MxMIndia

Tag: Dentsu Aegis Network

  • Within the Dentsu Aegis Network structure, Fountainheadand psLIVE India will be merged to form Fountainhead-MKTG

    Fountainhead is now Fountainhead-MKTG

    By A Correspondent

     

    After the recent acquisition of Fountainhead Entertainment by the Dentsu Aegis Network, Fountainhead and psLIVE India will be merged to form Fountainhead-MKTG. For the record, MKTG is a leading global lifestyle-marketing agency with its headquarters in New York. Fountainhead Entertainment is a 20-year-old experiential marketing and events agency with over 200 employees and offices in  Mumbai, Delhi and Bangalore.

     

    The first phase of this merger will focus on knowledge transfer, import of technology and training while equipping the group for more effective service. The aim is to increase the effectiveness of experiential marketing and direct consumer marketing by using group expertise and knowledge.

     

    With this influx of international expertise, safety standards, design and technology, Fountainhead MKTG will attempt to raise the bar when it comes to producing events within the country. “While officially we are a full-service marketing agency, in reality we are a creative group of people who come to work everyday to create unique, disruptive and innovative projects for our clients,” said Brian Tellis, CEO, Fountainhead-MKTG.

     

    Another high emphasis area will be the creation of intellectual properties for brands that will be supported by all of the Dentsu Aegis Network.

     

    Ashish Bhasin, Chairman & CEO – South Asia, Dentsu Aegis Network, added: “In India, the lifestyle marketing solutions market is growing at twice the rate of the ATL market. With Fountainhead, a leading player in India and MKTG, a leading global player, we now will have the best offering of global standards, through Fountainhead MKTG. This is another big step forward in helping us achieve our mission of being the second largest agency group by end 2017 in India, overturning for the first time the existing ranking which has historically been in place for over 80 years in India.”

     

  • Harjot Narang, currently Branch Head of Dentsu Marcom, is promoted to President, Dentsu Marcom

    Dentsu elevates key resources across centres in India

    By A Correspondent

     

    Narayan Devanathan

    Dentsu India has announced a slew of senior elevations across its offices in India. Narayan Devanathan, currently CEO of Dentsu Creative Impact Group and National Planning Director (Dentsu India – North) is promoted with immediate effect to the newly created role of Group Executive & Strategy Officer, Dentsu India. In his group executive role, Narayan will be the chief steward of the Dentsu brand in India, ensuring consistency of vision and output, in line with Dentsu’s global philosophy of Good Innovation. He will also play the role of an integrator with the other members of the Dentsu Aegis Network, both within and outside India, helping leverage the power of the network. In his group strategy role, Narayan will drive a culture of effectiveness that delivers unmatched results for clients. In addition, Narayan will continue to helm the two specialist units of Dentsu Mama Lab (dedicated to connecting brands with mothers meaningfully) and Citizen Dentsu (dedicated to connecting brands with social purpose).

     

    Harjot Narang

    Harjot Narang, currently Branch Head of Dentsu Marcom, is promoted to President, Dentsu Marcom. In recognition of Harjot’s solid contribution to the agency’s turnaround over the last four years, and his continued drive to catapult the agency to be counted among the top three agencies in the Delhi / NCR market, Harjot will be charged with driving the pace of growth at Dentsu Marcom.

     

    Amit Wadhwa

    Amit Wadhwa, currently Branch Head of Dentsu Creative Impact, is promoted to President, Dentsu Creative Impact. Over the last four years, Amit has grown from heading the account management function to overseeing the branch’s operations, and has grown the agency from strength to strength. His charge, with more autonomy, will now be to transform the creative reputation of the agency while achieving never-before scale.

     

    C.P. Arora

    C.P. Arora, currently the Group CFO for Dentsu branded agencies in India will have an expanded role in the Dentsu Aegis Network in India as well. He will now, in addition to his existing responsibilities, take charge as CFO, Dentsu Aegis Network India (North).

