MxMIndia

Tag: Ayesha Ghosh

  • In his last role, Batra was heading creative for the Gurugram office of McCann Erickson.

    Kapil Batra joins Wieden+Kennedy as NCD

    By Our Staff

    Kapil Batra
    Kapil Batra

    It took Wieden+Kennedy 15 years to set up office in Mumbai, and truly expand its wings. Now a year later, it appears to be doing to do that in right earnest.

     

    Last year, W+K got on board Santosh Padhi (Paddy) as CCO and later Ayesha Ghosh as President. And then Anirban Roy as Head of Strategy and Shreekant Srinivasan hopped on as Head of Business, Delhi towards the end of 2022.

     

    And now, it’s got Kapil Batra Batra who joins as National Creative Director. It’s a countrywide role, but, as a communique notes, his focus will be the Delhi office. In his last role, Batra was heading creative for the Gurugram office of McCann Erickson. He will report to Padhi. To begin with, his focus will be the Delhi office, which is where he will operate from. 

     

    The communique we received has a a slew of quotes. Here they are:

    Batra: “W+K has consistently created work that’s awe-inspiring. It is bold and rooted in culture. So when this opportunity to be a part of this truly creatively driven organisation came, I got all excited. And in my subsequent interactions with Paddy and Ayesha, where they spoke about their vision for W+K India, the culture, and more importantly, the vibes I got, everything was just fantastic. I am happy to join the talented team here and contribute to writing an exciting new chapter for W+K India.”

     

    Santosh “Paddy” Padhi
    Santosh ‘Paddy’ Padhi

    Padhi/Paddy: “We are in the people business and people are the source of creativity and ideas. We were looking for a solid creative people’s person with a great depth of insights, ideas and love for craft, we found all of these and many more in Kapil. After spending two decades in the industry, his passion and hunger to do more is what impressed us the most, his versatile body of work reflects human culture in a big way, which is one of the strong beliefs of W+K India and Global.”

     

    Ayesha Ghosh
    Ayesha Ghosh

    Ghosh: “When we saw the creative work that Kapil has been responsible for, we knew that we had to have him join us. Within the agency we often talk of breaking out of ads and breaking into culture. That is what much of his work represents. And it doesn’t hurt that some of his campaigns have gone on to make a sizeable difference to the brands they were created for! What completely sealed the deal for us over and above the work, is that Kapil is an incredibly nice, humble person, who lets his work speak for him. And we’re suckers for that.”

     

  • To help expand its presence in India

    Ayesha Ghosh joins Wieden+Kennedy as MD, India

    By Our Staff

     

    Ayesha Ghosh
    Ayesha Ghosh

    Wieden+Kennedy has appointed Ayesha Ghosh as Managing Director for India. Ayesha, who will be based in Mumbai, will partner with Santosh “Paddy” Padhi. Ghosh joins the agency after six years at Taproot Dentsu, where she was CEO, based in Mumbai.

     

    Wieden+Kennedy recently began expanding its presence in India, moving into Mumbai with the hire of Padhi and now Ghosh. Previously the agency had been established in Delhi since 2007, over the years building some of India’s most exciting brands including IndiGo Airlines, Royal Enfield, and the government of India.

     

    Santosh “Paddy” Padhi
    Santosh “Paddy” Padhi

    Said Ghosh: “It’s astonishing how W+K consistently produces off-the-charts work, across the world. I hope to absorb some of that genius and with the help of a talented team in India and an ace like Paddy, create some genius of our own. With scattered attention, infinite distractions, only work that is honest and primal, will win for brands. And that’s what we mean to do.”

     

    Added Padhi (Paddy), Chief Creative Officer, Wieden + Kennedy, India: “I’m glad Ayesha is joining us to be part of this wonderful journey. She is absolutely blunt and honest when it comes to work, which is extremely important these days for our business. Clients too prefer to have conversations that cut to the chase. Ayesha and I have worked closely together for a good number of years at Taproot, we understand and complement each other. An organisation is known by the kind of people that work for it and both of us will be focusing on putting together a crazy, talented bunch of people, across departments. And we believe that magic will follow.”

