MxMIndia

Tag: Ajai Jhala

  • The business, won after a multi-agency pitch, will be managed from BBDO Mumbai

    BBDO India appointed communications partner to Vakrangee Limited

    By A Correspondent

     

    Vakrangee, a chain of digitally enabled convenience stores that bridges the accessibility gap by providing services and products to masses, has appointed BBDO India as their lead communications partner. Considering its stellar work across the board for several brands that have been winning accolades and hearts world over, BBDO India won the multi-agency pitch after a comprehensive round of presentations.

     

    Said Dinesh Nandwana, MD and CEO, Vakrangee: “We are delighted to have BBDO on board. Our brand is driven by a greater purpose of providing access to each and every Indian, through a digitally enabled last mile infrastructure that we have created. We are impressed by BBDO’s approach of creating purposeful communication. We are looking forward to a continued excellence from BBDO in creating the right communication and awareness of Vakrangee Kendras and the offerings/ services available for the citizens”.

     

    Added Ajai Jhala, Chief Executive Officer, BBDO India: “Vakrangee is a great story of entrepreneurship rooted in technology to provide digital access for all. Vakrangee champions digital democracy and promises to leave no Indian citizen behind. We are absolutely delighted to be Vakrangee’s communication partners and look forward to crafting its narrative as a company that will be at the forefront of shaping India’s future”.

     

     

  • Sikroria has been part of the core team that has helped shape BBDO India's philosophy of 'Create Acts and not Ads.'

    Rajesh Sikroria is BBDO President

    By A Correspondent

     

    BBDO India has promoted Rajesh Sikroria, formally EVP BBDO India to President BBDO India, effective immediately.

     

    Working alongside Josy Paul, BBDO India Chairman and CCO, and Ajai Jhala, BBDO India CEO, Sikroria has been part of the core team that has helped shape BBDO India’s philosophy of ‘Create Acts and not Ads.’

     

    Ajai Jhala, CEO BBDO India, said of Sikroria’s promotion: ” We built BBDO from scratch 7 years ago starting with 7 UP. Rajesh has grown from being the first employee to President of BBDO India by leading from the front and growing into one of the industry’s best all-rounders with an ability to move fluidly between business, strategy and creative. Josy Paul and I are delighted to have him as a partner as we continue to create big ideas for big brands on big themes like gender equality through the lens of social movements.”
    “Rajesh was with us when we set up BBDO India from the back seat of my car. He knows what it takes to create a culture that nurtures, grows and influences. He is a leader, builder and maker of better work. He is the best of the best.” says Josy Paul, Chairman & Chief Creative Officer, BBDO India, about Sikroria.

     

    Says Sikroria, President: “2015 has been a phenomenal year for us, we have set the bar really high. Going forward, the challenge is to outdo ourselves. In my new national role, I am looking forward to work with more brands and scaling newer heights with our mantra of creating acts not ads”.

     

  • BBDO India CEO Ajai Jhala on how the best technology brands create stories that are salient and simple

    3 reasons Tech Brands should keep it Simple

     

    By Ajai Jhala

     

    Albert Einstein famously said that the wire telegraph ‘is a kind of a very, very long cat. You pull his tail in New York and his head is meowing in Los Angeles’. Radio operates in exactly the same way: You send signals here, they receive them there. The only difference is that there is no cat.

    A memorable and simple story by one of the greatest scientists of all time, explains a technology of an earlier time. Today, so many decades later, there are still compelling reasons for technology brands to keep the message simple when communicating on TV. This has to do with three primary things – the nature of TV, the nature of people and the nature of brands.

    1. A plug-in drug

    TV is essentially a low-involvement medium which is best for story showing. That is why it has often been referred to as a ‘plug-in drug’. Television is about lean-back entertainment and works really well when information is delivered emotionally, and the absorption of it is implicit rather than explicit. The beauty is that emotions are so important for our survival and well-being, that they work best when we are in a low-involvement mode.

    2. Irrational rationalisers

    People are fundamentally emotional beings. We are not so much rational but rationalisers. We have been referred to as cognitive misers. Processing information is very exhausting and consumes a lot of our energy. That is why humans are hardwired for storytelling and not for data retention. We love to hear stories, not a recitation of a laundry list of specifications and features.

    3. Nature of Brands

    Brands are like leaky buckets, constantly having to recruit more people than they lose. Most consumers are promiscuous and are always shifting between a shortlist of brands. As heretical as it sounds, recent research demonstrates conclusively that differentiation matters less than standing out in a compelling way. Therefore, brands have to create salience in a manner that can incite feelings by owning a simple and powerful theme that is constantly refreshed with new TVCs.

    These three reasons, based on the nature of the medium, people and their relationship with brands, is why the best technology brands create stories that are salient and simple. The next time someone is crafting a TVC for a technology brand, it might be worth reflecting on something else Einstein said: “Everything should be made as simple as possible, but not simpler”.

     

    Ajai Jhala is CEO at BBDO India

    This article first appeared in dna of brands dated November 2, 2015

     

  • After getting the digital rights for Visa and Wrigley’s, BBDO Proximity has now attained the digital mandates for Nissan India.

    Proximity is digital creative agency for Nissan

    By A Correspondent

    Proximity will handle all digital initiatives including social media for Nissan X-Trail, Nissan Teana, Nissan370Z and the Nissan Brand initiatives including the Student Brand Manager program.

    Proximity India is the youngest agency of Proximity Worldwide, and is globally aligned to BBDO Worldwide. Proximity India offers talented communications experts with skills across the full range of relationship, digital and direct marketing services. The agency is focused on providing solutions and initiatives that are designed to change individual consumer behavior by creating “acts not ads”.

    Commenting on the win, Mr Ajai Jhala, CEO, BBDO / Proximity said, “Adding Nissan to our roster is a real privilege. The critical role of digital in this space will give us an opportunity to create some really impactful interactive ideas.”

    Mr Ranjeev Vij, VP & Head, Proximity India added, “Nissan is a fantastic global brand and in India they have ambitious plans. We are really excited that we can partner Nissan in challenging the market leaders and be a navigator in their journey to meet their ambitious business goals.”

    Proximity India has offices in Mumbai and Delhi and has worked on campaigns like Aviva’s “Great Wall of Education” initiative, which helped collect over one million books for the underprivileged children.

    Earlier this month, Proximity India won the digital mandate for the VISA brand in India. They also manage the digital duties for Nicorette.