MxMIndia

Tag: BBDO

  • To manage brand strategy and creative

    BBDO wins mandate for Cargill edible oil

    By Our Staff

     

    Cargill India, the American global food corporation, has appointed BBDO India to manage the brand strategy and creative for their edible oil brands portfolio.

     

    Asked about the partnership, BBDO India’s GM and chief growth officer, Nikhil Mahajan, said: “The relationship between us has been built on great conversations, insightful work and the desire to do something more than just an ad. With a unified vision and a common goal, I am certain that this partnership will lead to some great pieces of work that will always find ways to stir up a conversation with our consumer.”

     

    Added Krishna Mani, Chief Creative officer BBDO India (Delhi): “We are really looking forward to working with our partners at Cargill to write meaningful and impactful narratives for various brands in their portfolio.”

     

  • BBDO, DDB Mundra Group and TBWA\India

    Three Omnicom agencies to host Portfolio Night 2022

    By Our Staff

     

    Three Omnicom agencies – BBDO India, DDB Mundra Group and TBWA\India – will be co-hosts for The One Club for Creativity’s global in-person Portfolio Night 2022 in Mumbai on June 2.   In addition, the agencies will co-host an online Pan-India Portfolio Night on June 1 for those outside of Mumbai.

     

    Established in 2003, Portfolio Night has long been recognised as the world’s largest advertising portfolio review programme.  This fast-paced evening of advice, networking and recruitment takes place in cities around the world on the same date to help the next generation of creative talent entering the industry.

     

    Said Kevin Swanepoel, CEO, The One Club for Creativity: “Portfolio Night is a unique global event that serves as a high-visibility opportunity for agencies and creative directors to give back to the industry by guiding the earliest steps of future copywriters, art directors and technologists.  We are very grateful to BBDO India, DDB Mundra Group and TBWA\India for working together to make this important global event possible in person in Mumbai and virtually for all of India.”

     

  • Aims to get men to think and introspect their actions at home

    Ariel launches fifth edition of ShareTheLoad campaign

    By Our Staff

     

    Ariel detergent washing powder has launched a new campaign to continue conversations around unequal division of domestic chores. The #SeeEqual film kicks off to inaugurate the 5th edition of ShareTheLoad. Ariel urges men to be equal partners playing Equal roles.

     

    Said Sharat Verma, Chief Marketing Officer, P&G India, and Vice President, Fabric Care, P&G India: “With Ariel #ShareTheLoad, we strive to trigger meaningful conversations that will help drive positive change. With #See Equal, we want to address years of unconscious bias and conditioning, which may be coming in the way of us all sharing the load. A recent World Economic Forum report claims that at the current pace of change, gender parity is still 135 years away! That is far too long for us to wait for something that comes naturally for men when they interact with each other. Interestingly, over 73% married men agreed that they did their share of household chores when they lived with other men. However, even now in urban India, less that 25 percent of households claim that men share the load equally. This year’s communication is based on this simple insight – when men can ShareTheLoad equally with other men, then why not with their wives? Because we know when we #SeeEqual, we #ShareTheLoad”

     

    Added Josy Paul, Chairman & Chief Creative Officer, BBDO: “We’ve taken a slightly different track in the latest film for Ariel #ShareTheLoad. There is a definite shift in the tonality. This time, it’s the woman who speaks for herself. It is the woman speaking her mind and sharing her point of view. The film is fully reflective of the reality of today’s times, where the woman refuses to accept inequality in her marriage. Research confirmed this. 88% women believe it is time to talk to men about doing their share of the household work equally. There is a sense of restlessness, an impatience in the women today at the pace of change. So, this film is also a means to encourage conversations so as to truly move us towards an equal tomorrow.”

     

    Said Nandita Shah, Co- Director, Akshara Centre: “Gender inequality at home is underrated and often overlooked with women bearing the brunt of this inequality. When women believe that they are equal to men and start taking a position for it like in the Ariel #SeeEqual film, change happens. This change in behavior goes a long way in making the home more equal. If men understand how to do household chores, there should be nothing stopping them from sharing this equally and responsibly. We are happy to collaborate with Ariel to drive the conversation around gender equality in the division of household chores, and urge men to #See Equal and #ShareTheLoad.”

