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Tag: Amit Akali

  • Kosambia was last with Grey as Group Creative Director

    Bhavesh Kosambia joins Wondrlab as Content Lead

    By Our Staaff

     

    Wondrlab has appointed Bhavesh Kosambia as Content Lead. As a part of strengthening its creative leadership team, Kosambia will report to CCO Amit Akali and lead a set of key accounts and talent.

     

    Kosambia was last with Grey as Group Creative Director. Said Akali on the appointment: “I’ve been lucky to work with Bhavesh in the past. Both, as a creative person and as a film maker. He’s done some of our best work as a director and I’ve seen him do his magic as a creative team lead. He’s one of those rare people that is constantly learning and evolving. And I’m sure he’ll quickly get down to doing cutting-edge, platform first, tech-led work. We are also clear that inhouse talent is going to get all possible opportunities, especially with our in-house production set up – Bhavesh has already directed a few films for us, including the recent ‘Karva Chauth’ film for Bharat Matrimony. Most importantly, he’s someone our clients can depend upon as a partner and support system to build their brands.”

     

    Bhavesh Kosambia, Creative Lead, Wondrlab, adds, “I have always believed that any place is made by the people who work there and my association with Wonderlab and What’s Your Problem for the last couple of years has just proved me right again. The energy, dedication, and quest for doing something different by Amit, Rakesh and Saurabh can only be experienced only if you work with them. Currently the place is buzzing with talented and hungry for good work people and equally hungry for good work clients. Honestly speaking I feel like an extended family who has come to feast at a table where everyone is already enjoying whatever they are supposed to do. And I am sure I too will be able to join the party.”

     

  • To drive creative integration and content creation

    Wondrlab appoints Sameet Ali Soni as Content Lead

    By Our Staff

     

    Rahul Mahahjan & Sameet Ali Soni
    Rahul Mahahjan & Sameet Ali Soni

    Wondrlab has appointed Sameet Ali Soni as Content Lead. He joins from Wunderman Thompson Bengaluru where he was AVP and Senior Creative Director. Soni is tasked with leading creative integration and content creation on a large set of key accounts. At Wondrlabm Soni will report to Amit Akali, Co-founder and CCO, Wondrlab and What’s Your Problem, while partnering Rahul Mahajan who was recently promoted to Creative Lead.

     

    Said Akali: “We’ve done away with the 13/14 designations that other agencies have. Our senior-most creative positions are our ‘Content Leads’ and ‘Content Directors. Sameet is someone I’ve worked with at the beginning of his career. Even then, he was a special talent creating the iconic Bingo Mad Angles ‘Board Room’ film. While he brings many more skills with him now, he brings the same love for advertising. The last year (our first at Wondrlab) has been amazing with us winning some of the biggest and most exciting brands. That are looking for the platform first, new-age, truly integrated work. The coming days are full of opportunities and I am sure someone senior and experienced like Sameet and Rahul will help us make the most of it.”

     

  • Providing users with live, in-depth hyperlocal updates from all constituencies

    PublicVibe launches campaign for UP elections

    By Our Staff

     

    PublicVibe, the hyperlocal video news platform, has launched its first TV + digital campaign to cover the ongoing Uttar Pradesh elections. It will provide latest election coverage. A 15-second TV spot conceptualised by WYP Worldwide kickstarted the campaign.

     

    Said Samir Vora, Chief Marketing Officer, VerSe Innovation: “PublicVibe is powered by thousands of users who are passionate about the news and issues concerning their immediate areas. Leveraging the power of hyperlocal journalism, we are striving to capture and inform our users of the public sentiment that prevails in the Uttar Pradesh elections through live, in-depth updates directly from the ground.”

     

    Added Amit Akali, Chief Content Officer & Cofounder, WYP Worldwide: “It is not often when a product is so strong that a simple narrative brings to life the impact it has on people’s lives. The story weaved around a local chair maker, who will in his way, impact the hot seat everyone is fighting for, demonstrates the power of PublicVibe. It is also a testament of the effort the platform has taken to become truly hyperlocal. While only time will tell the election results but with PublicVibe people are being updated straight from the districts and by lanes of UP.”

