MxMIndia

Tag: Dentsu Aegis Network

  • The account will be handled by the agency’s Bengaluru team

    WatConsult wins Columbia Pacific Communities’ Mandate

    By A Correspondent

     

    WatConsult, the digital and social media agency from Dentsu Aegis Network, has won the 360-degree digital media mandate of Columbia Pacific Communities - a part of Seattle-based Columbia Pacific group, a service provider to senior living communities in the United States and South East Asia.

     

    The mandate includes digital media marketing, social listening and ORM, digital content creation and SEO services. In addition to this, the agency will also be designing & developing the brand’s website. The account will be handled by the agency’s Bengaluru team.

     

    Said Rajiv Dingra, Founder and CEO, WATConsult: “It is our pleasure to partner with Columbia Pacific communities, one of the pioneers to popularise the senior living concept in India. With their recent acquisitions in the Asian market, the brand is set to significantly expand its senior housing portfolio over the next few years in the major parts of the continent. Well, this is a great opportunity for us to align our expertise with the brand to leverage their digital journey in the best possible way.”

     

    Added Mohit Nirula, CEO, Columbia Pacific Communities: “Columbia Pacific Communities is made up of people drawn to the mission of serving and fulfilling the needs and desires of our senior population. We represent four decades of international expertise in designing and building Communities and serving and fulfilling the changing and evolving requirements of our residents – a promise to be partners for life to those who repose their trust in us and give us the privilege to serve them.”

     

     

  • After almost three months of discussions, the senior management at the agency devised a structured plan to understand and counsel its employees

    iProspect India launches initiative ‘LEAD’ for employees

    By A Correspondent

     

    iProspect India, the digital performance agency from Dentsu Aegis Network, has launched an initiative – Lead.

     

    Lead, an acronym for Leadership, Empowerment and Development, is a career development initiative. After almost three months of discussions, the senior management at the agency devised a structured plan to understand and counsel its employees. In its first session, held on December 20, 2018, the leadership – Rubeena Singh, CEO, iProspect India and Sunil Seth, Head, HR Business Partner South Asia spoke to 14 hand-picked employees.  Over the course of the next year, similar sessions will be held in batches across the centres – Mumbai, Delhi and Bengaluru.

     

    Commenting on the initiative, Singh said: “The dynamic digital world will create success for dynamic people who constantly upgrade their skills and expertise. Our Lead programme has been specifically designed to help members of the iProspect family meet that objective and remain best of the best.”

     

    With a futuristic lookout, the initiative aims to provide a complete solutioning when it comes to any doubts related to career.

     

     

  • With the launch of Isobar Sri Lanka, it is looking at creating a leading agency for the digital age

    Isobar begins Lanka ops

    By A Correspondent

     

    Isobar has expanded its operations to Sri Lanka. Last year, Dentsu Grant Group launched Dentsu Aegis Network in the country and now it has launched its full-service digital agency, Isobar.

     

    Shamsuddin Jasani

    Shamsuddin Jasani, Group Managing Director – Isobar South Asia said, “I am very excited to launch Isobar in this amazing country. Sri Lanka is a rising mobile economy with smartphone penetration growing by over 20 per cent and mobile penetration growing over 120 per cent year-on-year. With the launch of Isobar Sri Lanka we are looking at creating a leading agency for the digital age that follows a true full service model. Under the guidance of Neela and her team, I am sure we will be a force to reckon with in this market in the years to come.”

     

    Neela Marikkar

    Speaking on the launch of Isobar Sri Lanka, Neela Marikkar, Chairperson – Dentsu Grant Group and Dentsu Aegis Network Sri Lanka added: “We are thrilled to be introducing such an iconic brand into the Sri Lankan advertising industry. We are fortunate to be working so closely with our global and regional offices; we are confident that we will be able to use their global knowledge and skills to help develop business opportunities for our clients as well as help the digital economy of the country and accelerate through Isobar’s experience led transformation and brand commerce expertise.”

     

     

  • Author Meghna Pant (@meghnapant) has tweeted anonymous accounts of two women

    Whyness surprised with allegations against Ravi Deshpande. “Will look into and verify”

    By A Correspondent

     

    Yet another #MeToo revelation shook the advertising fraternity industry on Thursday with a tweet from awardwinning author Meghna Pant (@meghnapant) carrying anonymous accounts of two women on the sexual acts of veteran adperson Ravi Deshpande.