     

  • He joins Network from BBDO, Gurugram.

    Akashneel Dasgupta joins Network Advtg as Chief Creative Officer

    By Our Staff

     

    Akashneel Dasgupta
    Akashneel Dasgupta

    Network Advertising has appointed Akashneel Dasgupta as its Chief Creative Officer. He joins Network from BBDO, Gurugram.

     

    A MICA graduate with over 16 years of experience who began his career as a Strategic Planner but switched over to creative given his interests in films and filmmaking.

     

    Added Vinod Nair, MD, Network Advertising: “We are extremely fortunate to have a powerhouse of talent like Akashneel on board at Network. A rare combination of a Strategic Planner turned Creative Director; I am looking forward to seeing his leadership in collaborating with his team in creating work that adds value to our Client’s Businesses”.

     

    Commenting on the new role, Dasgupta said, “Independent. Integrated and most importantly Indian. Not too many agencies can truly claim to be that in the current scenario. Added to that is a culture of empathy and transparency. It is a story which deserves to travel further, and I would be extremely happy to contribute to this wonderful place, that is an outlier in today’s world. At the same time preserve the culture which has been carefully built over decades, by the current team.”

     

    Dasgupta also had successful stints at DDB Mudra, Lowe Lintas and ADK Fortune.

  • BBDO bags integrated brand mandate for Toroikaa Pharma’s Dynapar QPS spray

    By A Correspondent

     

    The agency will handle strategy and communication across digital, social and mainline for the brand.

     

    BBDO bags integrated brand mandate for Toroikaa Pharma’s Dynapar QPS spray. The agency will handle strategy and communication across digital, social and mainline for the brand.

     

    Said a spokesperson for Troikaa Pharmaceuticals: “After a long and protracted pitch, we are happy to have BBDO India on board. We plan to leverage this strategic and creative partnership to build a great future for Dynapar QPS pain relief spray. This brand is manufactured with QPS technology, which is globally patented including the US and Europe. QPS technology enables higher amounts of Diclofenac to penetrate the skin, as compared to conventional gels/sprays, ensuring fast and long lasting pain relief. The brand is a growth driver for us at Troikaa and has great future potential. We believe that our collaboration with BBDO India for Dynapar QPS, a pain relief spray will help us devise a better growth trajectory for this brand and help us corner a larger share of the pain management market.”

     

    Added Nikhil Mahajan, Chief Growth Officer & GM – BBDO India, Delhi: “This is a very special win whereby we are going to partner with the team of this wellknown brand. It’s a revolutionary product which is bound to shake up the category. and where our data driven approach on insight mining and targeting will be key to the way we build the brand. Our approach and expertise in digital-first thinking and execution is what clients are increasingly seeing value in and the recent wins are ratifying our belief of how brands need a single partner that can anchor the brand across social conversations, be present in all relevant places on digital while making sure the idea comes first. I am really excited and looking forward to creating some magical work for Dynapar QPS.’

     

    “It’s a rare opportunity that one gets, a chance to define and grow the brand right from the outset. Dynapar QPS is a hugely respected brand. Now the job of advertising is to ensure the brand gets more love from its users and widens its base significantly, said Akashneel Dasgupta, Chief Creative Officer – BBDO India, Delhi”

     

     

  • Both will report to Vandana Verma, Co-Founder and Managing Partner – Experience Platform at Wondrlab

    Wondrlab opens in NCR, brings in Ankit Grover & Biswajit Das from Arc Worldwide

    By A Correspondent

     

    Wondrlab, the Saurabh Varma-founded agency, has officially kicked off operations in North India with an office in NCR, which will also cater to the East. Teams comprising platform, strategy and creative experts are in place in both North and East, notes a communique.

     

    Vandana Verma
    Ankit Grover
    Biswajit Das

    The firm has made two senior appointments for the new office. It has brought in Ankit Grover as Lead Integration Director, and Biswajit Das as Lead Strategist, for the Experience Platform. Both will report to Vandana Verma, Co-Founder and Managing Partner – Experience Platform at Wondrlab.