     

  • The campaign has been conceptualised by What’s Your Problem

    Ranbir roped in for Tata AIG promotions

    By Our Staff

     

    Tata AIG General Insurance has unveiled their new campaign called ‘Trusted Naam, Fantastic Kaam’ featuring Ranbir Kapoor. The campaign has been conceptualised by What’s Your Problem, now a Wondrlab company.

     

    Speaking about the campaign, Amit Akali, Co-founder and Chief Creative Officer, Wondrlab said: “Very rarely do you get a campaign where everything falls in place. When we started with interviewing stakeholders at the client’s end, we realized that while Tata AIG is an extremely trusted name in the category, like any Tata company, they are also a lot more. In the last few years, they’ve added numerous features to their offerings like self-service, digital products, quick claim settlement, etc. The immediate thought that came to mind was – ‘sirf trusted naam nahin, fantastic kaam bhi’. After that, in discussions, we realised that similarly there was one celebrity who not only lived up to his family name and legacy, but had put in efforts to go way beyond, and that was Ranbir Kapoor. In fact, there were no plans to get a celebrity on board initially, but we all realized this was a perfect fit. Ranbir’s ethos and the brand’s ethos were the same. The films bring  alive the ‘naam and kaam’ philosophy by exploring the dynamism between the superstar and a young celebrity manager who can’t wrap his head around his sir’s extreme efforts. The campaign also highlights the unique offerings of Tata AIG with a series of quirky feature-led shorties. Seeing Ranbir in never-seen-before avatars is sure to catch everyone’s eyes. A big thanks to director Abhijit Sudhakar for bringing these amazing and entertaining situations to life.”

     

  • The 70-second brand film showcases extraordinary realities of South Asia

    Zee5 Global celebrates South Asia in its new campaign

    By Our Staff

     

    Zee5 Global has launched its global brand campaign “Welcome to South Asia: Stories from our world”. The campaign gives a 360-degree ringside view into stories from India, Pakistan and Bangladesh. The 70 second campaign video was ideated and visualised by WYP Worldwide.

     

    Said Archana Anand, Chief Business Officer, Zee5 Global: “What we’ve done at Zee5 is quite unparalleled. We’ve taken the largest library of Indian content across languages and added in the largest library of Pakistani shows and Originals as also Bangladeshi Originals, and we are taking this across the entire globe. With a staggering 130,000 hours of content, Zee5 is today the only platform to bring the extraordinary realities of South Asia alive through even more extraordinary stories in a single destination, and that makes it the foremost platform for South Asian stories globally. It is this new South Asia narrative that we looked for the campaign to convey, and it captures that perfectly through visually stunning depictions of the music, cinematography, drama and more that make up the daily lives of people in South Asia.”

     

    Added Amit Akali, CCO and Co-Founder, Wondrlab: “Very rarely do we get to create a campaign that literally the world will see. What makes Zee5 stand apart for the international target audience is that it’s truly a reflection of our region – India, Pakistan, Bangladesh and has unique content and stories from our part of the world. All around the world, people are embracing content from outside of their geography, in fact, hungry for it. And because content is only a reflection of our reality, we have some truly unique stories to share. We wanted to bring out this uniqueness of the region, and does that of Zee5, with the aim of being the custodian of content from this part of the world. Which Zee5 truly is – if you see the bank of content from India, Pakistan and Bangladesh, it’s unparalleled.”

     

  • She was last with MullenLowe Lintas where she spent a little over a decade

    Kavita Kamath joins Wondrlab as Group CD

    By Our Staff

     

    Kavita Kamath
    Kavita Kamath

    Wondrlab, has bolstered its creative team by announcing the bringing in of Kavita Kamath as Group Creative Director. In her new role, Kamath will report to Amit Akali, Co-Founder and Chief Creative Officer at Wondrlab.