     

  • Taproot Dentsu film Ranveer in prehistoric avatar

    Ranveer grooms with Set Wet of Marico in TVC

    By Our Staff

     

    Set Wet, a male grooming masterbrand  of Marico, in association with Taproot Dentsu, has launched a campaign with its long-time ambassador, Ranveer Singh. The campaign, which has gone live across TV and digital platforms, is also complemented by the debut of an all-new look Set Wet products.

     

    Speaking on this new campaign, Koshy George, Chief Marketing Officer, Marico Limited said: “As a youth-centred brand, Set Wet has always strived to echo the mindset of our consumers. Today’s generation has prided themselves on finding the best and most unique solution to their problems and we aimed to take that ideal a step further with this new campaign. Together with the iconic and beloved Ranveer Singh, this campaign elaborates on the resourcefulness, uniqueness, creativity, and cheeky nature of our consumers, showing how they can be the sexiest version of themselves.”

     

    Talking about the inspiration behind the film, Ayesha Ghosh, CEO, Taproot Dentsu added: “A brand whose baseline is ‘Sada Sexy Raho’ and whose brand ambassador is a livewire, usually means that the campaign development is a rollicking ride, all the hard work notwithstanding. Add to that Team SET WET were just as keen as us to break the mould of the conventional grooming product ad. Once Yogesh Rijhwani, the ECD who conceptualised this ad, landed the prehistoric man comparison, Ranveer’s flair for pulling off unexpected characters and director Rajiv Rao’s effortless style of storytelling took the idea to the next level.”

  • To highlight the company's professional cleaning services

    Taproot Dentsu launches new campaign for Urban Company

    By Our Staff

     

    Urban Company, in association with Taproot Dentsu, has launched a campaign for the company’s professional cleaning services. It comprises two films which demonstrate the critical aspects of stain removal and adding shine to the fixtures and overall bathroom look and feel.

     

    Speaking about the campaign, Ayesha Ghosh, CEO, Taproot Dentsu said: “It was a fun idea to use the maid as the advocate of Urban Company’s professional cleaning service. Instead of defending her cleaning abilities, the maid points out the marked superiority of Urban Company. While UC’s bathroom cleaning service will never entirely replace the housemaid who cleans the bathroom now, with this campaign we expect more frequent usage of it and give their bathroom the shine it deserves.”

     

    Commenting on the campaign, Smit Shukla, Director-Marketing, Urban Company added: “Consumers want a sparkly clean and shiny bathroom but currently they are compromising with basic minimum regular cleaning which does not give their expected level of cleaning and shine to their homes. Urban Company’s professional cleaning thus aims at offering superior home and bathroom cleaning via 10X superior stain removal and 2-month long-lasting shine Vs regular bathroom cleaning. Our trained fleet of Cleaning partners with their expert equipment ensure that consumers get squeaky clean and shiny bathrooms always.”

     

  • Santosh 'Paddy' Padhi to lead agency, but the creative shop will miss the energy of its co-founder

    Life after Agnello Dias for Taproot

     

     

    By Our Staff

     

    His exit has been rumoured for a while now. But denied, declined and even rubbished. We were told that he has moved to a larger group-level role, as creative chairman of the Dentsu group in India.

     

    Which wasn’t untrue. But it was the beginning of a long road to the end of a relationship with Dentsu. Dias, better known as Aggi or Aggie, will continue with the agency until the end of this month (June 2021).

     

    And after that? Well, he will be a consultant on a few brands, one of which is Airtel. And what else? Nothing for the moment that has been announced.

     

    But first the news: Taproot Dentsu has announced key leadership changes as it gears up to get future-ready. Ayesha Ghosh, who had been heading the Mumbai office, has now been appointed as Chief Executive Officer (CEO). She will be responsible for both Mumbai and Gurugram offices. Ghosh has been with Taproot Dentsu since December 2015.