     

     

    Saurabh Varma

    Said Verma, Co-Founder and Managing Partner – Experience Platform, Wondrlab: “Starting off our Delhi office means we now have excellence in the North and East. This move has come a little after Wondrlab’s launch and the momentum is unprecedented. Ankit and Biswajit are a great choice as leaders; both are new-age thinkers, excellent integration managers and tech enthusiasts with diverse cross-category brand experience. Our clients can expect hands-on leadership involvement in their business problems, great turnaround time and collaboration on the implementation of industry-first solutions at an enormous scale.”

     

    Grover has over 14 years of experience in experiential and integrated marketing and has joined from Arc Worldwide – Publicis Groupe’s experiential marketing arm – and has been part of agencies such as Wizcraft, RK Swamy BBDO and ESP Active.

     

    Das Biswajit has over 12 years of industry experience. His previous stint was also with Arc Worldwide. He has previously worked in companies such as Hansa Events, Network18 and ESP Active Marketing.

     

     

  • On the jury from India is Ajay Chandwani, Director – Percept Ltd

    Entries for Montreux Switzerland Festival close on April 10

    By A Correspondent

     

    So while Cannes Lions 2020 has been put off as has our own Abby and Goafest, the 31st edition of the Montreux Advertising Festival is scheduled this year at Montreux on April 16, 2020. Now Montreux Festival has been a precursor to Cannes for 30 years and one of Europe’s leading Advertising and Media festivals. Judging this year will be entirely done using online voting. And the event will also happen virtually.

     

    Veteran adperson and Director-Percept Ltd Ajay Chandwani is on the jury this year as well, and other than him are the following global stars:  Jonathan Fussel, Energy BBDO Chicago; Diana Casadiego, Havas Spain; Gary Du Toit, BBDO NY; Davide Boscacci, Publicis Italy; Izabella Cabral, TBWA/Worldwide; Eduardo Basque, Sao Paulo, Brazil; Luis Silva Dias, FCB International; Olivier Teepe, Cloudfactory, The Netherlands; Marcelo Lourenço, Coming Soon Creativity, Portugal; Istvan Bracsok, White Rabbit, Hungary; Andreia Ribeiro, BBDO Portugal; Sergio Spaccavento, Conversion, Italy; Daniel de Hora, Creative Boutique, Brazil: Fred Aramis, TBWA\Worldwide, New York.

     

     

  • BBDO, Omnicom, Burger King & P&G top WARC ‘Best of the Best’

    By A Correspondent

    WARC has released the results of its first-ever ‘Best of the Best’ global index of excellence, to showcase the best all-round agencies and brands by aggregating results from across all three recently released WARC Rankings – Creative 100, Effective 100 and Media 100. No Indian agency or brand features in the Top 10.

    The WARC Rankings, successor to the Gunn Report and WARC 100, are annual rankings providing a global benchmark for campaign, agency, network, holding company, brand and advertisers’ success.

    The Best of the Best 2019 has been calculated by combining the 2018 results of the most prestigious and rigorous global and regional creative, effectiveness and media awards shows and competitions as determined by the industry following a worldwide survey and consultation.

    Said David Tiltman, Head of Content, WARC: “The culmination of the WARC Rankings is the newly launched ‘Best of the Best’. This identifies the best-performing companies across our three benchmarks of marketing excellence – creativity, effectiveness and media excellence.”

    BBDO New York and BBDO Worldwide are the best agency and network respectively across the WARC Rankings. BBDO New York performed strongly in both creativity and effectiveness, and its parent network, BBDO Worldwide, had a total of 59 offices contribute to its winning network total.

    Commenting on their success, Andrew Robertson, President and CEO, BBDO Worldwide, said: “‘The ‘Best of the Best.’ It literally can’t get better than that when it comes to public recognition of BBDO Worldwide. I am proud of, and grateful to, our clients and all of the people in our agencies who made this happen. Having four agencies from four regions all ranked in the Top Ten, including BBDO New York at No.1, demonstrates the breadth of talent in the network.”

    Omnicom Group tops the Best of the Best holding company ranking. BBDO Worldwide’s strong performance was supported by top 10 ranks for DDB Worldwide, PHD Worldwide and TBWA Worldwide.

