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Tag: BCW India Group

  • Deepshikha Dharmaraj is the new President

    Public Affairs Forum announces officebearers for 2024-25

    Public Affairs Forum of India (PAFI), the association of corporate public affairs practitioners, has announced names of its officebearers for 2024-25. PAFI represents members from over 100 major Indian and global companies. Deepshikha Dharmaraj took over as the President of PAFI for 2024-25 with immediate effect from Vinita Sethi

    “This is a pivotal year as the world turns its attention to India and its influence in geopolitics, climate change, and business uncertainty,” said Dharmaraj, who is CEO of BCW India Group (soon to be Burson India Group). “With the collective experience and guidance of PAFI’s exceptional past presidents, officebearers and the PAFI secretariat, I am looking forward to foster meaningful ideas and facilitate dialogue to support the government, policy and corporate decision makers.”

    Added Sethi, the outgoing President of PAFI and Senior Vice President & Chief Public Affairs at the Apollo Hospitals Group: “Over the last year, we have implemented steps towards increasing member engagement through sectoral councils, hosted a very well- received 10th Annual Forum, and continued our efforts to build capacity among young public policy professionals. We also initiated a focused initiative towards accelerating the participation of women in the workforce and leadership. Looking ahead, I believe PAFI will continue to deepen this work and lead public policy practitioners across more areas.”

    Chetan Krishnaswamy, Vice President, Public Policy, Amazon India is the new Vice President. Medha Girotra, Vice President- Communications, Asia Pacific, Mastercard is the new Secretary, and Shivnath Thukral, Director and Head Public Policy, Meta India is the new Treasurer.

  • Vinita Sethi takes over as the President

    PAFI announces new office bearers for 2024

    By Our Staff

     

    Public Affairs Forum of India (PAFI), the professional resource for public affairs practitioners in the country, announced its new office bearers for the year 2023-24.

     

    Vice President of PAFI for 2022-23, Vinita Sethi, took over as the President of PAFI for 2023-24 with immediate effect from Virat Bhatia, who completed his tenure as the President of PAFI for 2022-23.

     

    Deepshikha Dharmaraj, Chief Executive Officer of BCW India Group is the new Vice President of PAFI. Chetan Krishnaswamy, India Public Policy, Amazon India is the new Secretary, and Medha Girotra, Vice President, Public Policy, South Asia, Mastercard India Services Pvt Ltd is the new Treasurer.

     

    Vinita Sethi, the incoming President of PAFI and Senior Vice President & Chief Public Affairs at the Apollo Hospitals Group, said: “It is a privilege to take over as the second woman President of PAFI. Seeing more women in the leadership team of PAFI this year is terrific. There wouldn’t be a better time to be in Public Affairs as we navigate major global shifts and impacts in today’s inter-connected world by regularly engaging with policymakers and peers in India and abroad. At PAFI, we have been deepening capacity building in the public affairs domain through sharing experiences and navigating critical shifts in policymaking by engaging with the central and state governments and think tanks and aligning with other external stakeholders. Our focus has been on new paradigms of governance, growth and development. The other office bearers and I will continue our dialogue and outreach with stakeholders in the government and businesses across sectors. We will continue to strengthen cross-sectoral collaborations, innovate and build new policy-dialogue platforms to support the government’s efforts towards accelerating the country’s economic growth and overall development.”

     

  • To leverage media connections to boost the health insurance company

    Six Degrees BCW chosen as AOR for Niva Bupa

    By Our Staff

     

    Six Degrees BCW, part of BCW India Group, a leading public relations and communications group in India, has been chosen by Niva Bupa, a health insurance provider, as its communications agency of record (AOR).

     

    Six Degrees BCW will leverage its media connections and experience working with financial institutions and insurance companies to help Niva Bupa achieve majority share of voice in the industry.

     

    Said Nimish Agrawal, Senior Vice President and Head of Marketing, Niva Bupa: “We are thrilled to partner with Six Degrees BCW to expand the reach of our brand story and make our comprehensive health insurance solutions available to more customers.This collaboration is an important step towards achieving our vision of becoming the leading health insurer in India, and we are confident that Six Degrees BCW’s expertise and focused approach will help us achieve that goal.”

     

    Added Vandana Sandhir, India Lead, Six Degrees BCW: “We are delighted to partner with Niva Bupa in its journey towards becoming India’s most admired health insurance company.We look forward to applying our earned-plus approach and understanding of the rapidly evolving insurance and financial services industry to help Niva Bupa achieve their communications objectives.”