     

    Partnering her closely will be Shashank Lanjekar. He has been elevated to the role of Chief Strategy Officer (CSO) and will now be in charge of strategic planning for both the Taproot Dentsu offices in Mumbai and Gurugram. Thus far, he had been heading planning for the Mumbai office, ever since he joined in 2017. His ability to go deep and yet have an intuitive touch has helped give birth to some memorable campaigns.

     

    Pearl Vas, who has been with the agency since 2018, takes on more independent responsibilities in Mumbai. She will now be promoted to Senior Vice President (SVP), Strategic Planning.

     

    Meanwhile, under the overall creative leadership of Santosh ‘Paddy’ Padhi, Co-Founder and Chief Creative Officer (CCO) – Taproot Dentsu, the creative team for the Mumbai office has been expanded and divided into four units, each to be headed by a senior creative person. Neeraj Kanitkar, with an experience of 14 years (nine of those in Taproot Dentsu), is the creative lead for Facebook for which he has won the agency awards at Spikes and AdFest. He has also worked on significant brands like WhatsApp, Myntra, American Tourister and FirstPost.  He will be promoted to Executive Creative Director (ECD). Yogesh Rijhwani has been with the agency for close to five years with a total experience of 13 years. He has been handling Aquaguard and Set Wet. He has also worked on Star Sports, Airtel, Parle-G among others. He too will be promoted to ECD.

     

    The other two senior creative leads will be Abhishek Deshwal and Purva Ummat. Abhinav Kaushik, who was Executive Vice President (EVP) on the Honda business among other brands, has been promoted to Head – Taproot Dentsu, Gurgaon while Titus Upputuru remains very ably in charge of creative for the Gurugram office. The other news is that veteran agencyperson Umesh Shrikhande retired as CEO in March this year.

     

    Santosh Padhi or Paddy will continue as Co-Founder and CCO and will have a more hands-on role in both Mumbai and Delhi offices. According to our sources, Taproot Dentsu will, for all practical purposes, be led by him.

     

    Dias began his advertising career in 1989 and after working with agencies like Dart, Interpub, Lowe and Leo Burnett, he joined JWT in 2005 where rose to become the Chief Creative Officer. Soon JWT India was ranked India’s No. 1 creative agency in the Campaign Brief rankings for Asia. Then he made history by winning India’s first-ever Grand Prix at Cannes and the first-ever Titanium-Integrated Lion, with JWT India not only being the network’s top performer but also returning the best ever performance by an Indian advertising agency at the festival.

     

    His name features in almost every award catalogue – from our homegrown Abby and Kyoorius to Cannes Lions, D&AD, One Show, Clio, AdFest, London International Advertising Awards, etc. The list is loooong.

     

    Taproot, which was then not acquired by Dentsu, was ranked among the world’s Top 20 independent agencies besides being crowned Asia-Pacific Agency of the Year. In 2013 Taproot India also became the Asia-Pacific Agency of the Year at Spikes Asia.

     

    Nine years back, Dias was ranked amongst the World’s 100 most Creative People by Fast Company magazine in the US. So what about Life after Aggie for Taproot. Well, it is, like as one friend of the agency said, the roots have been extracted. While Paddy stays on, we all know what Aggie brought into the system. It was not just creation. It was intensity, conviction and much passion.”

     

    In an industry dominated by some of the big agencies like Ogilvy, Lowe Lintas, McCann and some others, Aggie brought in some amazing energy into his advertising. Whether it was the advertising for Airtel or for The Times of India and Mumbai Mirror, he produced some really memorable work. The kind that hasn’t been seen for a while in Indian advertising, Taproot included.