    “It’s a proud moment to see Omnicom and its agencies topping the ‘Best of the Best’ list as the #1 network, #1 and #2 agency, and #1 holding company,” said John Wren, Chairman and CEO of Omnicom Group. “Employees across the globe come to work every day ready to deliver world-class services for our clients, and that shines through as they’re recognized by WARC for their creativity, marketing effectiveness and media excellence. Congratulations to all our people who can take great pride in these accomplishments.”

    Burger King tops the Best of the Best brands, with placings in the top 50 in all three rankings, and in first place in the Creative 100. The retail brand had 23 award-winning campaigns across all three rankings.

    Procter & Gamble topped the advertiser ranking by less than a point, as the two leading FMCG players continue to produce highly successful work, particularly in effectiveness and media. However, neither had a brand in the top 10. Instead, both had multiple successful brands throughout the depth of the rankings.

    The top companies in WARC’s Best of the Best 2019 are:

    The world’s top 10 agencies across the WARC Rankings

    RankAgencyLocationPoints
    1BBDONew York, USA489.8
    2adam&eveDDBLondon, UK466.7
    3McCannNew York, USA413.1
    4AMV BBDOLondon, UK410.8
    5MediaComLondon, UK390.8
    6Colenso BBDOAuckland, New Zealand351.8
    7LOLA MullenLoweMadrid, Spain343.1
    8McCannLondon, UK316.6
    9Host/HavasSydney, Australia288.3
    10AlmapBBDOSão Paulo, Brazil281.0

    The world’s top 10 agency networks across the WARC Rankings

    RankNetworkPoints
    1BBDO Worldwide3207.1
    2McCann Worldgroup2912.0
    3Ogilvy2006.7
    4DDB Worldwide1746.7
    5MediaCom1511.2
    6IPG Mediabrands1430.9
    7PHD Worldwide1395.2
    8TBWA Worldwide1315.0
    9Dentsu Aegis Network1298.2
    10Mindshare Worldwide1174.2

    The world’s top 10 agency holding companies across the WARC Rankings

    RankNetworkPoints
    1Omnicom Group8926.6
    2WPP8556.4
    3Interpublic Group5772.1
    4Publicis Groupe2714.6
    5Dentsu1398.5
    6Havas Group1151.5
    7Accenture260.3
    8Hakuhodo DY Group259.3
    9MDC Partners189.8
    10BlueFocus152.7

    The world’s top 10 brands across the WARC Rankings

    RankNetworkPoints
    1Burger King593.2
    2McDonald’s465.0
    3IKEA339.0
    4Coca-Cola327.9
    5Pedigree321.0
    6KFC299.6
    7Greenpeace260.4
    8Skittles260.3
    9Palau Legacy Project258.0
    10Nike257.8

    The world’s top 10 advertisers across the WARC Rankings

    RankNetworkPoints
    1Procter & Gamble969.8
    2Unilever969.1
    3Mars963.3
    4Restaurant Brands International593.2
    5Anheuser-Busch InBev567.6
    6Volkswagen Group553.8
    7McDonald’s573.5
    8The Coca-Cola Company469.5
    9Heineken382.3
    10PepsiCo347.3

    The Best of the Best ranking aggregates points across the three rankings. To ensure performance in each ranking has equal weight in the Best of the Best tables, a weighting for the effectiveness and media rankings has been calculated that inflates their scores versus the creative rankings. For this reason, points in the Best of the Best are not simply the total of the three individual rankings.

    An annual survey will be held to ensure that the WARC Rankings remain independent and the competitions tracked reflect the opinion of the industry.

  • BBDO will take on the creative process starting November 1, 2018

    WPP loses Ford creative portfolio to Omnicom’s BBDO. Activation, media, digital and production to stay with GTB. W+K also on board

    By A Correspondent

    Over the past five months, Ford Motor Company has been reviewing its advertising and marketing relationships. In the first major exit of a prized client after the exit of founder Martin Sorrell, WPP has announced it has lost the creative agency business to a rival. And the rival is BBDO. Wieden+Kennedy has also been hired for innovations and special projects.

    Said BBDO CEO Roberson Andrew via a tweet: “Today is a big big day. We have a wonderful new brand to help build.”

