MxMIndia

Tag: Dentsu Aegis Network

  • Offers the winning team an opportunity to visit Cannes Lions in 2018

    WatConsult launches Wat’s Your Big Idea​ 2.0

    By A Correspondent

     

    Collaborates with more than 20 educational institutes, leading brands and brings on board eight jury members

     

    WatConsult has launched the second season of Wat’s Your Big Idea (WYBI).Besides the cash prize, endorsed certificate and an assured job offer, the winning team will also get an opportunity to visit Cannes Lions in 2018.

     

    WYBI is one of its kind digital ideation competition for colleges across the country where students get an opportunity to work on live projects, understand the nuances of creating digital campaigns for brands and showcase their creative skills to leading brand marketers.

     

    The agency has partnered with institutes like MICA, SIMC, XIC, IIMB, IIM (Indore), SP Jain, Jamnalal Bajaj, NMIMS, MET and Jai Hind along with brands like Swarovski, Madame Tussauds, HE Face Wash, Savlon (ITC Group), Jack and Jones and Naturolax (Piramal Healthcare).

     

    Spread over this month, a creative brief will be shared by the allocated brand and the students have to come back with a creative concept. Selected concepts will be detailed, and a Wat panel will shortlist them.

     

    Shortlisted teams will then present their idea, at an off-ground event, to a jury which includes Rajiv Dingra – Founder and CEO, WATConsult; Jaikishan Chhaproo – Head Media and PR, ITC; Praveen Das – Co-Founder and Managing Director, Happy Mcgarrybowen; Vineet Gautam – CEO, Bestseller Group; Sukanya Dutta Roy – MD, Consumer Goods Division, Swarovski; Sabia Gulati – Head, Sales & Marketing, Madam Tussauds; Rajesh Kamat – VP, Strategy & Operations, Piramal Enterprises; and Anoop Agarwal – DGM Marketing, Emami Group, before announcing the winners.

     

    Speaking on the event, Rajiv Dingra, Founder and CEO, WatConsult said: “After the grand success of our first season, we’re glad to announce the second season of WAT’s Your Big Idea. Considering the overwhelming responses from students last year, we decided to offer them an international platform to meet, be inspired and interact with the advertising stalwarts of the world. The winning team will have the opportunity to win an all-expenses trip to Cannes Lions 2018.”

     

    Added  Ashish Bhasin, Chairman and CEO – South Asia, Dentsu Aegis Network: “Last year was a benchmark setter. The students came up with some exciting and innovative ideas and I’m looking forward to the entries this year. WATConsult’s initiative has helped us find some really good talent and we at Dentsu Aegis Network would continue supporting their efforts.”

     

     

  • Jointly launched white paper – titled “Connectivity and QoL: How digital consumer habits and ubiquitous technology are driving smart city development in Asia Pacific

    Dentsu Aegis Network and MIT shed light on APAC’s Smart City Imperative

    By A Correspondent

     

    Dentsu Aegis Network has launched a new white paper examining the progress of Asia Pacific’s smart cities, including local deep-dives into eight key markets in the region. In its third year, this series on Asia Pacific’s digital disruption aims to deliver thought leadership to arm Dentsu Aegis Network and its agency brands’ clients and partners with the insight they need to succeed in the digital economy.

     

    This year, in collaboration with MIT Technology Review, the report argues that increasingly, smart city initiatives in Asia Pacific are being developed and driven to improve quality of life for the region’s citizens and consumers, to manage cities’ growth sustainably, and to maintain their global competitiveness.

     

    The paper – titled “Connectivity and QoL : How digital consumer habits and ubiquitous technology are driving smart city development in Asia Pacific” – consolidates extensive in-market research and nearly two-dozen in-depth interviews with key industry players from India, Singapore, Hong Kong, China, Taiwan, South Korea, Japan, and Australia.

     

    Said Nick Waters, CEO of Dentsu Aegis Network Asia Pacific: “Asia Pacific has enjoyed robust economic expansion in recent years, with cities at the heart of this growth. With development comes challenges, but cities in the region are transforming these challenges into opportunities with the help of technology and innovation. Smart cities in Asia Pacific are quickly becoming pilot markets for the digital economy.

     

    Added Ashish Bhasin, Chairman and CEO South Asia – Dentsu Aegis Network: “India is currently moving towards massive urbanisation. Consequently, its need for building smart cities is far more immediate when compared to many other countries. Home to one of the most populated and diverse demography in the world, India witnesses the migration of 20-30 people every minute from rural regions to urban cities. Yes, India is a complex country and therefore, its infrastructural challenges are huge but so are the opportunities. We have a large consumer base, we are well-connected and mobile-enabled. And these elements will act as huge enablers to create our smart cities and introduce economic transformation.”