     

  • With Metaverse stand up show

    Ogilvy rolls out event to celebrate 50 years of Eno

    By Our Staff

     

    GSK Consumer Healthcare antacid brand Eno has completed 50 years in India. As part of the celebration, it has created a stand-up comedy event in the metaverse.

     

    The campaign was a joint-effort of Team WPP. ENO’s creative partners Ogilvy conceptualised and created the theme of the event, the creative roll-out strategy and the design. Genesis BCW co-created the branded content with the comics and ran the internal communications. The metaverse experience itself was powered by PartyNite.

     

    Said Anurita Chopra Chief Marketing Officer, India Sub Continent at GSK Consumer Healthcare India:  “We are very proud to celebrate ENO’s 50 years in India, adding to the legacy of one the most iconic and loved brands in the country. It is a brand that has always been about pushing the boundaries of communication and becoming a real wingman for the everyday acidity sufferer. Celebrating this in the Metaverse is a preview of the next 5 decades, as the brand continues to remain relevant, contemporary and full of life. The brand has always been about pushing the boundaries of connecting with its vast consumer base, spread across rural and urban India. We have been leaders in digital content creation, and the comedy genre is not just in sync with the brand, but also helps build unique allyship with the consumer.”

     

    Added Ritu Sharda, Chief Creative Officer, Ogilvy North: “A brand completing 50 years is no ordinary feat. So, when ENO turned 50 we knew we had to make the celebrations extraordinary. Instead of looking for the perfect place for the occasion, we ended up creating one. And so, ‘Plateful of Laughs’, India’s first stand-up comedy event inside the metaverse, came into existence. We had partners across functions like tech and PR working in complete synergy to create a cutting-edge metaverse experience. In collaboration with some of the most sought-after names in the comedy circuit, we created an experience that was truly out of this world.”

     

    Said Deepshikha Dharmaraj, CEO, BCW India Group:  “A huge congratulations to GSK Consumer Healthcare and brand ENO on this commendable milestone. It has been our privilege to be part of that journey for over a decade and to see the brand grow as a household favourite for wellness. The ‘Plateful of Laughs’ event is both, a celebration of that legacy as well as an overture to a new set of audiences through the metaverse. For us, that means an opportunity to showcase our earned-plus offer, with the comedy talent provided by The Outstanding Speakers’ Bureau and integrated communications across traditional and digital platforms. The metaverse is the new frontier for communications and together with our WPP partners and GSK Consumer Healthcare, I am sure we will be able to move people for ENO.”

     

  • New offering to help organisations in India lead with corporate social purpose

    BCW India & Whitekettle Consulting launch CSP+

    By Our Staff

     

    BCW India Group, the WPP-owned communications group and WhiteKettle Consulting, a Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) firms that partners corporate, civil society and government to create sustainable social development and CSR interventions, has announced the launch of CSP+, a new offering to help companies in India lead with purpose.

     

    CSP+ will help organizations integrate their brand purpose into their DNA and deliver on it, including through management, impact measurement and stakeholder engagement to build stronger purpose-focused equity. This offering will leverage research, data analytics, creativity and innovation to deliver impact for clients across their stakeholder audiences.

     

    “Organizations today need to create long-term values and profitability through engagement with all stakeholders,” said Deepshikha Dharmaraj, Chief Executive Officer, BCW India Group. “Purpose helps align an organisation’s values and strategy to a shared vision. With CSP+, we give our clients a framework to move people with their purpose and encourage them to think differently, feel deeply and act with urgency.”

     

    Added Rama Iyer, Founder, WhiteKettle: “Purpose goes beyond the mandated two percent CSR spends. It spans and unites all of the stakeholders of a company. The CSP+ framework supports organisations with strategies and interventions no matter where they are in their purpose journey, whether they are just starting out or looking to scale up their impact.”

     

  • To further strengthen its C-suite counsel

    Genesis BCW builds up managerial level with two new hires

    By Our Staff

     

    Genesis BCW has announced two new hires to further strengthen its C-suite counsel. Sanyukta Dutta joins the agency as Senior Director and India Practice Chair for Enterprise Technology, and Shashanka Nanda as Senior Director and India Practice Chair for Corporate & Services.

     

    While Dutta integrates her expertise in marketing and PR with her understanding of the evolving technology space, Nanda combines his experience with corporate as well as government clients and wide sectoral knowledge.