     

    At Wondrlab, Kamath will lead creative integration and content creation on a large set of key accounts.

     

    Amit Akali
    AmAmit Akaliit Akali

    Welcoming Kamath on board, Amit Akali, Co-Founder & Chief Creative Officer, Wondrlab, said, “Being platform-first, we’re a very different kind of a start-up and therefore hire people with unique skillsets. The coming days are full of opportunities and I am sure someone senior and experienced like Kavita will help us make the most of it. At her level, she’s not expected to bring just skillsets to the table but also a mindset. While she’s from an art background, she’s very comfortable handling a huge team. She has worked on tech platform brands like Google and done truly integrated work – more importantly, she believes in what we are trying to achieve here and is looking at it as an entrepreneurial opportunity. I’ve been in talks with her for a couple of years now and am looking forward to finally working with her. She’s going to be working out of Delhi and Mumbai, reporting to me. Here’s expecting a lot of ‘Wondr’ from her.”

     

    Kamath has nearly 16 years of experience, a large part of which she gathered at MullenLowe Lintas, where she spent a decade.

     

    About her new role, Kamath said: “There is a more holistic approach to marketing and brand communication now, and the way forward is integrated solutions to keep brand conversations going meaningfully. I had been following WYP’s work for some time. What interested me was the integrated approach with which ideas were curated and the platform-first solutions to help brands with effective communication. The work on Diageo and Tanishq, to name two of many, has been truly refreshing. I’m thrilled to be a part of the WYP and Wondrlab family and look forward to doing some exciting work.”

     

  • Ropes in Rahul Mahajan, Abhijeet Kalan and Sagar Desai

    Wondrlab bolsters team with senior hires

    By Our Staff

     

    LtoR – Abhijeet Kalan, Sagar Desai & Rahul Mahajan

    Wondrlab has strengthened its creative team with key hires. The agency has hired Rahul Mahajan as Senior Creative Director – Art, Abhijeet Kalan as Creative Director – Art, and Sagar Desai as Associate Creative Director – Art. The trio will partner with Wondrlab’s existing Creative Directors – Copy, namely Clyde Galbao, Prakhar Deogirikar and Tanuj Khanna, and will report to Ruchita Zambre, Group Creative Director, at the start-up. They will be based out of Mumbai.

    Said Amit Akali, Co-Founder and Chief Creative Officer, Wondrlab: “What’s Your Problem (WYP) was probably the only agency continuously growing and hiring last year. The impetus on hiring great talent only increases with the Wondrlab acquisition. We are very clear that people, product and profit are our focus. We have won several new businesses and are churning out some of our best work. Only great talent can help us sustain this momentum. At the same time, the battle going forward is not going to be won through old-school advertising – but through platform and technology-based creativity. Every hire at Wondrlab comes with a technology or platform expertise – Rahul, Abhijit and Sagar are no different. With not just a proven track record building awards and big brands, but also experience in digital, they are perfectly aligned with what we hope to achieve going forward.”

    Added Ruchita Zambre, Group Creative Director, Wondrlab: “Rahul is an acclaimed creative, with several international accolades to his name. He is also a Gold Lion winner at Cannes. His excitement and understanding towards platform first thinking and IPs make him a perfect fit at Wondrlab. Abhijeet brings over 10 years of experience at various agencies and has a fantastic sense of design. He has also won several awards. And Sagar joins us from Dentsu Webchutney where he has been part of some amazing award-winning work in the past couple of years. His passion for tech and gaming platforms makes it a great mix. I am very excited to have them on board and looking forward to doing some amazing work along with their partners and extended teams.”

  • To prompt users to subscribe to the new Spotify Premium Mini plans

    WYP rolls out new ad for Spotify

    By Our Staff

     

    Spotify recently launched two premium mini plans. These plans will allow listeners to download and play songs offline.  To deliver the value proposition of these new plans, What’s Your Problem (now part of Wondrlab), has created an ad campaign that comprises two films.