     

     

    Ashish Bhasin

    Commenting on the developments, Ashish Bhasin, Chairman & CEO, Dentsu Aegis Network, South Asia, said, “We are now at the forefront of our next phase of growth in our creative agencies and it is important for us to recognize the excellent talent pool that we have within the network and give them more autonomy to better service our clients. Narayan, Harjot, Amit and C.P. are amongst the best that we have in the network and I am sure that, they will drive the Dentsu Creative Agencies to new heights and help Dentsu Aegis Network become the second largest agency group in India by end-2017, overturning for the first time the existing ranking which has historically been in place for over 80 years in India.”

     

     

  • TSL, which operates in 16 geographies including India, will work with brands to innovate their supply chain of storytelling and thereby help them invest in the most engaging and effective content solutions for their media ecosystem

    Dentsu Aegis launches The StoryLab in India, Sunil Kumaran joins as country head

    By A Correspondent

     

    Sunil Kumaran

    The StoryLab (TSL), the specialist content agency from Dentsu Aegis Network, has expanded its footprint into India with a slew of product offerings in the area of content partnership, curation, original content and content investment, Dentsu Aegis Network has roped in Sunil Kumaran to head TSL in India. Based out of Mumbai, Kumaran will be guided by Carat India Managing Director Kartik Iyer who also bears the title Executive Sponsor for TSL.

     

    TSL, which operates in 16 geographies including India, will work with brands to innovate their supply chain of storytelling and thereby help them invest in the most engaging and effective content solutions for their media ecosystem, notes a communique

     

    Prior to this, Kumaran was Chief Strategy Officer at Reliance Broadcast. There, Kumaran comes with over 20 years in strategy, media planning and buying and has worked with agencies including JWT, Lowe Lintas and Rediffusion.

     

    Commenting on the launch, Ashish Bhasin, Chairman and CEO South Asia – Dentsu Aegis Network said, “Content is an exciting space for us to be in. Clients are increasingly looking at how they can ‘influence’ the consumers more effectively than just increasing their ‘reach’ through traditional forms of advertising.”

     

    Added Iyer, “An entity like TSL is the need of the hour as brands look to accelerate the effectiveness of their ecosystems through innovative content solutions that can deliver scale, engagement and advocacy.  We are very happy to have Sunil Kumaran on board who brings with him years of strategic media planning experience and deep understanding of this space.”

     

    Said Kumaran, “I’m very excited about this new initiative which is based on the philosophy of providing a superior value proposition to clients. Media convergence has disrupted the traditional advertising-led marketing communications model and ‘Content’ is one of the most valuable assets within media companies’ and brands’ ecosystems.  I am looking forward to doing some exciting work across brands within the Dentsu Aegis Network Group.”

     

  • The company recently conducted a formal inaugural ceremony in which Annie Rickard, Global Chairman of MKTG, lit the lamp

    Fountainhead Mumbai comes together under one roof

    By A Correspondent

     

    Fountainhead Entertainment, one of India’s leading experiential marketing agencies, has shifted its Mumbai headquarters to asingle office in Matunga West. Boosting the spirit of creativity and collaboration, the agency’s five specialized business divisions – Events, Activations, MICE, Digital and Intellectual Properties supported by the business enabling functions of Creative, HR, Finance, Administration and IT, have now come together under one roof.

     

    The 21-year old agency, which recently became a part of Dentsu Aegis Network, commenced its journey of building brands with delightful experiences from Pali Village inBandra, Mumbai. Over the years, it saw an organic growth at rapid pace while spreading its wings and gaining expertise in various verticals which started operating from different locations.

     

    Neale Murray, Group COO of Fountainhead, said, “It’s a proud feeling to have 200+ Fountainheaders together under one roof. The new office represents the energy which sparks great creativity in a vibrant environment, best suited for young minds. With an emphasis laid on collaboration and a dream of expanding even bigger, this move will help us achieve the mission to become the most comprehensive experiential offering in India.”

