforts in providing quality sports content to our viewers that greatly adds value to our channel as well as to our existing comprehensive bouquet and line-up of sporting events”.

     

    The programming will be themed around educational vignettes, highlight shows and NFL’s trademark pre-season documentary series ‘Hard Knocks’. SONY SIX and the NFL will work collaboratively on unique initiatives that engage Indian audiences as a means to grow the fan base and increase knowledge and awareness of the NFL through media.

     

  • Rohitash Srivastava has joined SapientNitro as Director-Marketing & Brand Strategy and Abhishake Das has joined as Director-Creative

    SapientNitro beefs up leadership team

    By A Correspondent

     

    SapientNitro has announced two senior appointments to its local leadership team. Rohitash Srivastava has joined SapientNitro as Director-Marketing & Brand Strategy and Abhishake Das has joined as Director-Creative.

     

    “We are thrilled to announce the addition of Rohitash and Abhishake to our growing team,” said Rajdeep Endow, Managing Director, SapientNitro, India. “Both bring great thought leadership, experience and demonstrated track record and will empower SapientNitro to better serve the growing client demand for truly integrated creative and technology services.”

     

    Rohitash Srivastava
    Abishake Das

    Rohitash Srivastava brings a decade of experience as a brand strategist and consumer expert and comes to SapientNitro from Future Group’s ideation and cultural insights cell, Future Ideas. He has played a key role in creating memorable work on brands like Thums-Up, Stayfree, Saffola, Maaza, Limca, Union Bank and Uninor Telecom. In the past, he has worked with agencies such as McCann, Leo Burnett and DDB, amongst others.

     

    Abishake Das comes to SapientNitro with more than a decade of experience across traditional and digital agencies in India. He is an early adopter of digital in India and moves to SapientNitro from Whyness Worldwide. In the past he has headed creative teams and set up the digital disciplines at Tribal DDB, McCann Erickson and BBH, among others. He has to his credit more than 50 awards, both regional and global.

     

  • GroupM ESP has been a key enabler for clients and their brands to leverage the SIIMA sponsorship platform

    GroupM ESP executes key campaigns for SIIMA

    By A Correspondent

     

    GroupM ESP has executed key sponsorship deals for SIIMA 2014 including AskMe.com, Havells, RedBus.in and Chola MS. GroupM ESP has been a key enabler for clients and their brands to leverage the SIIMA sponsorship platform thereby providing end-to-end SIIMA related solutions.

     

    Last week, the city of Kuala Lumpur played host to the South Indian film fraternity a midst much fanfare. SIIMA (South Indian International Movie Awards), the biggest South Indian movie awards platform globally, saw the presence of prominent stars of the fraternity in full attendance.

     

    Vinit Karnik

    Commenting on the achievement, Vinit Karnik- National Director of Sports and Live practice, GroupM ESP says “SIIMA is one of the best awards covering all 4 states in South India delivering high impact and value to advertisers. SIIMA as a property offers compelling content in the native language for the audience to watch it on Television. We believe brands can leverage the celebrity and entertainment appeal of the property by seamlessly integrating in the content. Content integrations in SIIMA can help brands break the clutter this festive and effectively communicate their proposition.”

     

  • Ajit Varghese's "unfinished agenda" of being numero uno at Emvies was accomplished by Kartik Sharma & team

    Maxus wins big at Emvies 2014

     

    By A Correspondent

     

    In September 2013, when it was announced that Ajit Varghese was promoted to an Asia-Pacific role at Maxus, we asked him whether there was any unfinished item on the agenda. Knowing how fiercely competitive he is, although always gracious in praise for his competitors, we were digging for an answer he gave us. “May be winning at Emvies is an unfinished agenda,” he said with a smile.

     

    Maxus, given Mr Varghese’s spirited leadership over the years and with Kartik Sharma at the helm ever since he moved to Singapore, has ensured the Maxus flag flies high.

     

    At the 14th edition of the Emvies on Wednesday night, soon after an all-new logo of the Advertising Club was unveiled by recently re-elected President, Pratap Bose, Maxus was the clear winner. Ahead of runner-up by a good 55 points.

     

    But the icing on the cake was that not only was Maxus the Best Media Agency of the Year, it also won the Grand Emvie along with client Tata Global Beverages for the Power of 49 campaign. In fact Tata Global Beverages shared the Best Media Client of the Year with Hindustan Unilever for its seven big wins for the Power of 49!

     

    “We have accomplished a lot over the last seven years,”  Mr Varghese told MxMIndia. Unable to attend the ceremony as he was in Shanghai, the Maxus South Asia Managing Director said: “Emvies was a summit that was left unconquered. Although we came close and gave a tough fight but you know there is less room for No 2 and No 3 in life. We wanted our clients to feel the No 1 status of their work getting showcased as “the best”.

