BBDO India has announced the appointment of Suraja Kishore as CEO. Most recently, Kishore was EVP and General Manager at McCann Mumbai, and National Planning Head at Truth Central, McCann’s global thought leadership unit. He joined BBDO yesterday (Tuesday, May 21).
Prior to McCann, Suraja worked with Publicis Worldwide, Lowe Lintas and Mudra DDB. He has 21 years of rich experience developing creative strategies, building partnerships and establishing exciting approaches to developing campaigns. His client list includes major brands such as Unilever, Marico, P&G, Nestle, Godrej, Tata, Idea Cellular and Citibank, to name a few. He has been at the helm of some of the most memorable campaigns including ‘What an Idea, Sirji’ for Idea Cellular and ‘Tata Tea- Jaago Re’.
Said Jean Paul Burge, Chairman and CEO, BBDO Asia on the appointment: “We welcome Suraja Kishore to BBDO as we start a new chapter of great Indian creativity – BBDO India 2.0. This is what will make our clients’ businesses stronger as we continue to build BBDO India into one of the most influential agencies in the world. Suraja is all that we are looking for in a leader. His appreciation and passion for creative cultures will mesh well with our focus on The Work. The Work. The Work.”
Speaking about his appointment and his new role, Kishore said: “What got me really excited about this role is that JP (Jean Paul Burge) and Josy were not trying to fill a particular position; they were looking for someone who can transform and grow BBDO India. I felt that the last ten years have been a great run for BBDO India, but what got us here won’t get us there. In fact, I believe it’s our focus on share of the future rather than just share of the market that will drive growth for clients and us. One of the most important ingredients for success is ‘chemistry between key stakeholders’ and that is what I discovered with JP and Josy. Shaping the future is very much like love; you have to have deep faith together to make it happen.”
Added Josy Paul, Chairman & CCO, BBDO India: “It has taken us more than nine months to find Suraja. In our journey to find a suitable partner, we met some outstanding candidates. With Suraja, it was love at first sight. When JP (Jean Paul Burge) and I first met Suraja, we knew he had the emotional energy and strategic depth that comes with great leadership. His clear vision about the future of brands and demand in an age of evolving media and tech interface is so attractive. It felt like he is not just a CEO, he is also our ‘chief evolution officer’. I am delighted to welcome Suraja Kishore as CEO as we embrace this exciting change together.”
Idea has launched its new ad campaign ‘Idea 4G – India ka live network’.
Speaking about the campaign, Sashi Shankar, Chief Marketing Officer, Vodafone Idea said: The way we behave is often dictated by who is watching us. The fear of ‘Log kya kahenge’ is inherent amongst all. With live video streaming fast gaining popularity, especially amongst youth, we are positioning it as a powerful tool to nudge positive changes in behaviour. With Idea 4G – India ka Live Network, we are encouraging people to use the power of our network and its live video streaming capabilities in HD to drive change by creating positive outcomes from every negative situation in and around them.â€
The new campaign has been developed by BBDO India and the TVCs have been directed by Sukriti Tyagi.
PNB MetLife has signed on badminton player PV Sindhu as the company’s brand ambassador. Over the next few months, Sindhu will bring alive PNB MetLife’s brand promise of being the right life insurance partner to every Indian.
Said Nipun Kaushal, Chief Marketing Officer, PNB MetLife: “We are thrilled to announce P.V. Sindhu as the new face of PNB MetLife. Her commitment on and off the court is commendable. From bagging world titles and Olympic medals for the country to advocating positive change, she is invested in making a difference to the community at large. She embodies the spirit of perseverance, discipline and determination, and discipline and with PNB MetLife it is a seamless brand alliance. In P.V. Sindhu we’ve found a partner who reflects the drive we share while embodying our commitment to serving the society.â€
Added Josy Paul, Chairman of BBDO India, the creative agency of PNB MetLife: “Players like PV Sindhu are definitely unleashing the patronage of different sporting disciplines in India. As a brand ambassador, she is the perfect representation of what PNB MetLife believes in and will add great value to its identity. We are absolutely delighted to be a part of this journey and look forward to crafting its narrative as a company that will be at the forefront of securing India’s future.â€
It was an Ogilvy night yet again at the Kyoorius Creative Awards. The agency which has traditionally bagged bag at Kyoorius, maxed with two Black and 27 Blue Elephants. Production firm Early Man Film which won a Black in the 2016 edition, bagged a Black for The Story of Kaveri, the film for which it also bagged the sole Grand Prix at this year’s Abby. The other Blacks were bagged by FCB and BBDO.