     

    The company recently conducted a formal inaugural ceremony in which Annie Rickard, Global Chairman of MKTG, lit the lamp. It was followed by ‘The Curtain Raiser’ Party for employees which was attended by Ashish Bhasin, chairman and CEO South Asia, Dentsu Aegis Network, Brian Tellis, Group CEO Fountainhead, Neale Murray, Group COO Fountainhead and Co-Founders Otis D’ Souza, Owen Roncon, V. G. Jairamand Pradeep Guha.

     

  • WATConsult creates Ab Meri Baari campaign for Kotak Life Insurance

    Kotak Life puts the focus on retirement with ‘Ab Meri Baari’

    By A Correspondent

     

    Kotak Life Insurance has rolled out a new digital campaign, ‘Ab Meri Baari’ for their latest Active Retirement plan. It has launched with an inspiring digital video commercial that speaks about the life of a layman and his dreams. The campaign is conceptualized by WATConsult, the full service digital agency from the Dentsu Aegis Network.

     

    The video starts with a college going boy convincing his mother to let him go on a bike trip to Ladakh. The mother doesn’t allow as she believes that the trip will ruin his studies and ultimately career. The boy has to give up on his passion for completing the classic life goals of a common man: education, career, marriage etc. However, the video ends on a happy note when it shows how the boy follows his passion after retirement by going on that bike trip. The message, in turn, enforcing the active retirement plan by Kotak Life Insurance.

     

    Elizabeth Venkataraman

    Elizabeth Venkataraman, Executive Vice-President & Head- Marketing, Kotak Mahindra Old Mutual Life Insurance Limited (KLI) said, “Through our #AbMeriBaari digital campaign, we want to motivate people to start planning early (35-40 years) for retirement. This will help ensure a better retirement corpus for individuals. Interests and passion are not tied to age as they once were. There is a growing focus on fitness and as a result people look and behave young and need money to fund that.  With technology and social media being as accessible to the ‘retired and retiring’ generation as it is to the youngsters, there is immense scope to connect with the audience online. We believe this video will connect with our audiences across the chosen platforms.”

     

    Rajiv Dingra

    Commenting on the campaign, Rajiv Dingra, Founder and CEO, WATConsult said, “Life after retirement is an important topic yet handled with a laidback attitude. With ‘Ab Meri Baari’ campaign we target those who aren’t following their passion due to the responsibility of earning livelihood. The campaign starting with a DVC (digital video commercial) is followed by a complete digital promotion with contests, social posts etc. We are sure to drive conversation around active retirement with the campaign.”

     

  • The agency won the account following a multi-agency pitch

    TimesOfMoney assigns digital mandate to Isobar

    By A Correspondent

     

    TimesofMoney (Remit2India and Klinnk) has appointed Isobar, the full-service digital agency from the Dentsu Aegis Network, as their digital agency. The agency won the account following a multi-agency pitch.

     

    Achal Shah

    Sharing his thoughts on the association, Achal Shah, Senior Vice-President & Head – Marketing at TimesofMoney said, “We have been in the pure-play digital cross-border business for 15 years now. Given our objective of reaching out to global ethnic communities, digital has always been our primary medium of communication. With our services now catering to newer audiences like the Chinese, Filipinos etc in the US, UK and Australia, it was imperative for us to get the right digital media partner who had a global presence combined with the local expertise.”

     

    Shamsuddin Jasani

    Shamsuddin Jasani, Managing Director, Isobar India, “We are very happy to be associated with TimesofMoney. We are always looking at experiences across different sectors and different types of clients and this win adds a very important category of money remittance to our ever expanding repertoire.”

     

    “We recently instituted a focused business development unit to go after interesting brands. This win is just the beginning of many more to come. TimesofMoney is an interesting category and teams are excited to create innovative and creative work for them,” he added.

     

    TimesofMoney is the leading digital payments and remittances service provider catering to retail and institutional clients in India and across the globe. TimesofMoney’s bouquet of services includes retail online remittances (Remit2India & Klinnk), white-labelled remittance platforms (Payce), customized mobile wallet solutions (Movit) and online payment gateway solutions (DirecPay).