    WPP agencies will continue to handle activation, including media planning and buying, digital and production. These responsibilities also include Tier Two advertising work in the U.S., the China advertising operations with its joint venture partner, all Lincoln advertising, and all the Ford public relations business.

    BBDO will take on the creative process starting November 1, 2018. Meanwhile, WPP will internally be discussing the impact of this development and a townhall is said to have been arranged later today.

     

     

  • Targets home segment buyers with affordable printing solutions

    HP introduces ‘Print Befikar’ campaign

    By A Correspondent

     

    HP India has launched its ‘Print Befikar’ TVC-led campaign, introducing the home segment to its new range of ink tank printers. Primarily targeted at parents of school-going children between the ages of 4 to 14, it is positioned as a solution to affordably meet printing needs of parents of school going kids for projects and home paperwork. It has been created and shot by BBDO.

     

    Said Neelima Burra, Country Marketing Director, HP India on the campaign: “With our campaign “Print Befikar”, we want to debunk the perception surrounding home printing and highlight how HP brings ease and affordability to printing.”

     

     

  • India retains its #13 rank in the global roster of creative excellence in advertising

    BBDO Mumbai stars in Gunn Report 2016

     

    By A Correspondent

     

    The Gunn Report, the global index of creative excellence in advertising, has released its 2016 report summarising the overall performance of the advertising industry in the year January to December 2016 based on the results of 45 global, regional and national creative award contests. And BBDO Mumbai makes its debut on the list for Share The Load for P&G’s Ariel. The creative is at #39 with six points.

     

    Said Emma Wilkie, Managing Director of The Gunn Report: “The purpose of The Gunn Report is to give an objective overview of the best creative ideas, and who is behind them, based on the results of the most important creative awards from around the world. Overall, we have seen some wonderfully creative ideas shining through in 2016 with brand purpose a strong theme. Whilst previous winners still exhibit their greatness, new stars are rising up the ranks.”

     

    The Gunn Report identifies the most awarded and applauded work in the world each year and its creators.

    India has retained its position of #13 amongst the top creative nations in the world. Other than BBDO India (the Mumbai office) which was on top, McCann Worldgroup Mumbai was second, Publicis India Mumbai followed in third while Ogilvy & Mather (Mumbai) and Taproot Dentsu (Mumbai) were on fourth place.

     

    Meanwhile, here are observations of The Gunn Report 2016 on its 2016 study:

    Agencies

     (1)   The 53 Most Awarded Agencies listed in the table are from a total of 17 different countries (versus 21 in 2015 but 17 in both 2014 and 2013).  The USA was the most represented with 14 Agencies in the table.  Followed by the UK with 6 Agencies; Germany (5); Spain (4); Argentina, Australia and Japan (3 each); Brazil, France, New Zealand, Sweden and UAE (2 each); India, Italy, Netherlands, Norway and Thailand (1 each).

    (2)   Only 8 Agencies in the whole world, who have demonstrated the highest level of consistency as well as excellence, have been in the Top 50 Agencies of The Gunn Report for each of the last 14 years in a row (in alphabetical order):

    AlmapBBDO (Sao Paulo)

    AMV BBDO (London)

    BBDO (New York)

    BETC (Paris)

    adam&eveDDB (London)

    Del Campo Saatchi & Saatchi (Buenos Aires)

    Dentsu (Tokyo)

    Wieden+Kennedy (Portland & New York)

    (3)   Eleven of the 53 Agencies made it into the table for the first time in 2016 (in alphabetical order):

     BBDO (Mumbai)

    David (Buenos Aires)

    FCB (Chicago)

    Grey (London)

    Impact BBDO (Dubai)

    Ingo (Stockholm)

    J. Walter Thompson (Amsterdam)

    McCann (New York)

    Publicis Italy (Milan)

    TBWA\Hakuhodo (Tokyo)

    Y&R New Zealand (Auckland)

    (4)   For the first time ever, two agencies from New Zealand are ranked in the top three: Colenso BBDO (Auckland) #2 and Y&R New Zealand (Auckland) #3=

    (5)   The Most Awarded Agency in the World is adam&eveDDB (London) with 49 points, up from second place in 2015. This is the 4th time they top the table, and are now officially the most successful creative Agency in the history of The Gunn Report (AlmapBBDO and Wieden+Kennedy USA have both won three times).  They were, by a large margin, the most awarded Agency in Film taking 3 of the top 6 spots in the Table for: Harvey Nichols Loyalty App ‘Shoplifters’ and John Lewis Home Insurance ‘Tiny Dancer’ in equal 3rd place; and John Lewis ‘The Man On The Moon’ in equal 6th place (as well as 14th in AGB and 8th equal overall). H&M ‘Becoming Beckham’ took 13th place in Film and further work for H&M, Harvey Nichols, Hertz Van Rentals, Skittles and SSE helped them to their #1 ranking in 2016.