     

     

  • The mandate was won post a multi-agency pitch

    Happy mcgarrybowen bags creative mandate for Wildcraft

    By A Correspondent

     

    Happy mcgarrybowen, the creative agency from Dentsu Aegis Network, has been appointed as the creative partner for the outdoor and adventure product company, Wildcraft. The mandate was won post a multi-agency pitch.

    Commenting on the win, Kartik Iyer, CEO, Happy mcgarrybowen said: “Wildcraft has a certain raw power to it as an indigenous adventure brand. It is something we have been excited by since the first time we met the founders. The market is huge and the canvas is wild. I am certain it is going to be an absolute pleasure creating for Wildcraft.”

    Added Siddharth Sood and Gaurav Dublish, Co-founders, Wildcraft: “In a short span of a decade, people know Wildcraft as the pioneer and leader in outdoor gear and adventure equipment. What we need now is to establish the brand Wildcraft. With Happy mcgarrybowen’s young and passionate team, we are certain that their strategy-driven creative approach will help propel the brand and aid it to moving into its next orbit.”

  • The tool is one of a kind in providing detailed information on media pricing across markets in the OOH commercial ecosystem

    Posterscope’s ‘rateOOHmeter’ to evaluate buying efficiency on out-of-home

    By A Correspondent

     

    Posterscope India, the out-of-home division from Dentsu Aegis Network, has launched its OOH rate benchmarking tool called – rateOOHmeter. The ‘rateOOHmeter’ platform is based on field data of OOH campaign universe with information on 400+ brands, 1600 cities, 3000+ campaigns and 85000+ OOH inventory across formats pan-India. Commenting on the launch, Haresh Nayak, Managing Director Posterscope India, said: “The only gap in India’s OOH scenario is the lack of neutral, credible and standardised data. From audience measurement to media rate regulations, this data gap has been subtly stifling industry’s growth. And we have only seen this gap widening, even as the demand for data driven solutions are on the rise. OOH’s very lopsided buying and selling process is largely governed by the whim and fancy of the media asset owner that gives rise to disproportionate rate verdicts. This too varies from campaign to campaign and media buyers likewise. The onus of delivery, therefore, falls into the agency’s court to deliver a lean and effective campaign. Now, with the help of rateOOHmeter we can have a controlled environment in which the media rates will be regulated with historical buys in OOH campaigns aligned with the media asset owners for the respective regions.  Clients will now be able to map their productivity through the agency’s buying process and the agency will be able to deliver beyond the brief.”

     

    Subhashish Trivedi

    Added Subhashish Trivedi, Vice President – Media Buying, Posterscope India added, “With the help of rateOOHmeter, the buying efficiency will immensely improve, the results of which will shine in leaner and productive campaigns. In the future we will be able to reach to the level where we can reduce inconsistent buying by over 95%.”

  • Kartik Iyer to head media biz. Rajni Menon to helm Carat, Joydeep Raha is CEO Carat Context & Himanka Das as CEO, Vizeum as Shripad Kulkarni moves on

    Dentsu Aegis Network rejigs top deck

     

    By A Correspondent

     

    Dentsu Aegis Network has restructured its top deck in media agencies group across Carat and Vizeum. Kartik Iyer has been elevated to President, Media Brands and Amplifi.

     

    Rajni Menon will be CEO of Carat and Joydeep Raha will be CEO of Carat Context as Himanka Das will take over as CEO, Vizeum. Shripad Kulkarni has announced his decision to move on from the group by end-December to pursue his own interest. The move does not impact Dentsu X headed by Divya Karani so far.

     

    Ashish Bhasin

    Said Ashish Bhasin, Chairman and CEO South Asia – Dentsu Aegis Network: “To enable a more future ready product for our clients, our media agencies have been reorganised for the rapidly changing market environment under the unified leadership of Kartik Iyer who has been leading our fastest growing media agency, Carat, for over eight years now. He will be responsible for enabling the continued fast track growth of the brands and will provide senior executive council level oversight to the media brands, in addition to his Amplifi responsibilities.”