     

  • What they bring to the table perfectly complements advertising and marketing's offerings, writes Brian Tellis

    Why adland can’t do without Experiential

     

    By Brian Tellis

     

    The only constant is change. This may be terribly clichéd, but it continues to ring true. Change – or, contextually, managing change – is about acceptance and adaptation. It is never one without the other. You either accept and go with the flow, or get left behind.

     

    At Fountainhead, I firmly believe that to be relevant to us – now, more than ever. In this technology age, change is forcing itself upon virtually every industry; but, I suspect, to an alarming degree in the world of advertising and marketing.

     

    1. Evolve to Survive

    In the past decade or so, one has seen a remarkable change in the way marketers are pushing their business. The marketplace is teeming with brands that are constantly jostling with each other for the consumer’s mindspace. There can be no let up, because marketing is war. The battle lines are drawn and the writing is on the wall: Evolve and stay relevant, or step aside and perish.

     

    2. Touch-feel Marketing is King

    This has thrown up an interesting situation. The consumer is now looking for a ‘touch-and-feel’ experience. Just seeing and hearing isn’t enough. The paradigm has shifted beyond mainline advertising. Enter experiential marketing, whose time has clearly come.

     

    And come it certainly has. Just look at the numbers – It is already a Rs 5,000-crore industry, and happily growing at 15 per cent CAGR. No longer is it advertising’s country cousin. Experiential marketing is now a law unto itself.

     

    3. Engage the Consumer

    This growth is being fuelled by three pipelines. The consumer’s demand for live interaction; sports, music and festivals growing exponentially as mediums of engagement; and, most importantly, brand marketers increasing their spends on live consumer engagement.

     

    4. Blurred Boundaries

    These elements of change are making experiential an eminently essential part of the advertising and marketing mix. Its importance and relevance is growing by the day. It stands tall as a confirmed marketing vertical – and proudly so. The lines between ground and TV events are blurring fast. IPL is a prime example in consideration – is it a ground event or TV content? Likewise, game shows and awards nights…

     

    Corporate entities have come to appreciate the importance of rewards and recognition programmes for their employees and dealers. Creating interactive intellectual properties like sports tournaments, music festivals and cultural celebrations are the order of the day.

     

    The doubts have evaporated. Today, it’s apparent that for any advertising and marketing campaign to be effective, it has to embrace the experiential quotient. It isn’t even the case of tail-wagging-dog. Experiential marketing is getting to be top dog in its own right. It’s exciting days for the experiential industry ahead. What it brings to the table perfectly complements advertising and marketing’s offering. This symbiotic cross-leverage makes available to the client a truly complete and comprehensive bouquet of services. It’s a scenario where everybody wins.

     

    Brian Tellis is Chairman, Fountainhead Entertainment. Last week, Dentsu Aegis Network acquired the leading events and activation company.

     

  • Following 2014 Acquisition of US-Based MKTG INC, Network Framing Up Sports and Entertainment, Experiential and Lifestyle Capability Worldwide

    Dentsu announces launch of new agency MKTG

    By A Correspondent

     

    Dentsu Aegis Network announced the formation of a ninth global network brand, MKTG, the lifestyle marketing agency it acquired in August 2014. The move further strengthens the network’s sports and entertainment, experiential and lifestyle marketing offering and continues its expansion around the globe.

     

    In addition, Out-of-Home agency Posterscope’s experiential arm, psLIVE’s offices across Europe and Asia Pacific, South Africa’s Crimson Room, Australia/New Zealand’s Apollo Nation and leading US-based sports and entertainment consultancy Team Epic will be realigned as part of MKTG over the next 12 months.

     

    Leveraging its collective experience, global network and resources, the realigned agency will provide clients with a truly integrated through-the-line service offering including sports and entertainment consulting, experiential marketing, sponsorship identification, negotiation and activation, hospitality, strategy, research and insights, custom measurement, digital and creative capabilities, content development, design and retail marketing.