     

    There are many who say that Aggie needn’t work given the monies he earned after selling Taproot to Densu (with Paddy), but, as some of his friends tell us, that’s unfair. “Knowing Aggie, he’s going to not stop working and dreaming up new ideas for advertisers.” There were rumours of his looking at some feature film projects, but that we are told have faded away. “There was just this much he could’ve done at Taproot after selling out to Dentsu. He will reinvent himself and come up with something as refreshing as before,” the friend added.

     

    Meanwhile, for Taproot Dentsu, while Agnello Dias will continue to be around consulting for a few of its prized accounts which are possibly with the agency thanks to him, it will be interesting to see the kind of business it generates and retains in the immediate future. What we do know that co-founder Santosh ‘Paddy’ Padhi is fairly aggressive in his approach and will try his bestest to ensure the news doesn’t impact the agency’s fortunes.

     

    Clearly the next few months should see some activity for both Taproot and Agnello Dias.

  • Aims to carry the Lenovo story forward in the Indian market

    Taproot bags mandate for Lenovo’s campaign

    By Our Staff

     

    Taproot Dentsu has been awarded the creative mandate for the forthcoming campaign of the tech giant, Lenovo. The agency won the mandate following a multi-agency pitch and will now service the account from its Mumbai office.

     

    The campaign will focus on Lenovo’s smart and innovative offerings. It aims to carry the Lenovo story forward in the Indian market.

     

    Amit Doshi
    Amit Doshi

    Speaking of the association, Amit Doshi, CMO – India and South Asia, Lenovo said, “Taproot was quick to understand our business need and translate it into interesting possibilities. They have a stellar track record in producing disruptive work and we are excited about working with the unit.”

     

    Ayesha Ghosh
    Ayesha Ghosh

    Added Ayesha Ghosh, Head, Taproot Dentsu: “In an ever-evolving category, Lenovo has continued to stay ahead of the curve and we are delighted to be part of that journey. We enjoyed bringing the brief to life and we’re happy that the Lenovo team felt we had hit the nail on the head with the work we are now developing.”

     

  • Taproot Dentsu won the mandate following a multi-agency pitch and will now service the account from its Mumbai office

    Taproot bags Mobile Premier League mandate for IPL

    By A Correspondent

     

    Taproot Dentsu has been awarded the creative mandate for Bangalore-based mobile gaming platform Mobile Premier League’s (MPL) 2020 IPL campaign. Taproot Dentsu won the mandate following a multi-agency pitch and will now service the account from its Mumbai office.

     

    Talking about the collaboration, Ayesha Ghosh, General Manager, Taproot Dentsu Mumbai, said: “We are very excited to win this business. Our interactions with the client team have been charged with positive energy. The brief was very sharp – to get gamers to download MPL where they could win money playing their favourite online games and a whole lot of new ones. We are now in the process of creating the films. So, watch out for the upcoming campaign!”

     

    Added Abhishek Madhavan, VP, Growth and Marketing, MPL: “We called for a multi-agency pitch across the best in the country, and after a grueling round of presentations and discussions, have placed our trust in Taproot Dentsu to be our creative partners for this IPL. Their strategic insights and creative capabilities made us choose them. It is essential to capture our brand’s values, and MPL’s connect with its users and game developers in our campaigns, and we think Taproot Dentsu will be the right agency to help us do this.”

     

     

  • Campaign led by two TVCs focusing on two important principles of mutual fund investments

    Aditya Birla Sun Life MF launches investor education campaign

    By A Correspondent

     

    Aditya Birla Sun Life Mutual Fund (ABSLMF) has launched an investor education campaign across 22 TV channels that comprise broadcast news media as well as GECs of both English and regional languages. Spread over three months, the campaign covers two films conceptualised to highlight one key aspect each of investing in mutual funds. They emphasise on the core theme of #WINWITHSIP to convey how SIP as an investment tool helps to mitigate market volatility and can be leveraged for diversifying investments through asset allocation.