     

    Speaking on his appointment and on the next steps for the Media Brands, Iyer said: “I am delighted to have been given this opportunity and look forward to working with the agencies in their growth path over the years. Carat is future proofing to take on the new opportunities that the market dynamics have provided in order to be able to provide world class service to our clients… Rajni is a true blue One DAN exponent. In the past 8 years that Rajni has been with Carat, she has led some of the agency’s most significant developments in capabilities, especially in the area of ICP, CCS, CCS Planner, Multiscreen planning (TV Stack) and Digitizing of Carat, which has enabled the entire group to deliver more consumer focused and business oriented solutions and is best placed to drive it to the next level. Joydeep has been a pillar in the growth path that Carat has seen over the years, particularly in the South markets. With his focus on business growth backed by delivering integrated solutions, he has constantly been adding business for the group. Further, Himanka Das will be taking over as CEO of Vizeum. Himanka has been a part of Dentsu Aegis Network Media leadership for the last 5 years and has a proven ability in managing and growing client relationships both Multinational and Indian,” Iyer added.

     

    Shripad Kulkarni

    Speaking on Kulkarni’s exit, Bhasin said: “Shripad has contributed significantly to the growth of Vizeum in India.  His focus on business and managing client relationships has enabled Vizeum to grow from strength to strength in the last two years. We wish him all the very best in his future endeavours.”

     

    Speaking on the future, Iyer added: “The leadership of our media group will continue to focus on delivering Business Outcomes and Digitally Ahead solutions. Over the next few weeks, each of the agencies will be setting up their plans for the coming years and you can expect some very significant initiatives in this area by each agency. Rajni, Joydeep and Himanka, as leaders of their respective media agencies, will continue to innovate the way brands are built.”

     

  • The media investment arm will comprise four specialisations – Investment Management, Global Media Partnerships, Amnet & The Story Lab

    Dentsu Aegis Network to flex its buying muscles with Amplifi

     

    By A Correspondent

     

    Dentsu Aegis Network has announced the India launch of Amplifi, its media investment arm that comprises four specialisations – Investment Management, Global Media Partnerships, Amnet and The Story Lab. Kartik Iyer, President Media Agencies and Amplifi will spearhead the initiative.

     

    Ashish Bhasin

    Speaking on this launch, Ashish Bhasin Chairman & CEO South Asia said: “We are excited to launch Amplifi in India under Kartik’s leadership and bringing together the four key capabilities under one structure. In today’s world, our media partners have much more to bring on table for our clients, than just media inventory.  Amplifi’s is uniquely placed to drive this supply-side convergence by harnessing data, technology, insight and content to help all members of the Dentsu Aegis Network operating model.”

     

    Added Iyer: “Our constant endeavour has been to bring best in class solutions for our clients that enable their business growth. The launch of Amplifi is another step in that direction and I am very excited with this opportunity.”

     

    Sujata Dwibedy

    As part of this launch, Sujata Dwibedy takes over as Group Buying and Trading Head from Harsha Joshi who is moving on. Said Bhasin on Joshi’s exit: “Harsha, with her vast experience, has been a huge contributor in the growth of the media group. We wish her all the very best for her future.”

     

     

    Kartik Iyer

    Speaking on Dwibedy’s appointment, Kartik said, “Sujata, with over 20 years of media trading and strategy experience, has extensively worked across sectors such as FMCG, telecom, airlines, finance, alcohol and beverages and has led teams in the areas of planning, research, buying and strategy. Her holistic perspective will enable a better integration of all buying and trading functions across the group, in both online and offline media. Sujata will be supported by Prashant Nandan who has over 10 years of expertise in strategic digital marketing, media planning, media buying and content marketing across agencies like Isobar, Maxus and Motivator. Over the past three years, he has been leading buying for Isobar and now moves to Amplifi to deliver the digital buying and trading expertise to the group.”

     

    Speaking on her appointment as Group Buying and Trading Head, Dwibedy said, “I am delighted to have been chosen for this responsibility to drive ROI and deliver value to Dentsu Aegis Network clients. In today’s rapidly changing media marketplace, I look forward to working with our agencies and media partners to deliver this value across media to our clients.” The Story Lab, launched in 2015 in India, will continue to operate as part of Amplifi under the leadership of Sunil Kumaran.

     

     

  • These being Raj Jain, Rajiv Varma, Girish Agarwal, Vikram Sakhuja, Sandeep Sharma, and Sameer Satpathy

    MRUC appoints six new Board Members

    By A Correspondent

     

    The Media Research Users Council has announced the changes in its Board post its Annual General Meeting held in Mumbai earlier this month.

     

    As was reported Ashish Bhasin, Chairman and CEO – South Asia, Dentsu Aegis Network, is the new MRUC Chairman. The new MRUC Board consists of six new members, namely Raj Jain, CEO, Bennett Coleman & Company; Rajiv Varma, CEO, HT Media; Girish Agarwal, Director, DB Corp; Vikram Sakhuja, Group CEO, Madison World; Sandeep Sharma, President, RK Swamy Media Group; and Sameer Satpathy, Chief Executive – Personal Care, ITC.