     

    Agency Networks

    (1)   Three mini networks are ranked in the Top 20: Cheil Worldwide (which ranked for the first time in 2015) is now joined by BBH and Jung von Matt, both returning to the table after a one year absence.

    (2)   BBDO is the Most Awarded Agency Network for 11 straight years in a row. 253 points in 2016 is their highest score ever. Agencies in 26 countries contributed. Nine of their agencies are in the 50 Most Awarded Agencies in the World in 2016.

    (3)   McCann rank 2nd place up from 5th in 2016 scoring their highest points ever (138). Agencies from 19 countries contributed to their points.

    (4)   J. Walter Thompson up to 7th place (93 points) from 14th in 2015 – their best ranking since 2007.

    (5)   Grey in 8th place achieve their highest ever ranking in The Gunn Report and their highest ever points total (82)

    (6)   A disappointing year for MullenLowe & Partners (down to 16th place from 8th in 2015) and for Wieden+Kennedy (now in 15th place vs 7th in 2015)

     

    Advertisers

    (1)   Samsung tops the Advertisers table for the first time ever, making it the fourth brand in the 18 years of The Gunn Report to top the table. Samsung made it into the Top 25 Most Awarded Advertisers table for the first time in 2013, but have remained there since. Work from 10 countries contributed to them being ranked #1.

    (2)   Only 11 of the 32 most awarded Advertisers listed in 2016 appeared in this table the previous year.

    (3)   Making it onto the Most Awarded Advertisers table for the first time ever are: DB Export, Geico Insurance, Andes Beer, ING Financial Services, REI Outdoor Store, Lockheed Martin, Bonds Underwear, H&M, Edeka Supermarket, Hornbach DIY, S7 Airlines.

    (4)   Nike has dropped out of the top 10 Advertisers for the first time in Gunn Report history, now in at #12.

    (5)   Volkswagen dropped out of the top two in the Advertisers table for the first time in Gunn Report history to take 3rd place.

    (6)   Burger King returns to the Most Awarded Advertisers table after a five-year absence, mainly due to McWhopper sweeping the board coming top of two tables – Digital and All Gunns Blazing – as well as 2nd in Print/OOH. Whilst work from France also contributed to the Burger King total, Mc Whopper by Y&R New Zealand (Auckland) was the Most Awarded Campaign Across All Gunn Report Media in 2016

    (7)   In the Advertisers Consolidated Table (in top 25 for two or more years – at least once in the last five years – with work from two or more markets) Burger King returns and Getty Images, Netflix, Pedigree, Smart Car and Snickers are new arrivals.

    (8)   ING Financial Services and REI Outdoor Store both ranked #10= (with 19 points each) both got all their points from the strength on one campaign in different media channels: ‘The Next Rembrandt’ for ING and’#OptOutside’ for REI.

     

    Production Companies

    (1)   16 of the 28 Production companies in the table in 2016 were there in 2015, with the top five all making an appearance in the previous year.

    (2)   There are 3 newcomers: New Land in Stockholm, Anorak in Berlin, Geek Pictures in Tokyo

    (3)   Global spread of countries continues to flourish with 13 represented in 2016: Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Denmark, France, Germany, Japan, Mexico, Norway, Spain, Sweden, UK and USA – with a number of Production companies with multiple bases producing winning work from more than one of their locations.

    (4)   Most awarded Production Company, O Positive Films (New York, Santa Monica) topped the table for the first time. It was their 6th year in a row of being in the table. Their previous highest ranking at #5 was in 2015. Their most successful campaign was Curry’s PC World ‘Spare The Act’ with ‘Laptop’ ranked #2 most awarded commercial of 2016. Work for Snickers, Clorox and Foot Locker also contributed to their points

     

    Directors

    (1)   There is rarely any consistency in the Top 25 Directors table when compared with the previous year but 2016 was exceptionally volatile. It was the lowest winning total since the first year of The Gunn Report in 1999.