     

    Commenting on the choice of theme, Ajay Kakar, Chief Marketing Officer – Aditya Birla Capital added, “This integrated campaign is an attempt to reach out through various touchpoints and appropriate the relevance of SIP as the right instrument for any market environment. It educates investors about the nuances of investing and assists them to take informed financial decisions. We are going beyond the ‘what’ to explain the ‘how’ with a listen and learn approach. This proposition is especially relevant in today’s volatile market environment where many new investors and fence sitters are beginning to wonder if money not invested is money saved”. Directed by Soaeb Mohammed, the TVC has been created by Taproot Dentsu India with Early Man Film.

     

    Commenting about the film, Ayesha Ghosh – General Manager, Taproot Dentsu added: “This investor education effort strives to have the consumer work things out for himself, thus giving all the more potency to #WINWITHSIP. With skilful direction by Soaeb Mohammed of Early Man Film, we have kept the pace snappy and the questions quick-fire, evoking spontaneous answers that we feel viewers will find honest and relatable.”

  • Taproot Dentsu will be involved in the strategy, brand building, and advertising campaign

    Taproot Dentsu bags Big FM mandate

    By A Correspondent

     

    Taproot Dentsu has acquired advertising duties for 92.7 Big FM India. The agency will service the account from its Mumbai office.

     

    The mandate entails strategic positioning, product reach and frequency and re-packaging the channel as a whole. Taproot Dentsu will be involved in the strategy, brand building, advertising campaign and some show concepts across some outdoor and radio campaigns.

     

    Ayesha Ghosh

    Talking about the collaboration, Ayesha Ghosh, General Manager, Taproot Dentsu Mumbai, said: “We are happy to be working with Big FM. The task of repositioning a brand is always most exciting, considering that it’s like a rebirth that one must design with utmost care. From “Suno, sunao, life banao” to the plausible next stage in the brand’s journey, there was a wide spectrum to cover. Eventually, with unanimous agreement on what we should stand for, nuancing the personality in great detail and laying out a sustainable plan, we are ready to go live. This positioning will drive all that Big FM stands for; from content to packaging to communication. We look forward to a successful launch and continued consumer relevance thereon, because it is a thought that we all believe firmly in and are eager to spread far and wide.”

     

    Sunil Kumaran

    On the subject of repositioning, Sunil Kumaran, Country Head, THWINK (Big FM’s short-form video and audio talent incubator and marquee content studio) added: “We were at a stage where the category was moving from being just a provider of entertainment, to being torch bearers of improvement and progress towards a better world. From our interactive relationship with the audience, we wanted to take it to the next level with our listeners, by making both them and ourselves responsible for a better tomorrow. “Dhun badal ke toh dekho” is something we strongly believe in, because at every level, truly, change in the world will begin only with change in the mind. We plan to live this and own this every day with our every move and hope to transcend the relevance of this thought from our collective conviction to our audience’s, and of course, the world at large.”

     

     

  • The brief to Taproot was to reclaim a territory for Milano

    Taproot Dentsu, Parle launch new films for Milano

    By A Correspondent

     

    Parle, in association with Taproot Dentsu, has launched a series of films for its premium biscuit offering Platina Milano.

     

    Speaking about the campaign, Mayank Shah, Category Head, Parle Products said: “Since the launch of the Platina range last May, we have observed a renewed interest among consumers towards Parle’s premium offerings. We have always been innovators across categories and while we were happy that our premium brands were being well received, we also felt the need to bring something refreshingly new to the consumers. Extensive research and understanding of our target audience’s evolving tastes led us to add new variants to the Milano range, which consequently resulted in India’s first cookie with Hazelnut filling by an FMCG brand.”