     

    And what’s his sentiment now that the Summit is scaled? “What a feeling to get it all! Agency of the Year, Client of the Year and the Grand Emvies!!!  I truly believe that today every Maxusite who is and has been part of this journey feels he or she is a winner! That’s makes us proud. Cheers to Kartik and team to continue the Maxus Creativity, Passion and Entrepreneurial spirit. A new journey has begun with a bang!”

     

    Among other notables, Samyak Chakrabarty of DDB Mudramax bagged the Gold in Young Emvie of the Year with the Silvers shared by Alka Bhavnani of Mindshare and Vikesh Jain of Maxus.

     

    As for the rest of the story, the tables below tell it all.

     

     

    Photograph: Facebook post by Gaurav Hirey, GroupM Chief Talent Officer South Asia

  • The book is a fascinating account of India's contribution to early sound recording of 1900s

    Spenta Multimedia unveils ‘The Wonder that was the Cylinder’

    By A Correspondent

     

    Leading custom publishing house Spenta Multimedia has launched a coffee-table book, The Wonder that was the Cylinder, a fascinating account of India’s contribution to early sound recording of 1900s. The book was launched by Shri. Prakash Javadekar, Minister of State for Information and Broadcasting (IC), Environment, Forest and Climate Change (IC) and Parliamentary Affairs, Government of India here last week. Much of the content in the book is being published for the first time in the history of India and will prove to be of inestimable value to researchers, collectors and lovers of music and Indian history around the world.

     

    “When the idea of The Wonder that was the Cylinder was proposed to us, our first and only thought was that this was a crucial part of our musico-cultural history, which not only requires to be preserved, but also deserves to be disseminated to all lovers of music. It is a tragedy that we do not value our tradition even when it is on the verge of disappearance and extinction. Permanent museums should be created to house these legacies. This book is our small contribution,” explained Maneck Davar, Publisher, Spenta Multimedia.

     

    The Wonder that was the Cylinder has been written by AN Sharma, drawing from his vast knowledge of the subject and from a very rare collection of more than 200 cylinders. He has been assisted by his daughter, talented writer and editor, Anukriti A. Sharma. Together they bring to light India’s remarkable legacy in music, theatre and film through perfectly preserved cylindrical recordings discovered through Sharma’s personal efforts over the past two decades. Currently, Sharma is an officer with the Indian Revenue Service and a serving Commissioner of Customs, Central Excise and Service Tax in Mumbai.

     

    It also includes a DVD of rare cylindrical recordings of legendary Indian artistes. The book is priced at INR 6000 ($100).

     

  • Cairn India is one of the largest independent oil and gas exploration and production companies in India

    Cairn India awards brand-comm mandate to Leo Burnett

    Samir Gangahar

    By A Correspondent

     

    Cairn India Limited, one of the world’s fastest growing upstream oil & gas company has appointed Leo Burnett as their agency on record for their branding communication requirements in India.

     

    Cairn India is one of the largest independent oil and gas exploration and production companies in India.  Through its affiliates, Cairn India has been operating for close to 20 years playing an active role in developing India’s oil and gas resources. The company is a global player that has been rated as the fastest-growing energy company in the world, as per 2012 & 2013 Platts Top 250 Global Energy Company Rankings.

     

    Samir Gangahar, Executive Director, Leo Burnett, Delhi adds, “We feel privileged to be entrusted with the opportunity of playing a crucial role in the branding communication strategy of Cairn India. It further reinforces our belief in our guiding tenets of ‘Purposeful Brands’ whose message is delivered through ‘Integrated Solutions’. We along with our partners Indigo Consulting, MSLGROUP and Zenith Optimedia look forward to working with Cairn India to devise a programme that utilises all possible communication platforms available.”

     

    At Leo Burnett, the integration drive is a strong and emphatic one given that stories happen across channels and are media-agnostic. Leo Burnett will craft and execute integrated campaigns for Cairn India.

     

    The account was awarded in a pitch process that attracted some of the best-known and largest agencies in the country.

     

  • Will spearhead creative leadership responsibilities along with Bobby Pawar

    Joy Mohanty assumes NCD post at Publicis

    By A Correspondent

     

    Joy Mohanty

    Publicis Capital has announced the elevation of Joy Mohanty as the National Creative Director. Joy will continue to be based in Delhi and will report to Bobby Pawar- Chief Creative Officer, Publicis South Asia.

     

    Commenting on Joy’s elevation, Bobby Pawar said, “In the time that I have worked with Joy, I’ve found him making great ads and also finding brilliant solutions to our clients’ problems. He is also a really good leader. His elevation is recognition of the role he has played in improving our output in the past year and the role he will play in helping us raise our game even more.”

     

    Hemant Misra, Chief Executive Officer Publicis Capital stated, “Joy is an ideal partner – cool & collected, ever smiling, assertive and brilliant. He has the ability to attract talent and harness simple yet great ideas. His Kitna Deti Hai campaign for Maruti Suzuki is an appropriate example of this.”

     

    Joy Mohanty has been with Publicis Capital for over 9 years. In a career spanning 21 years he has done time at FCB Ulka, Bates Clarion, Leo Burnett and Contract.