To leverage the multi-specialty expertise of the DDB Mudra Group and its senior management, Sanjay Shukla will take over as the President – OOH & Experiential, DDB MudraMax.
Sanjay is a well-known industry veteran with close to two decades of noteworthy experience in all aspects of experiential marketing, entertainment, sports marketing, talent & art, activation and events. In addition to specializing in identification of market opportunities and their conversion to active revenue centres, he has also been instrumental in creating some strong brands across the industry.
He joins DDB Mudra Group after a long stint at Percept where he served as COO, Percept One. Sanjay led the restructuring of the diverse offerings and SBUs at Percept and helped create a single seamless entity, Percept One, that offered greater synergy and operational efficiency.
Madhukar Kamath
At DDB Mudra Group, Sanjay will be based out of the agency’s Gurgaon office and will be reporting to Madhukar Kamath, Group CEO & Managing Director, DDB Mudra Group. He will partner Aneil Deepak, Head of Ideas, DDB MudraMax in spearheading the agency’s OOH & Experiential agencies.
Quoting on Sanjay’s appointment, Madhukar Kamath quoted, “Sanjay’s track record and credentials are impeccable.  I like his enthusiasm and zeal.  He comes in at a time when the OOH and Experiential teams have won some marquee businesses and also delivered some outstanding work over the past two quarters.  I look forward to the exciting times ahead.â€
Aneil Deepak
Aneil Deepak, Head of Ideas, DDB MudraMax added, “Like in cricket, great partnerships center around people with differing skill sets and a common goal. In Sanjay, I see that partner. As a Mudra veteran, I also respect people with long stints.â€
Quoting on his appointment, Sanjay Shukla quoted, “I have always admired the work and the growth at DDB MudraMax. The opportunity to partner with Andee and grow the Experiential and OOH businesses exponentially, is a challenge that I am looking forward to’’.
We all know the Pied Piper story, don’t we? Let’s look at one of the Wikipedia descriptors: “In 1284, while the town of Hamelin was suffering from a rat infestation, a Piper dressed in colourful red clothing appeared, claiming to be a rat-catcher. He promised the Mayor a solution to their problem with the rats. The Mayor in turn promised to pay him for the removal of the rats. The Piper accepted, and played his pipe to lure the rats into the Weser River, where all but one drowned. Despite the Piper’s success, the Mayor reneged on his promise and refused to pay him the full sum. The Piper left the town angrily, vowing to return later to take revenge. On Saint John and Paul’s Day, while the Hamelinites were in Church, the Piper returned, dressed in green, like a hunter, playing his pipe, and in so doing attracting the town’s children. One hundred and thirty children followed him out of town… “
Now read this other story, circa 2014-15. There was the boss of an ad agency. His name: Pratap. He was the promised the top job of the agency (called DDB Mudra?). When he didn’t get it, he quit and decided to set up his own shop and lure a host of employees. Do we call him the Pied Piper of DDB Mudra?
So wassup at one of the hottest advertising agencies in the country? Is MudraMax, the division handling the media buying and planning, outdoor (OOH), experiential and retail businesses facing extreme heat? Although there are no official numbers available, some senior DDB Mudra (DDBM) staff currently in and outside of the system suggest that around 50 percent of the total DDBM revenues would come from MudraMax clients.
Madhukar Kamath
In many ways what’s being played out now was expected to happen ever since former Chief Operating Officer of the group Pratap Bose put in his papers last year after CEO and MD Madhukar Kamath was given an extension of four years. He was clearly miffed at losing out. “Everyone knows I was looking at the Top Job. There were promises made. I am not the kind of guy who will wait for four years,†he told MxMIndia then.
Now, after having stitched up his funding and with some prized clients in the kitty, Bose has gone on the offensive. Though a confidante insists it’s not a case of revenge or showing DDBM the finger. “It was better for him to exit than bicker. If he doesn’t call people whom he trusts to his own venture, who will he get? There was a non-compete clause till the end of the year and that allowed him enough time to read, attend to chores he never did when he was working, look at Advertising Club work and travel.†Plus some brilliant wildlife photography, we may add.
Mandeep Malhotra
Although the parent Ominicom-owned DDB Mudra Group agency was quick to restructure operations after the exit of Mandeep Malhotra, President, DDB MudraMax on Monday, the damage was done. Malhotra was reportedly on a holiday last week, and his quitting was sudden.
A townhall was conducted on the MudraMax floor of the agency’s headquarters in North Central Mumbai where Kamath reportedly said: “Twenty will go, 20 new will come, I’m not bothered.†Kamath later hinted at activities hampering the interests of the organisation happening on the floor. “We clear don’t want that to happen,†he said.
When asked whether it was true that MudraMax may be merged with OMD, as it was rumoured, he scoffed at the suggestion. “No way,†he exclaimed.
Meanwhile, Malhotra is expected to join Bose as Managing Partner in his proposed venture. It is learnt many others from within the DDB Mudra fold and outside of it will join in.
And at MudraMax, Executive Directors Sathyamurthy Namakkal and Aneil ‘Andy’ Deepak were handed additional charge of the outdoor and experiential businesses respectively and TracyLocke head of business and operations Sameer Mehta will now report directly to Kamath.