Early Man was the second most awarded agency with one Black and two Blues, and FCB came next with one Black and five Blues. AÂ special Master of Creativity award was presented to actor Amitabh Bachchan for his immeasurable contribution in advertising communication
The 5th edition of Kyoorius Creative Awards saw a total of five Black and 90 Blue Elephants were presented to the winning titles spread across Advertising, Media and Digital categories. Over 2200 entries across 15 categories with 374 unique entrants were received. Last year, the number of entrants were over 1800 with a total of 304 unique entrants.
Speaking about the Kyoorius Creative Awards, Rajesh Kejriwal, Founder CEO, Kyoorius, said: “We have some brilliant work put up by communication agencies this year and I personally would like to congratulate each one of them them for their truly deserved win. It gives me immense happiness to announce that we received a 20 per cent increase in entries this year and selecting the winners was indeed tough for our respected jury. But innate knowledge of our jurors in their respected domain has contributed immensely in ensuring fair, unbiased and credible selection process.â€
The Five Black Elephants that signified the best of the best, were seen held high by 4 winning teams. While Ogilvy & Mather won maximum number of blue elephants, the black elephants winners were:
1. Ogilvy & Mather for – #HoliNotHooliganism and Vodafone Sakshi
2. Early Man Films for -The Story of Kaveri
3. FCB India Group for – SindoorKhela- No Conditions Apply
4. BBDO India for – #FuelFor The RealFit
The Black Elephants were presented to the winning teams by Mr. Amitabh Bachchan. This year, the Power of Print award, an IP owned by the Times Group was presented to Curry Nation Brand Communication for ‘Lifeline Question’.  Brave New World, Bengaluru and FCB Interface were awarded the runner-up winning title for their campaigns ‘No’ and ‘Honarary Doctors’ respectively.
Kyoorius Creative Awards also saw an out-of-home (OOH) advertising contest titled ‘Inoohvation’ in association with Kinetic. Creative Agency Studio Mars won the coveted title for their campaign ‘Will they see Blue’ while While J. Walter Thompson and Locopopo bagged the runner-up title for their campaigns ‘Interactive Digital Billboards’ and ‘Blue Skies For our Children’ respectively.
Interestingly, the award to Bachchan was presented by Kejriwal and Sanjay Prabhu, Vice Chair, Radio Indigo and Exec Director and Publisher, Asianet Commuications. Prabhu, who led the BPL brand from 1990 to 2015, was instrumental in signing on Bachchan for his first endorsement (with BPL).
Said Sonal Dabral –  Group Chief Creative Officer & Vice Chairman – ‎Ogilvy & Mather in a statement: “It’s a great feeling to be the leading agency once again at this prestigious award show. Kudos to all the passionate teams at Ogilvy that made it happen. Winning two Black Elephants and 27 Blue elephants across categories from digital to traditional is a testimony to the fantastic breadth of winning talent that we have in Ogilvy India. I’m thrilled that we won not one but two Black Elephants, but I’m particularly happy that both these big winners, for Vodafone Sakhi and #HoliNotHooliganism, deal with critical issues around gender inequality, prejudice and gender-based violence.”
Speaking about winning the Black Elephant,  Josy Paul, Chairman and National Creative Director, BBDO India said in a statement: “Quaker Oats is how I start my day. It’s my morning raga. So I am personally super thrilled when this everyday energy routine wins India’s biggest award. And it’s all because of our awesome team at BBDO Delhi and our truly enlightened client at PepsiCo, and the fantastic craft and film direction by Neeraj Ghaywan. Thank you for the Grand Prix breakfast.”
Honda Inoohvation-
STATUS
Application Name
Agency Name
WINNER
Will They See Blue
Studiomars
RUNNER UP
Interactive Digital Billboards
J. Walter Thompson
RUNNER UP
Blue Skies For Our Children
Locopopo
Times Power of Print Winners list
WINNER
Entry 2436 | “Lifeline Question”
>> Entrant Agency: Curry Nation Brand Communication
Beverage brand 7Up is attempting to taking consumers on a trip down memory lane with its new campaign, ‘7Up Back to cool’. The beverage brand presents consumers with a blast from the past, with the launch of six vintage designs. ATVC, conceptualised by creative agency BBDO, shows the evolution of the different designs.
Speaking on the campaign, Gaurav Verma, Associate Director, Flavors Marketing, PepsiCo India said: “7Up is a brand which is inherently cool and has retained its personality through the decades. Through the limited edition 7Up Vintage packaging, we have once again taken a unique and ‘cool’ approach to connect with today’s generation. In the age of throwbacks and selfies, the 7Up Vintage bottles are the perfect representation of our Shelf to Media strategy and we are confident the new, limited edition packaging will truly make 7Up stand out on retail shelves.â€
Added Josy Paul, Chairman and Chief Creative Officer, BBDO India: “These are collector’s items. Fido is the original daddy of cool! And all the other cool 7 Up stuff! It’s so awesome that you want to own every one of these global vintage packs. And you want others to enjoy them to. How do you do that? With the 7UP Back to Cool promo offer! Now everyone has a chance to go back in time with a bottle of 7 Up! Nostalgia is cool!â€
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 citizensâ€.