     

    “As a network, we are constantly evolving to meet the demands of our clients, to be responsive to the needs and desires of consumers and to remain pioneering in the evolution of our industry,” said Jerry Buhlmann, CEO Dentsu Aegis Network and Executive Officer of Dentsu Inc. “The tremendous growth and importance of lifestyle marketing made it clear that strategically it was time to unify our like-minded businesses as one single brand. We are completely committed to building out our lifestyle marketing offering and integrating the combined strength of these services to deliver on a far larger and broader scale.”

     

    “Something that sets Dentsu Aegis Network apart is that we are constantly reevaluating our businesses and are willing to reorganise ourselves to best serve our clients; ultimately providing the best value we can,” said Annie Rickard, Global Brand President, Posterscope; Global Chairman, MKTG. “With this realignment, we can now provide a seamless offering across lifestyle, sports and entertainment for our clients and allow all of our agencies to benefit from this platform.”

     

    “We are truly excited about this next chapter and the opportunity to work across the network to deliver unrivaled lifestyle marketing solutions for brands,” said Charlie Horsey, Global Brand President, MKTG, CEO MKTG USA. “The realignment will also greatly benefit our current long-standing client base and our employees who now have the ability to plug into resources and opportunities around the globe.”

     

    Ashish Bhasin

    Ashish Bhasin, chairman & CEO South Asia – Dentsu Aegis Network, chairman Posterscope and psLIVE – Asia Pacific said, “In India, the lifestyle marketing solutions market is growing at twice the rate of the ATL market. With Fountainhead, a leading player in India and MKTG, a leading global player, we now will have the best offering of global standards, through Fountainhead MKTG, which will make us the best lifestyle marketing solutions agency in India. This is another big step forward in helping us achieve our mission of being the second largest agency group by end 2017 in India, overturning for the first time the existing ranking which has historically been in place for over 80 years in India.”

     

    As the agencies transition towards operating as one global brand, MKTG will grow from 450 full time employees and 7,000 brand ambassadors in the United States, to nearly 1,000 full time employees in 14 countries, providing a truly global lifestyle marketing solution for clients. MKTG will be headquartered in New York City.

     

  • The agency won the account following a multi-agency pitch

    Hachette India hands over digital mandate to Isobar

    By A Correspondent

     

    Hachette Book Publishing India (Hachette India) has appointed Isobar, a full-service digital agency from the Dentsu Aegis Network, as their digital agency. The agency won the account following a multi-agency pitch.

     

    Sharing his thoughts on the association, Thomas Abraham, Managing Director, Hachette India said, “As a part of our larger commitment to exploring newer ways of reaching our readers we’ve brought Isobar on-board to help us with our social media presence. Isobar’s pitch captured the heart of why books endure and how people connect with books. Their clear understanding of what we need and the enthusiasm of the team assures us that our brand and our books are in good hands.”

     

    Shamsuddin Jasani

    Shamsuddin Jasani, Managing Director, Isobar India, “We are very happy to be associated with Hachette India, as we are always looking at experiences across different sectors and different types of clients. This win adds a very important category of books and publications to our ever expanding repertoire.”

     

    Hachette India publishes general, literary and commercial fiction, children’s and reference books as well as non-fiction, covering memoirs, self-help, travel, history, business, popular culture, lifestyle and sport. Hachette India commenced operations in 2008 and began its local publishing programme in May 2009 with Amit Varma’s My Friend Sancho, the highest selling fiction debut of the year. Hachette India is the publisher of legends like J.K. Rowling, John Grisham, Stephen King, Nicholas Sparks, Stieg Larsson, Neil Gaiman, Gregory David Roberts among others. Hachette’s Playing it My Way by Sachin Tendulkar, published in 2014 is the highest selling nonfiction in hardback in India.

     

  • Anand will head the agency's experiential offerings with a focus on emerging markets and emerging consumer class (ECC) across the rural and urban markets

    Milestone Brandcom appoints Ujjwal Anand to head its Rural & Experiential Division

    By A Correspondent

     

    Ujjwal Anand

    Milestone Brandcom, the homegrown out-of-home agency from the Dentsu Aegis Network stable, has roped in Ujjwal Anand as Country Head for its rural & experiential division, Milestone Outland.