    Said Amit Akali, Founder and CCO, Wondrlab: “In a value-conscious, price-sensitive market like India, encouraging the audience to pay for their music can be a challenge. To address this, our attempt was to focus on fresh and relatable situations. For example, all of us, with two left feet and more, have stolen the show at sangeet ceremonies. We all have gone out of our way to please our romantic interest in college days. The director, Vishwesh Krishnamoorthy of Corcoise Films, with his outstanding knack for performances and understanding of natural situations, did a great job.”

  • Campaign to focus on building safe online turf for operators and players

    What’s Your Problem wins Online Rummy Fed pitch

    By Our Staff

     

    What’s Your Problem – now part of Wondrlab – has bagged the creative business of The Online Rummy Foundation (TORF). The agency was onboarded after a multi-agency pitch and has created a multi-lingual campaign across TV and print.

     

    Said Sameer Barde, CEO, The Online Rummy Federation: “At TORF, we believe that in order to create a safe environment for online rummy, players must be allowed to set limits on themselves and play responsibly – just like in other areas of life, like the stock market or when using a credit card. This campaign highlights TORF’s role in enabling these guardrails so that both operators and players can enjoy a better environment.”

     

    Added Amit Akali, Co-Founder and CCO, Wondrlab: “We were excited to work on a challenging category like online rummy, where winning the consumer’s trust is of utmost importance. The trick to enjoying online rummy safely is to play in moderation, and this campaign demonstrates that. We chose the character of Suresh to be the face of the campaign as he represents the calm, rational and positive online rummy player who plays for fun but always within limits.”

     

     

  • Saurabh Varma’s Wondrlab conceptualised and executed the campaign for the  ‘Sabse Saste 6 Din’ campaign

    Wondrlab rolls Big Bazaar’s R-Day campaign

    By  Our Staff

    Retail giant Big Bazaar unveiled its ‘Sabse Saste 6 Din’ campaign with an ad series titled ‘Bachat paane ki vaccine’, conceptualised and executed by Wondrlab.

     

    Speaking about the campaign, Pawan Sarda, Group CMO, Digital, Marketing & e-commerce – Future Group said: “#O2O Online to offline is a big initiative we have taken at #BigBazaar. It cannot get bigger than this during our most iconic Sale, Sabse Saste 6 Din #SS6D. Book your shopping online (shop.bigbazaar.com) and redeem it in-store with bigger discounts. The last year has been tougher than ever for most people especially households with people facing salary cuts, with some losing jobs and businesses facing a hit by the lockdown. Something nobody was prepared for. Big Bazaar has gone an extra mile and is offering more savings if you pre-pay for the shopping.”

     

    Added Amit Akali, Co-Founder and CCO, Wondrlab: “We are excited at having the opportunity to work on India’s biggest retail sale. Big Bazaar is one of India’s most iconic brands and ‘Sabse Saste Din’ is also a brand by itself. Consumers look forward to the sale each year, and more so in 2021, after the year they’ve had. It was important to cut through the clutter and do justice to a big annual property. More importantly, we wanted to be honest and call out the year that the consumer’s gone through, giving the sale as a solution. For instance, one lady speaks about how being locked in at home doesn’t stop kids from growing up, while you see her shopping for kids’ clothes. These are all real conversations that consumers are having and would relate to. The challenge of course was to have the conversation and land the sale in just 15 seconds. We’re pleased with the freshness and simplicity of the campaign, that brings marries the positive sentiment of the sale with that of the vaccine, seamlessly.”

     

     

  • Saurabh Varma’s Wondrlab buys Amit Akali’s What’s Your Problem

    Meet the New Acquirer

     

    By A  Correspondent

     

    When we interviewed industry leader Saurabh Varma post his unveiling of his new advertising and marketing services company Wondrlab, he told us that he is going to be up to something big soon and that we can expect some big announcements.