     

    Other members of the Board include Inderjeet Singh, Brand Leader – Consumer and Market Knowledge, Procter & Gamble India;  Pratap Pawar, Chairman, Sakaal Media Group;  Ravindra Kumar, Editor and Managing Director, The Statesman; Satvir S Kataria, President, Marketing, Hari Bhoomi; Siddharth Kothari, Director, Rajasthan Patrika, Kartik Sharma, Managing Director, South Asia, Maxus; Anupriya Acharya, CEO,  Publicis Media India; NP Sathyamurthy, Executive Director, DDB Mudra Group and President, OMD Max; Shashi Sinha, CEO, IPG Media Brands; Rohit Gupta, President, Sony Pictures Network India, I Venkat, Director, Eenadu, Shailesh Gupta, Director, Jagran Prakashan; Punit Misra, CEO – Domestic Broadcast,  Zee Entertainment Enterprises; and Rajeev Singh, Member (Finance), Prasar Bharti.

     

    Commenting on his appointment as an MRUC Board Member, Vikram Sakhuja said, “It is a privilege to serve on the MRUC Board. In an era of burgeoning multiple media, the need to have a single credible media baseline is important. It is also critical to have a good fix on print readership to support and give confidence to one of the few markets where print continues to grow. The IRS has played this role all these years, and is now coming back after a gap. Inevitably there will be some gainers and losers. The challenge lies in holding all constituents together in this cause irrespective of how they fare. I see an opportunity in building robustness of data by collating both readership and circulation data under the aegis of RSCI.”

     

    On being elected as a Board Member, Girish Agarwal, said, “I am very excited to join the MRUC Board as I strongly believe that this is the most opportune time for the industry to provide relevant data to the stakeholders. MRUC has contributed a lot for the industry. In the given changed scenario, under the leadership of a new chairman, the high energy board will certainly do a lot going forward in terms of helping the stakeholders get the required and much awaited knowledge and information from research.”

     

    Added Sameer Satpathy: “The Indian media industry is witnessing a radical change in the way it is consumed. In an always-on social world, media and marketing research is set to become more dynamic. I am happy to be a part of the MRUC Governing Board and look forward to working closely with the Board to help create a robust research framework,”

     

    Said Sandeep Sharma commented on his appointment: “MRUC is a premier industry body and I am happy to be part of the Board. I look forward to encouraging multi-media research measuring “efficacy and impact” to aid better ROI driven decisions by the industry. Secondly MRUC should leverage new age media and technology to enhance the research process and offer new research products incorporating real time data.”

     

     

  • The recent restructuring happened owing to the consolidation of creative, digital and media duties for all Maruti Suzuki brands (except Nexa brands) with Dentsu Aegis Network

    Dentsu Impact elevates Anupama Ramaswamy as NCD

    By A Correspondent

     

    Anupama Ramaswamy

    Dentsu Impact has recently restructured its creative department and promoted Anupama Ramaswamy as the National Creative Director. Ramaswamy has been with Dentsu Impact for over a year now. She had joined as an Executive Creative Director.

     

    The recent restructuring has taken place given the consolidation of creative, digital and media duties for all Maruti Suzuki brands (except Nexa) with the Dentsu Aegis Network. Post this development, the network created an integrated creative team which will deliver solutions for the brand. Ramaswamy would be leading this team both on offline as well as digital creative front.

     

    Commenting on her new role, Ramaswamy said: “It is an exciting time to be at Dentsu Impact and working on a brand like Maruti Suzuki. Maruti Suzuki is undergoing a transformation and not many in the industry can boast of being a part of such a change. A change that happens once in 35 years. My mandate is to make the most popular automobile brand equally young and vibrant. And hopefully, I would be able to add value to the business and win some awards. There is so much to learn and hopefully enough to contribute too.”

     

    Talking about the development, Soumitra Karnik, Chief Creative Officer, Dentsu Impact said: “Anupama has played a stellar role in the creative performance of Dentsu Impact and this is an extremely well deserved elevation. Keeping pace with where Maruti Suzuki aims to be in the coming times is both exciting as well as challenging. It requires complex understanding of the automobile industry and the world in which it is going to operate in. Anu is going to be right in the forefront of this change and along with her team of individuals with diverse capabilities, will be setting altogether a new bar.”