     

    Said Deepshikha Dharmaraj, Chief Executive Officer, BCW India Group: “Both Shashanka and Sanyukta bring with them extensive experience across brand and corporate communication spanning industry verticals. Their expertise in devising data-driven communication strategies will help us deliver on our promise to drive impact through our Earned-Plus offer for our clients. We are delighted to be able to tap into this multi-dimensional perspective for both our clients and our people.”

     

  • Dharmaraj will retain her current role as Chief Executive Officer, Genesis BCW

    Deepshikha Dharmaraj to India Group CEO @ BCW

    By Our Staff

     

    BCW, the global communications agency, has named Deepshikha Dharmaraj as Chief Executive Officer, BCW India Group. Dharmaraj will retain her current role as Chief Executive Officer, Genesis BCW, in addition to managing the overall business interests of BCW in India and implementing its growth strategy encompassing people, clients and partners.

     

    Said Matt Stafford, President, BCW Asia-Pacific: “Under Deepshikha’s impressive leadership in 2021, Genesis BCW has achieved one of its best years of revenue growth in it’s nearly three decades of operation. Six Degrees has also recorded double digit growth this year under Rishi and Vandana. The time is right for Deepshikha to take on a wider role overseeing both of our fantastic teams in India.”

     

    Added Dharmaraj: “It has been a great privilege to be part of Genesis BCW’s eventful and illustrious journey over the past 30 years,”. “Under BCW India Group, we have faced the challenges of the past two years with our combined assets and come out stronger for it. BCW India Group has ambitious plans for 2022 and I am excited to work closely with both the Genesis BCW and Six Degrees BCW leadership teams to take the business to new heights.”

     

  • BCW completes 100 percent acquisition of Six Degrees India

    Genesis BCW & Six Degrees BCW merge to become ‘BCW India Group’

    By A Correspondent

     

    Burson Cohn & Wolfe (BCW) has announced that Genesis BCW and Six Degrees BCW will function under one business group in India, effective immediately. The integration follows the completion of BCW’s acquisition of the significant minority held by Zach James and Rishi Seth, the co-founders of the erstwhile Six Degrees PR agency.

     

    Both brands will be retained and continue to operate separately, but side-by-side, under the BCW India Group to enable sharing of the staff, resources and services of each firm to provide additional value to clients. The PPR and Alphabet brands and teams currently operating in India will be absorbed into Genesis BCW and Six Degrees BCW. Under this structure, Genesis BCW and Six Degrees BCW will maintain separate legal entities and secure safeguards where potential conflicts exist.

     

    The BCW India Group will be managed by the ‘BCW India Board’ (BIB) and will report to Matt Stafford, Regional President, Asia-Pacific, BCW.  BCW India Board appointments include:

    Prema Sagar becomes Chairperson, BCW India Group, based in New Delhi. Sagar is currently Chief Executive Officer and Founder of Genesis BCW.

    Zach James becomes Chief Strategy Officer, BCW APAC and Executive Sponsor, BCW India Group, based in New Delhi. James is currently co-Group CEO of Six Degrees BCW.

    Deepshikha Dharmaraj becomes Chief Executive Officer, Genesis BCW, based in Mumbai. Dharmaraj is currently Managing Director at Genesis BCW.

    Rishi Seth becomes Chief Executive Officer, Six Degrees BCW, based in New Delhi. Seth is currently co-Group CEO of Six Degrees BCW.

    Vandana Sandhir becomes Chief Client Officer, Genesis BCW, based in New Delhi. Sandhir currently leads PPR India.

     

    Said Donna Imperato, Global CEO, BCW and CEO, BCW Group: “India is a critical market for BCW and I’m confident this integration will boost our bold growth strategy for the market. I’m excited to see the formidable talent under BCW India Group continue to move people with the creativity and innovation that is at the heart of all we do.”

     

    Added Stafford: “With the Six Degrees earnout complete, our clients can now tap the tremendous talent and capabilities from our incredibly strong team across both brands. The complementary capabilities of each brand and the resulting synergies will also make the new BCW India Group an even more attractive workplace for our employees and future recruits.”

     

    Said Sagar: “I am delighted at the coming together of the people, ideas and resources of these two firms. I look forward to working closely with Deepshikha, Zach and Rishi to drive the integration of the teams under the BCW India Group, and to demonstrate our combined strength to our clients, our people and the industry.”