     

    We didn’t know what to expect, though in the next few weeks there did come missives of people and account acquisition. Elsewhere in the world, there was a controversy around the Tanishq Ekatvam advertisement and that was pulled down without much of a fuss by the Tata company. The ad in question was created by What’s Your Problem (WYP), which was set up by Amit Akali with brother Praful. WYP has a 60-member team, an office in premium Bandra Kurla Complex area and is one of the buzziest agencies in Indian adland.

     

    So, well, What’s Your Problem is now a fully owned part of the WondrLab network.

     

    WYP may have been around for over five years, but has bagged accolades at Cannes Lions and Clio amongst others. Amit Akali, Founder – MD & CCO at WYP will now be a Co-founder at Wondrlab. Akali comes with nearly 25 years of experience. Before founding WYP, he was National Creative Director at Grey India and part of the Grey Global Creative Council.  Meanwhile, Wondrlab reports bagging 25 clients and will have over 100 employees by December 2020, according to a communique.

     

    Said Saurabh Varma, Founder and Chief Executive Officer, Wondrlab: “I had the opportunity to watch WYP during a pitch and was incredibly impressed by their thinking, passion and ability to solve clients’ problems in a meaningful way. I decided to connect with Amit and over a few conversations realised that we had the same purpose and belief in the kind of work we wanted to do. We both believed in the power of creativity and the future which data and technology can serve us. We both felt that our future is in building our own platforms. It is truly amazing seeing WYPs journey and the incredible job Tejas Mehta, Ruchita Zambre and the entire team has done and the reputation they’ve built for it. I am proud that Amit joins us as a co-founder. I could not have asked for a better partner to help us shape and drive our creative firepower. WYP is our first acquisition and we will continue to curate, partner, launch and acquire as we move forward.”

     

    Said Akali:  “What we’ve achieved at WYP has been phenomenal. Today, we are a 60-member team at our new BKC office in Mumbai. The momentum in the last year has been even greater, with us being probably the only agency that’s grown manifold in the lockdown. We’ve been lucky to create some of the most talked-about work in the last few months, be it the iconic Johnnie Walker Travelling Billboard, Tanishq ‘Ekatvam’ or the IPL campaign for Dailyhunt. A big thanks to Praful who helped me start WYP with the other co-founders. To Tejas, who has played a key role in our growth and continues to do so. Along with every past and present employee who’s always looked at WYP as their own family and given it their all. We are thrilled to be a part of Wondrlab. I am excited about the new, even larger, playing field we’re getting. The integration is almost seamless as the vision is identical. In a digital-first era, platformisation and technology are the drivers of customised solutions for brands,” adding: “When I first spoke to Saurabh and the other co-founders Vandana and Rakesh, it was uncanny how we share the same goals, ambitions and ideals. Together we aim to be a technology and creative powerhouse.”

     

    Meanwhile, according to the grapevine, there are a few more acquisitions that Varma & Co and have planned though no more in the creative space. These are likely to be announced in the early first quarter of 2021. It’s surely ‘achche din’ for Varma & Co.

     

     

  • Or now better known as the big boss of the agency that created the Tanishq Ekatvam ad. A freewheeling conversation between AA and Pradyuman Maheshwari

    MxM Live with Amit Akali, Founder & CCO, What’s Your Problem

     

    His agency created the much discussed Tanishq Ekatvam advertising, which was trolled and taunted on the social media. These led to threats against the company’s personnel which finally led to the ad being pulled out. Post that there were reports of one or more Tanishq stores being vandalised and with miscreants forcing the store manager to issue an apology. At the same time, there has been a huge outpouring of love for the brand with people resolving to patronise it more than ever before.

     

    MxM Live spoke with Amit Akali, Founder, MD & CCO What’s Your Problem and CCO, Medulla on the advertising. And whether it would impact the creative process going forward. Akali also spoke about some of the work that his agency has been doing, beyond Tanishq.

     

    His very first video interview after the controversy broke out last week.

     

    Watch. Enjoy. Like.

    This interview was conducted on Sunday, October 18, 2020, and published on October 20.