    (2)   Only four of the 27 Directors appearing in this year’s Table were there in 2015. Of the remaining 23, eight have made the Top 25 on at least one previous occasion and 15 were newcomers.

    (3)   The 27 Directors represented 13 countries between them – Argentina, Australia, Denmark, France, Germany, Japan, Mexico, Norway, Russia, Spain, Sweden, UK and USA.

    (4)   Top spot in the Directors table, with 16 points, went to David Shane for directing Jeff Goldblum’s wonderfully funny performance in the Currys PC World ‘Spare The Act’ campaign. ‘Laptop’ was the second most awarded commercial of the year and the entire campaign came in at 6th=.

     

  • Exclusive to MxM: Shekar Swamy on industry veteran Srinivasan (Sundar) Swamy who will be recognised by the AAAI with its highest accolade this evening

    So my brother gets the AAAI Lifetime Achievement Award

     

    By Shekar Swamy

     

    Sundar told me about it casually, like he usually does. He could well have been telling me “I am going to get a cup of coffee”. I accepted the news casually, mumbling something like “Good, congratulations”. I can’t recall if I shook his hand. No theatrics from either side. Both of us were there when our father accepted the same award 22 years ago. May be both of us knew this was going to happen.

     

    Enough will be said and written about his various activities in the industry, so I am not going there. In my mind, no one else deserves it more. He has been tireless, period. The only thing about this news was that I didn’t hear about it from the driver, who somehow always seems to know more about Sundar’s whereabouts, and happenings relating to him, than I do.

     

    Our growing up years in Chennai were pretty unremarkable and middle-class to the core. Busy father. Housewife mother. Grandmother and an aunt always at home. Six siblings, who as I think about it, were all pretty well-behaved, perhaps even boring. Lots of cousins and family around. Home was a place to be shared. The front door was hardly ever shut, except at night. One day in the ’70s there was a lot of hushed talk. My father and his elder brother, and the wives, were in a huddle. I later learnt that my dad had quit his job, which was his life. He was to do something on his own. The import of it hardly made a dent to my teenage senses. Over the next few months, lots of people kept coming and going. There was a sense of urgency and preparation. The puja happened, and R K Swamy opened shop in his brother’s house, I suspect because he could delay rents as much as he wanted.

     

    A vintage pic of the Swamy brothers: Shekar (left) with Srinivasan Swamy

    The rest of it was a whirl. So many people working so hard to meet so many unreasonable deadlines. Sundar finished his MBA, and went into the business, five years after it started. Comments were heard. “He is looking after his father’s business” was a common refrain, like he was literally sitting in the shop. Little did people know.

     

    R K SWAMY the agency was never meant to be another shop. The DNA from ever was to build a lasting institution. The ambition stretched beyond the Chennai roots, which in itself was unusual. In this, Sundar played a strong role, running around from city to city, often trailing behind Mr Swamy. As one of our colleagues put it, if Mr Swamy was the Account Director, then Sundar was the Account Supervisor carrying artworks around. Clients always came first, people always had to be respected and family interests came thereafter.

     

    BBDO joined hands in the mid-80s. We kept building the core advertising business. We recast the Research activity. We created a Television programming game. We expanded into diversified marketing services. We pioneered the Analytics and Customer Marketing space, embracing marketing technology. We ventured to build a US presence, on our own.

     

    All of this underpins Sundar’s ability to take that risk, and continue with the DNA of building the institution. He is a serial entrepreneur – no angel investor or VC here – on his own dime. He has been in the lead, helping fashion the foremost Indian-owned and controlled advertising and marketing services group, by itself a serious contribution to the industry.

     

    Sundar no doubt grew up in the business. But his participation stretches way beyond to very many social causes. He gives, more than he takes, again and again and again. There is a lesson there, somewhere. Perhaps awards come when one does this without nary a thought.

     

    Shekar Swamy is Group CEO, R K SWAMY HANSA