     

    Other than helming agencies like Contract in the past, Deshpande has now set up his own agency called Whyness, and also runs a design school at Ecole Intuit.lab.

     

    When we asked Deshpande and Whyness to respond to the allegations, this is what we receive via email: “We are surprised to learn about the allegations made against Ravi. We will look into and verify this.”

     

    There have been several allegations against advertising professionals ever since the #MeToo revelations rocked the country earlier this month. The co-founders of Happy Creative Services, now a part of the Dentsu Aegis Network, and a few other senior professionals have already faced the axe from their respective employment.

     

    There have also been allegations against the founders of Creativeland Asia and Famous Innovations. According to sources, some leading advertisers who have retained big to small-named agencies are also conducting their own investigations and may terminate mandates if the acts of agency professionals are found to be in dissonance with their own values and ethics, and if the agencies do not act against the ‘erring’ professionals.

     

     

  • The tool combines historical data with machine learning to calculate advertising budget for every product

    Merkle Sokrati unveils proprietary bidding tool for eRetail Marketing

    By A Correspondent

     

    Merkle Sokrati, the data-driven performance-marketing agency from Dentsu Aegis Network, has introduced a proprietary smart bidding tool for retail brands selling on online marketplaces such as Amazon.in.

     

    The tool combines historical data with machine learning to calculate advertising budget for every product (bid) every hour 24×7. These real-time bid changes are based on user intent, seasonality and sales trends. Retail brands with a wide range of products can optimize advertising spends across product categories to individual products with this data-driven bidding tool.
    Said Merkle Sokrati CEO Anubhav Sonthalia: “Having myself worked at Amazon, I can promise that they are in it for the long haul and will end up redefining the industry as we know it. We have seen strong traction for Amazon Advertising with our Merkle US counterparts, and we expect India to do the same. With this intelligent bidding tool, we are introducing a volume- and competition-tested smart bidding tool to this geography. We believe this will become a competitive advantage for optimising Amazon’s ad inventory which is still relatively new to Indian marketers. As through our history, we continue to focus on bringing high ROI solutions for our marketers.”

     

     

  • The leadership duo had their continuation endorsed by the current Board at the meeting held immediately post the 24th AGM

    Ashish Bhasin and Pratap Pawar continue to helm MRUC

    By A Correspondent

     

    Ashish Bhasin

    Ashish Bhasin, Chairman and CEO – South Asia, Dentsu Aegis Network and President of the AAAI and Pratap Pawar, Chairman, Sakal Media Group, will continue in their respective roles as Chairman and Vice Chairman of Media Research Users Council (MRUC), until the next AGM. This was decided last week after the AGM.

     

    Said Bhasin: “After the successful launch of IRS 2017, our aim is to release the IRS more frequently and strengthen the focus on MRUC’s core objective of offering Media Research that goes beyond the flagship study IRS.”

     

    Pratap Pawar

    Added Pawar: “We thank all our members for their continuous support to the MRUC in ensuring the success of IRS 2017. We will carry the momentum forward and ensure the users of IRS do not have to wait long for the next launch of IRS.”

     

     

  • Based out of Mumbai, Sinha will report to Kartik Iyer, President Media Brands and Amplifi

    Kumar Deb Sinha moves from Wavemaker to Dentsu’s Story Lab

    By A Correspondent

     

    Kumar Deb Sinha

    The Story Lab (TSL), the specialist content agency from Dentsu Aegis Network, has roped in Kumar Deb Sinha as the new country head for its India operations. Based out of Mumbai, Sinha will report to Kartik Iyer, President Media Brands and Amplifi – Dentsu Aegis Network India and the Executive Sponsor for TSL in India.Prior to this, Sinha was National Director – Content at Wavemaker India, a GroupM Company.

     

    Commenting on Sinha’s appointment, Iyer said, “We are very happy to have Kumar Deb Sinha on board. The StoryLab aims to be a significant player in the burgeoning content ecosystem of India with a clear positioning. And we are confident that Kumar, with his experience and expertise, will help us take this ambition forward.”

     

     

  • As part of his new role, Shams will be responsible for the Isobar portfolio across the South Asia region

    Isobar expands Shamsuddin Jasani’s role to Group MD for South Asia

    By A Correspondent

     

    Isobar has elevated Shamsuddin Jasani (Shams), erstwhile Managing Director (MD), Isobar India to the expanded role of Group MD Isobar – South Asia.