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 futureâ€.
Idea Cellular has unveiled a new campaign for its new Nirvana range of Postpaid plans.
Speaking on the campaign, Sashi Shankar, Chief Marketing Officer, Idea Cellular said: “Brand Idea understands consumers’ needs and helps them positively transform their lives through its services. This campaign aims to capture how Idea’s Nirvana Postpaid Plans help transform moments of stress for the consumer into moments of carefree happiness. When a consumer chooses Nirvana plans, everything they need from their mobile service provider is taken care of, and so they can continue to focus on the bigger things that truly matter to them.â€
Developed by BBDO India, the TVC will be amplified through an integrated 360-degree campaign, spanning across television, radio, OOH, digital.
Last year, Mirinda had a campaign based on the exam pressure kids face because of parents. This year, with the second edition of its ‘Release The Pressure’ campaign, the brand is making this voice louder and bringing to the forefront the issue of constant comparison by parents.
The film, conceptualised by creative agency BBDO and created by acclaimed director Shoojit Sircar, aims to make parents realise how situations of constant comparison can lead to lower self-esteem amongst teenagers.
Speaking about the film, Vipul Prakash, Senior Vice President, Beverage Category, PepsiCo India, said: “Mirinda’s ‘Release The Pressure’ campaign stems from an insight that homes turn into pressure zones as exam season approaches. Parents have good intentions at heart but sometimes their motivation methods end up being stressful for their kids. Continuing the momentum of the first edition of the campaign, our goal this year is to help people understand and acknowledge that constant comparison is detrimental to a student’s performance.â€
Added Josy Paul, Chairman and Chief Creative Officer, BBDO India: “As a popular national brand, Mirinda stands committed to its teenage audience and their interests. In the latest campaign, we’ve built on last year’s brand idea ‘Release The Pressure’ by decoding the actions that add pressure in the teenager’s life. One big action or pressure point is the constant comparison that parents use to push their children. The campaign focuses on this unhealthy behavior of constant comparison – that is known to lead to depression in children. The campaign encourages parents to discuss constructive ways to support their children, especially during exam time.â€
Visa has launched its new brand campaign ‘Reimagine India’. Crafted by BBDO, the ad is based on the platform for Visa in India- “You reimagine India. We reimagine payments’. The campaign is driven through a robust 360-degree approach that spans TV, OOH, social and digital mediums.
Said CMO Manmeet Vohra: “In this new age digital India, consumers, especially millennials, do not recognise barriers and want to use technology to lead a friction-less life. As a brand, Visa is an enabler. It is an enabler of dreams, promises and aspirations as it seamlessly moulds into the unbound lives of progressive Indians and making them feel free, unencumbered and in total control by providing them reimagined payment experiences as they #ReimagineIndia.
Added Josy Paul, Chairman and Chief Creative Office, BBDO India: “Visa is creating a friction-less world of digital money so that people can go about their lives smoothly and without everyday payment interruptions. Our work dramatises the brand’s mission in the context of a new India that is re-imagining itself as it evolves and breaks from the past. The campaign is inspired by transformational stories of ageless progressive Indians today who are reimagining every aspect of life. Visa, embodies this ‘unbound’ spirit that’s leading today’s India Reimagined. So, while you reimagine India, Visa continues to reimagine payments,â€
BBDO India’s Dads #ShareTheLoad for Procter & Gamble bagged six shortlists at the Tangrame Effectiveness Awards that are scheduled for late September 2017. Thirteen Indian entries find their way among the 259 that have made it through to the shortlist for Tangrams Effectiveness Awards.
A panel of regional marketers and agency heads has reviewed all submissions to select the best in marketing effectiveness. The following number of entries have been shortlisted in each awards section:
Effectiveness 100
Media Strategy 53
Digital Strategy 70
Data & Analytics 22
e-Commerce 14
“As the quality of work increases year on year, the achievement of the shortlisted entries is all the more impressive and we would like to congratulate the finalists who have clearly demonstrated the effectiveness of their work.†says Andrea Hayes, Festivals Director.
Other than BBDO for P&G, JWT bagged two shortlists for Godrej’s Good Knight, as did Publicis for Ambuja Cements and Mindshare for Hindustan Unilver. Sapient Razorfish has also bagged one shortlist for work done for Sapient Nitro.