     

    Prior to this, Anand was with Geometry Global, Ogilvy’s activation network that was earlier known as OgilvyAction. He spent 10 years with the agency as Business Head – North and Vice President, leading experiential practices that included rural, urban,social and shopper marketing.

     

    Nabendu Bhattacharya

    As part of his new mandate, Anand will be responsible for driving strategic offeringsat Milestone Outland through freshly-created tools thatcan help clients take investment decisions with measurable results. Based out of Delhi, he will report directly to Nabendu Bhattacharya, CEO Milestone Brandcom.

     

    Talking about the appointment, Bhattacharya said, “Ujjwal’s rich experience andimpeccable track record makes him an ideal choice to drive integrated experiential solutions at Milestone Brandcom. He will address specific brand problems. His energy is well-aligned with the agency’s vision and philosophy.”

     

    In a career spanning 12 years, Anand has worked with various brands such as GSK, Dabur, Vodafone, OLX, GPI, Motorola, Micromax, Samsung, Peerless, Coca Cola, TripAdvisor and DuPont. He has also handled many social and developmental sector and government clients including Orissa Tourism, NSDC, MAMTA, PSI, FHI, CHAI, WATSAN and SIFPSA.

     

  • The mandate, which includes traditional and digital media, in the region of Rs 500 crore, making it a big catch for Carat India

    Kuch Meetha Ho Jai for Carat India as Mondelez comes calling

    In what appears to be a big blow to Madison World, the entire Mondelez media account is moving to Carat India with effect from January 2016.

     

    The India business has moved to Carat, which is a part of the Dentsu Aegis Network. The mandate, which includes traditional and digital media, in the region of Rs 500 crore, making it Carat India’s biggest account.

     

    “It’s a gamechanger for Carat,” a media observer told MxMIndia, on conditions for anonymity.  For Madison India, it’s unfortunate given that the pitch was global, and it could really not have any say in the matter except for aligning with one of the international networks, which it is reported to have attempted.

     

    On the realignment with Carat (and a part with Starcom), Bonin Bough, chief media and ecommerce officer at Mondelez, is quoted to have said: “We’re excited about this next phase in our media transformation. Centralising our media buying with Aegis and SMG offers us a significant opportunity to drive enterprise-level efficiencies that can be re-invested in our long-term growth.”

     

  • Srei is one of the largest private sector integrated infrastructure institutions in the country

    Vizeum awarded media duties of Srei

    By A Correspondent

     

    Vizeum, the media agency from Dentsu Aegis Network, has been awarded the media duties of Srei following a multi-agency pitch. With this, Srei joins Vizeum’s long list of successful wins this year including Hindware, JetPrivilege, VGP Universal Kingdom, Saint-Gobain and HDFC Bank.

     

    Srei is one of the largest private sector integrated infrastructure institutions in the country. The company has been playing a significant role in nation-building for two-and-a-half decades, both in urban and rural India. Headquartered in Kolkata, the company has a network of 86 branches covering almost the entire geography of India and has also replicated its business model overseas. Vizeum has been appointed to manage the client’s corporate brand campaign. For the record, Vizeum already handles the media mandate for Srei’s Non Convertible Debentures (NCD).

     

    Commenting on the win, Sugato Banerji, Head, Brand and Corporate Communications, Srei said, “We are happy to increase the portfolio of Vizeum as our media agency partner. We are confident that with their proven approach of creating solutions with the business constraints in mind, they will bring substantial value to our corporate brand.”

     

    Shripad Kulkarni

    Shripad Kulkarni, Managing Director, Vizeum India, said, “It’s very satisfying to see Srei reaffirming their confidence in our solution based approach by awarding further responsibilities. We were managing the media duties of Srei’s NCD product for the past 2 years and the excellent work put in by the team is one of the key reasons behind this.”

     

    Samarjit Rajkumar, Executive Vice President, added, “Our clients have always been our ambassadors. Srei invited us on strong client recommendation and now we look forward to delivering communication solutions that address the client’s business challenges in India. This business will be handled out of our Mumbai office.”