     

    As part of his new role, Shams will be responsible for the Isobar portfolio across the South Asia region. In addition, he will also continue as the executive sponsor for AMNET India operations and will continue to report to Ashish Bhasin, chairman and CEO South Asia, Dentsu Aegis Network.

     

    Commenting on the appointment, Ashish Bhasin, chairman and CEO South Asia, Dentsu Aegis Network, said: “Shams has proven himself to be a strong leader and has built Isobar India into one of the leading digital agencies of the country. I am sure with his leadership skills and focus, Shams’ expanded mandate will help Isobar into continuing its progress and growth across South Asia region.”

     

    Added Shams on his new role: “I’m extremely happy to have been honoured with this new role. Even as Isobar India continues to grow, I am committed to leading our team in our persistent desire to create better brand experiences for our clients and their customers across South Asia. I look forward to carrying the legacy of Isobar and our global vision on the importance of brand commerce and digital transformation in building client businesses across the world.”

     

     

  • Dentsu Aegis Network, Schbang, Foxymoron – top agencies leading the Sammie 2018

    Sammie 2018 felicitates social media stars

    By A Correspondent

     

    Sammie – Best Social Media Brands Summit and Awards wrapped up its second edition on Tuesday as winners across 19 categories and 14 special categories took home gold and silver trophies.

     

    In all, 95 Awards were given away across categories, which included 37 Gold and 58 Silver metals. Of which Schbang bagged 2 Golds and 2 Silvers for their work for Ashok Leyland, Raw Pressery and Godrej Good Knight.

     

    Foxymoron too bagged 2 Gold and Silver metals for weaving campaigns for Epigamia, Burger King India, HBO and GoAir. E-commerce giant Flipkart took home 2 Golds in two of the special categories – Best Use of Social Media to launch a product or service and Best Use of Technology to create a seamless Brand Experience on Social Media.

     

    Dentsu Aegis Network took away 12 awards. Isobar won 3 Gold and 2 Silver for their work for Reebok, National Geographic Channel, Fox Life India and Wrangler, Webchutney won 2 Silver for IndusInd Bank and Bajaj Allianz Life Insurance, iProspect took away 1 Gold and 1 Silver each for Switzerland Tourism and Essilor, WATConsult won 1 Silver for Godrej Appliances while Happy Mcgarrybowen 1 Gold and 1 Silver for OLA and Duroflex Mattresses.

     

    The summit had interesting sessions by Virginia Sharma, Director-Marketing Solutions, LinkedIn India on Content Marketing and Bhaskar Ramesh, Head of YouTube and Brand Advertising, Google India on the video first approach in India.

     

    Speaking on the success of the awards, Hitesh Rajwani, CEO, Social Samosa said: “#SAMMIE this year took a huge leap towards setting benchmarks for Brands on Social Media and we really look forward to further scale this platform with our jury panel, brands, agencies and creators network.”

     

     

  • Aims to harness real-time audience consumption habits across media touchpoints

    Dentsu launches its latest proprietary tool, DAN Explore

    By A Correspondent

     

    Dentsu Aegis Network’s Data Sciences Team has announced the roll-out of a tool that captures the trend of changing audience behaviour and understand the nuances of various consumer cohorts across media touchpoints, backed by behavioral triggers and psychographic understanding – DAN Explore.

     

    The tool will be a first in the market that examines differences in media consumption habits across TV, Digital, OOH, Mobile and other touchpoints in the consumer’s journey to help marketers combat the challenge to determine when, where and how best to reach their audiences.

     

    Gautam Mehra

    Commenting on the launch, Gautam Mehra, the South Asia Chief Data Officer of Dentsu Aegis Network said: “With data and smartphone prices being more ubiquitous, India has seen a distortion in the traditional path to purchase of the digitised consumer. While traditionally there have been challenges in brands understanding nuances in audience traits of the various subsets of their consumers, the growing needs of clients and brand strategists alike have inspired us to probe further in assuming ways to extracting these rich insights. The influence of sophisticated techniques like Artificial Intelligence, on the backbone of heightened processing capabilities has now made deeper understanding of audiences across various touchpoints very real. Through our access of deep rooted APIs with our partners in traditional and new media , and our proprietary data sources, we have endeavored to decode audience behaviours across various platforms to capture a unified audience view to solve brand challenges.”