The winners will be announced at the Tangrams Awards ceremony held on the first evening of Spikes Asia Festival, Wednesday September 27, 2017. The Tangrams programme will also expand to includea two-day focus on marketing effectiveness at Spikes Asia on September 28 and 29.
Leo Burnett India has brought on board Arjuna Gaur as Executive Creative Director. In his new mandate, Arjuna will be based out of the New Delhi office and lead the creative function of the North operations. He will report to RajDeepak Das, Chief Creative Officer, Leo Burnett, South Asia. Gaur joins the agency from M&C Saatchi Kuala Lumpur.
Welcoming Gaur on board, Das said: “I have met a multitude of creative people in my career, but Arjuna is one of those few people who personifies ‘creativity’. We have worked together for seven-eight years at BBDO India, and I love the energy he brings to the table. I love that he is a geek, I love that he understands human behaviour, applies it to his craft, and makes the ad-meet-the-tech-meet-the-idea. And most of what he knows is self-taught. He is truly an all-rounder, and I am happy to have him on board the Leo Burnett ship.â€
BBDO India chairman and chief creative officer Josy Paul will head the outdoor advertising jury as Jury Foreman at the 2017 D&AD Professional Awards. This was unveiled along with names of other jury foremen and women and the announcement that the 55th annual D&AD Professional Awards are now open for entry.  Although there haven’t been any new category additions, there are some notable changes within sub-categories that will celebrate the latest innovations. For the first time D&AD will now award innovations and fresh new work that comes to the market in Beta or as prototypes. New websites, products and new iterations of existing platforms will get the chance to submit their work to be judged and win a Pencil. This work will be eligible for a Wood Pencil.
The Established Campaigns sub-category will recognise integrated campaigns that have lasted the test of time whilst entries into Collaborative (part of the Integrated & Collaborative Category) will be rewarded for the relationship between agency and client in producing great creative campaigns for three years and over.
Said D&AD CEO Tim Lindsay: “D&AD evolves and changes to reflect the landscape of commercial creativity, which is why every year you’ll find us listening to feedback and making changes to our categories. 2017 will be the year of awarding the established and the very new. Innovation is at the heart of every great creative idea, it is how we measure creative excellence every year. With this in mind, awarding work that has nailed that initial concept but hasn’t necessarily gone into full production was a natural next move for us. At the same time, it isn’t all about the new, there is much to be learned from rewarding successful creative relationships and ideas that have survived the test of time which is why we will be looking at both ends of the spectrum this year. As ever we wait with growing excitement to see what great creative work is entered in the next weeks and months.â€
With the launch of D&AD Impact earlier this year, the White Pencil is no longer part of the awards line up, however as one of the most popular categories, Creativity For Good continues to develop with the addition of Product and Service Design subcategories which reflect the growing trend for these as part of creatively worthy campaigns.
Also, the following categories have notable changes: Branded Film Content has been changed to Branded Content to reflect the changing media in this space and now live-streamed, audio or user generated content can be entered into this category as well as films. Branding has also had some re-organisation with Logos moving over from Graphic Design and the addition of Campaign Branding & Identity which will give design agencies the opportunity to enter specific branding and identities of campaign projects. Finally, D&AD has retired Mobile Marketing as a category as it plays a key role in most campaigns and is no longer briefed in isolation, moving instead as a sub-category to other design and marketing categories.
Meanwhile, D&AD has also announced a list of senior professionals as Jury Foremen and Women. This includes BBDO India chairman Josy Paul. Commented Awards Director, Donal Keenan: “At D&AD we strongly believe in championing equality in the creative industry and aim to lead by example. This year we are pleased to announce that our line-up of Jury Foremen and Women are equally split by gender for the first time, a trend that we will work to ensure continues into the future.â€
– Art Direction: Margaret Keene, Executive Creative Director, MullenLowe, USA
– Book Design: Coralie Bickford-Smith, Designer, Penguin Books, UK
– Product Design: Victoria Slaker, VP, Product Design, Ammunition , USA
– Radio & Audio: Jenny Glover, ECD, TBWA/Hunt/Lascaris, South Africa
– Spatial & Experiential Design: Douglas Broadley, Group CEO/Creative Director, Imagination, UK
– Writing for Advertising: Susan Treacy, EVP, Executive Creative Director, FCB Chicago, USA
– Writing for Design: Elise Valmorbida, Founder/Creative director, word-design, UK
Jury announcements will be made later in the year, full information on categories, pricing and dates can be found athttp://www.dandad.org/en/professional-awards/. The D&AD Festival will be held from April 25-27, 2017 in London. Work entered into the 2017 D&AD Awards must have been commercially released between January 1, 2016 and March 18, 2017.