Kamath also told MxMIndia that it was business as usual and rubbished rumours that employees were asked to sign affidavits to pledge their continuance or leave the organisation. While MxMIndia hasn’t been able to verify claims from either side, at least one of the employees who has moved out very emphatically said that they were shown the ‘sign or else’ undertakings.
Meanwhile, Kamath says just 15 staffers have quit, though one of the employees who has quit said the number will be in the range of 25. All the exiting employees are likely to join Bose in his new venture. Another 30-odd are rumoured to be hopping over in a month’s time and a few others from other agencies will also join in.
Kamath on his part isn’t fazed by Bose’s proposed venture. “We’ve had many people who have turned entrepreneurs after leaving Mudra… We wish them well,†he said, without taking Bose’s name.
Although Bose was unavailable for comment, he is said to be establishing an agency network with equity investments in various communication companies. He is said to have locked in a string of clients, some of them from DDBM. The first of his ventures is expected to be afloat around mid-June 2015. That’s a little over a month away.
While a senior marketer dubbed this the biggest ever churn in the ad agency business in the last decade, Kamath said it would be incorrect to term it an exodus from his agency. Over a hundred fresh recruits are likely to join the group over the next few months, he said.
So what’s next? It will all settle down soon. DDB Mudra has weathered several storms. It can do that again. It’s just won the Aircel account and Madhukar Kamath says more are expected. As for Pratap Bose, we all know that he’s a go-getter and has a fine bunch of people he can rally around. May both co-exist and thrive.
And the Pied Piper? Ah, well. This is no fairy tale that you’re reading. Let’s hope they all live happily ever after.
On April 15, 2014, India’s Supreme Court granted the country’s Transsexual and Transgender individuals the right to self-identify their gender. A landmark event that made India, the first country in the world to formally recognize Transgender and Transsexuals as the third gender.
Marking the one-year anniversary of this historic event, Lenskart and the Transgender and Transsexual community, gathered at Jantar Mantar and along with the support of the community from across the nation, decided to pledge their eyes, en masse, as a thank you gesture to Hon’ble Justice A.K. Sikri and Hon’ble Justice K.S. Radhakrishnan who passed the judgment.
The number of pledges that were received has already crossed over 16,000 and the community has vowed to bring this number up to 2lakh, making it the single largest pledge of the country.
Justice Sikri and Justice Radhakrishnan in turn handed over the pledges to Eye Bank of India.
Discussing the concept of the initiative, Aneil Deepak, Head of Ideas, DDB MudraMax said, “Functional advertising doesn’t cut ice with the extremely informative millennial. In today’s world, brands need to show a heart, behave human-ish and offer a point of view. Transgender and Transexuals were always around, but we never acknowledged their presence. We couldn’t see. So for Lenskart, we came up with the idea of Transgenders pledging their eyes, so those who can’t see, see. With a hope that those who can see, see too.”
Quoting on Lenskart’s support to the campaign, Peyush Bansal, CEO, Lenskart said, “It’s Lenskart’s vision to spread ability to make every citizen of India see clearily. It just takes a much bigger leap with the ‘Eye for an Eye’ campaign. The Supreme Court gave the transgenders and transsexuals the much needed respect this time, last year. We are glad to associate with them for this generous gesture. We hope more and more Indians will be inspired to donate their eyes now.â€
The Goafest Creative Abby Judging has been on in Mumbai with Juries being appointed in different verticals. The Jury Chairs were announced to the media by the Goafest Creative Abby Award Governing Council.
Santosh Padhi of Taproot is chairing the Abby Print and Print Craft Jury this year. Bobby Pawar of Publicis returns after a gap of 5 years to head the Abby Film Jury. Ashish Chakravarty of Contract India is Jury Chair of Radio and Radio Craft Abby while Prashant Godbole of ideasatwork is heading the Out of Home and Ambient Abby Jury. Manish Bhatt of Scarecrow is heading the Integrated Abby Jury.
Chairing the Creative Abby Direct Jury this year is Rakhshin Patel of Pi Communications. Prashant Kanyalkar of KA advertising and design is the Jury Chair in Design Vertical of Creative Abby. Carlton D’Silva of Hungama is the Jury Chair for Digital Abby while Namita Roy Ghose of White Light Moving Picture is heading the Film Craft Abby Jury.
Aneil Deepak of DDB Mudra is the Jury Chair in Brand Activation & Promotion Abby Jury. Anita Kaul Basu of Big Synergy is Jury Chair in Branded Content Abby.
Paresh Chaudhry of Madison PR headed the Public Relations Abby Jury. Avinash Kaul of Network18 led the Broadcasters Abby Jury while Shailesh Amonkar of Sakal is Jury Chair of Publishers Abby.
Pratap Bose,President of Ad Club said, “Our heartfelt thanks to the Jury members who gave their time and passion debating the selection of winners.â€
Commented Ajay Chandwani Abby Awards Governing Council Member in charge of Jury appointments and Judging,†We are very fortunate to have the time and cooperation of very high powered juries in each of the verticals. Many of our jury chairs and judges have been judging at major international festivals over the years. An award derives its prestige from the standards set by juries and Abby has indeed retained its leading status in India.â€
On April 15, 2014, India’s Supreme Court granted the country’s Transsexual and Transgender individuals the right to self-identify their gender. A landmark event that made India, the first country in the world to formally recognize Transgender and Transsexuals as the third gender.