     

    Added Ayesha Ghosh, General Manager, Taproot Dentsu Mumbai: “In times where balance and perfection are being chased and when indulgence is frowned upon, our task was to carve out a special guilt-free place in the minds of consumers for a rich, delicious cookie like Milano. The idea that followed was to approach it from an individual’s perspective, bringing out the importance of irreverent self-pampering. The fact that Twinkle Khanna personally identified with the messaging, further spurred off the idea for us to also add the element of ‘There’s a me in every Milano’ in the TVCs. Overall, the ads have been shot in a manner to remind us that every now and then, it’s okay to listen to your heart, give in to a craving and bite into that tempting cookie!”

     

     

  • The channel will bring together Discovery’s unique storytelling and the best of real-life entertainment through stories aimed at inspiring millions

    Discovery appoints Taproot Dentsu to create promos for Jeet

    By A Correspondent

     

    Discovery Jeet, which is set to launch on February 1, has roped in Taproot Dentsu to create promos for the channel’s marquee shows.

     

    Commenting on the association, Karan Bajaj, Senior Vice President & General Manager – South Asia, Discovery Communications India said: “We are delighted to have Taproot Dentsu on board. Taproot Dentsu’s team grasped the communication briefs in total and delivered clutter breaking creative ideas capturing Discovery Jeet’s ethos of ‘Hai Mumkin’. Simultaneously, the agency was also very impactful in bringing to the fore the protagonist’s journey of overcoming all odds.”

     

    Said Ayesha Ghosh, General Manager – Taproot Dentsu (Mumbai) said: “Discovery Jeet’s programming content and quality is quite refreshing. Their philosophy is inspiring and we are excited to be part of this launch. The vision for the promos of their lead shows is an extension of this fresh approach. The intention is to engage the Hindi GEC audience in a way that has never been done before. And I think we have successfully risen to this challenge.”

     

    Added Yogesh Rijwani, Associate Creative Director – Taproot Dentsu (Mumbai) said: “While Baba Ramdev is an exceptionally well-known personality, most people have only seen him either teaching Yoga or in Patanjali ads. Therefore, to show his rise above the opposition he faced, we needed to present him in a different avatar. By using shadow play, we could depict him metaphorically defeat every baddie that came his way, like a superhero of sorts.”

     

     

  • After studying Mathematics and doing an MBA, Ninad worked with IMRB in quantitative research followed by six years at Lowe

    Taproot announces senior level appointments

    By A Correspondent

     

    Ayesha Ghosh

    Taproot has appointed two senior resources into its fold. Ayesha Ghosh joins Taproot as the General Manager while Ninad Umargekar has joined Taproot as the Head of Strategic Planning.

     

    Having studied Economics and Advertising in Delhi, Ayesha spent most of her working years in Mumbai. In her previous assignment, she was heading the Mumbai office of Contract where she spent 14 good years. At Contract Ayesha was involved with the integrated communication planning on brands like Shoppers Stop, Asian Paints, Cadbury and Star Plus among others. She also worked closely with the Design, Digital and Core Consulting divisions of Contract. A voracious reader and foodie, Ayesha is also a fitness enthusiast.

     

    Ninad Umargekar

    After studying Mathematics and doing an MBA, Ninad worked with IMRB in quantitative research followed by six years at Lowe. At Lowe he started with channel planning and then moved to brand planning working on a wide variety of brands like Lifebuoy, Hit, BookmyShow, Finolex among many others.

     

     

     

    Agnello Dias

    Commenting on Ninad’s appointment, Agnello Dias said: “Strategic planning is a key discipline that we are focusing on and Ninad’s arrival helps us take a significant step forward in that respect. He has a sharp mind and the ability to be precise with people observations. A trait we respect and admire as that is what has seen us produce some really powerful work in the past.”

     

     

    Umesh Srikhande, CEO, Taproot said, “At Taproot, the endeavour is keep adding value to the brands entrusted to us. Strengthening our relationships, growing our talented people, adding sharpness to our counsel and overall adding more depth to everything we do. And that is where hiring senior talent like Ayesha Ghosh becomes important. Her high levels of maturity, cross category experience, her strong people-team skills and her bias for good ideas will mean a happy and meaningful addition to our bandwidth.”