     

    Narayan Devanathan

    “There have been two ‘fights’ in the communications business, one that’s been around for a couple of decades now and the other of more recent making. The first is between media and creative. The separation of these two components has resulted in a gap in how a media planner sees the audience and how a brand planner sees the consumer. The second is between Big Data and creative. What we seem to have forgotten in all these ‘fights’ is that everything we do is in the interest of best matching consumers and brands. What that requires is a connecting of the dots so that we understand people as people—not only as consumers of media or brands. DAN Explore opens up countless ways to connect the dots precisely because it collects all kinds of dots about people and their lives. From passion points to brand and media consumption, from offline to online behavior, from individual to group affinities. In doing so, it does what data is supposed to do in the first place – help explore and find unexpected, inspiring insights,” added Narayan Devanathan, Group Executive and Strategy Officer at Dentsu Brand Agencies, South Asia.

     

     

  • In an effort to empower underprivileged children across the country, #ToolsForSchool centred its focus on education this year as well

    Dentsu employees dedicate a day for societal change

    By A Correspondent

     

    Dentsu Aegis Network (DAN) held its annual volunteer initiative, One Day for Change (ODFC), for the fifth consecutive year, on May 11. Keeping in line with last year’s theme #ToolsForSchool, DAN Indadedicated this day towards building a better environment for the young and underprivileged children including those with special needs.

     

    Over 1,800 employees across offices in Mumbai, Delhi, Bengaluru, Chennai and Kochi participated in this annual initiative giving over 5,000 hours of their time to local communities. Commenting on the initiative, Ashish Bhasin, Chairman and CEO- South Asia, Dentsu Aegis Network said, “A significant number of children in the primary years drop out of school and the chief reasons for this are poverty and accessibility to basic equipment. Meanwhile, when it comes to children with special needs who require far more attention from their environment, often schools are unable to focus on them. This, again, leads to these kids dropping out of school.  Therefore, this year for our One Day For Change, we decided to continue our focus on education.”

     

     

  • Clients on board include Tata Unistore, Noon.com, Rajasthan Patrika amongst others

    DAN Consult wins multiple accounts in India

    By A Correspondent

     

    DAN Consult, the consulting arm of Dentsu Aegis Network, reports winning large growth consulting assignments with corporates like Tata Unistore (Tata Group’s ecommerce venture), UAE’s leading ecommerce platform Noon.com, leading regional newspaper group Rajasthan Patrika, Rajasthan’s luxury hotel group Suryagarh Hotels along with a few other clients who wish confidentiality.

     

    Lalit Bhagia

    Lalit Bhagia has taken over as CEO of DAN Consult. It will be the fourth entity under the DAN Performance Group, headed by Vivek Bhargava, along with the existing three companies under it – iProspect India, SVG Columbus and Merkle Sokrati. Bhagia and Bhargavewill collaborate to build and scale the DAN Consult business.

     

     

    Ashish Bhasin

    Commenting on the new division, Ashish Bhasin, Chairman & CEO, Dentsu Aegis Network – South Asia said: “The launch of DAN Consult enables our business to achieve the completion of the triumvirate of branding, media and consulting. We believe the market currently leaves scope for an offering of this nature and we are glad to introduce the consulting business under the DAN Performance Group, providing further value to our clients and working with CEOs and promoters to push the envelope through digital. Moreover, this is aligned with our One-DAN vision.”

     

    Vivek-Bhargava

    Added Vivek Bhargava, CEO, DAN Performance Group: “With 1800 digital experts and the diverse talent that the network possess, we believe we enjoy a niche to cater to the unmet demand of clients beyond what tech companies and traditional consultancies are equipped to provide. The strength, dynamism, culture, flexibility, consumer understanding and risk-taking that a network like ours possesses along with some of the best minds in the business works as a huge added advantage. With Lalit at the helm, I’m positive we will be able to deliver great value to clients through our consulting efforts.”

     

    Said Bhagia: “With DAN Consult, we aim to deliver on business objectives and not the marketing objectives. Our business model rests on this very premise and thus we work with companies based on revenue growth using digital. In the long run, we will take a cut from the results, instead of charging  fixed fees for time. This is a shift from what traditional consultants currently do and with this we hope to redefine the space. I am glad to have been chosen to create and build this business for DAN. This indeed is the next level of how agencies would evolve in the future.”