     

     

  • The network intends to bring in a differentiated approach into the field of celebrity endorsements that is intelligent

    Dentsu’s CLab to handle data-driven celebrity endorsement and sports marketing agency

    By A Correspondent

     

    Dentsu Aegis Network, the media and advertising conglomerate that operates 25 businesses in India, has now expanded its footprint into celebrity endorsement and sports marketing with the launch of CLab.

     

    With the launch of this new agency, the network intends to bring in a differentiated approach into the field of celebrity endorsements that is intelligent and is supported through substantiated understanding of the industry.

     

    Commenting on the launch, Ashish Bhasin, Chairman & CEO, Dentsu Aegis Network- South Asia said: “Today several of our clients invest huge amounts of money to establish their brand image with the help of celebrity endorsers. This is often done on gut feel. We hope to bring a data based, scientific approach in this area. Many of these celebrities are sportsmen and sportswomen and that gives us a great opportunity to offer both celebrity management and sports marketing under CLab.”

     

    Added Haresh Nayak, Managing Director – Posterscope Group, under whose executive mentorship the new agency has been set up, added, “Our vison with CLab is to bring accountability and informed decision making in a discipline which functions on perception, probability and gut feeling of advertisers in getting celebrities/sports personalities to associate with their brands. CLab aims to break the myth of notional acceptability that has its roots in experimentation rather than information. All the requirements of the Dentsu Aegis Network clients pertaining to celebrity endorsements and sports marketing will be directed to CLab for servicing and a team of experts is now in place to deliver this.”

     

    Said Deepak Kumar, Vice President- CLab, said, “Its exciting times for the group, which believes in constant innovation and service diversification into sectors that add value to media industry holistically and this has always been a part of our growth strategy. If we look at celebrity and sports marketing separately, the two might differ in their operational mechanism but the driving forces for the two are common. People, popularity, occasions and influence share the common angle, governing the dynamics of the business. We took timely cognizance of the lacunae that existed and focused our approach into forming India’s first data driven celebrity endorsement agency.”

     

  • Rajesh Mani and Kunal Madhavdas join as the agency’s first ever ECD and Sr. VP respectively

    Happy mcgarrybowen makes senior appointments

    By A Correspondent

     

    Happy mcgarrybowen, the creative agency from Dentsu Aegis Network, has added creative and account management muscle in the team with the appointment of Rajesh Mani and Kunal Madhavdas as the agency’s first ever ECD and Senior VP respectively.

     

    Said Kartik Iyer, CEO, Happy mcgarrybowen: “We have been very particular about creative leadership within the agency. Because at that level it’s not just about the talent but more about having the maturity to nurture ideas. We have a strong culture at Happy mcgarrybowen and in Rajesh we found the natural energy to further that culture. It’s great to have him in our team.”

     

    Added Samarjit Choudhry, COO, Happy mcgarrybowen: ”Happy mcgarrybowen has a culture of creating great ideas and not just great ads. We are particular about the people who work with us not just on skill set but also on the attitude. With Kunal and now Rajesh we have 2 people who come from the same mindset. They are a fabulous addition to the “Happy” team.”

     

  • Global business performance agency focuses on innovation and transformation with appointment

    iProspect names Rohan Philips as Global Chief Product Officer

    By A Correspondent

     

    Rohan Philips

    iProspect has announced the appointment of Rohan Philips as Global Chief Product Officer. In his new role, Philips will direct and oversee iProspect’s roadmap for central product development, adoption and commercialisation across its 52 markets. He will report to Global President, Ruth Stubbs, and will be based in Singapore.

     

     

     

    Ruth Stubbs

    Said Ruth Stubbs, Global President, iProspect:“Our ambition is to drive business performance for our clients. This requires a mindset that is inspired by the future, delivered today, and Rohan fully encapsulates this.  A dynamic approach to the development and evolution of our global product set is a vital component in our ability to engage audiences across all platforms and connect brands to consumers. As a business, we must become more sensitive to the challenges clients are facing. With Rohan’s hire, we have now finalised a recalibrated leadership team – specifically designed to address delivering these capabilities for our organisation, Dentsu Aegis Network and the clients that we serve.”

     

    Philips joins iProspect from GroupM, where he served as Vice President at [m]Platform and Xaxis.

     

  • The account was won following a direct pitch and will be handled out of the agency's Delhi office

    SVG Columbus wins digital duties of Sportzlive

     

     

    SVG Columbus, the data-driven marketing agency from Dentsu Aegis Network, has been appointed as the digital agency for SportzLive’s #CueSlam, India’s only Snooker and 9-Ball (Pool) league. The account was won following a direct pitch and will be handled out of the agency’s Delhi office.

     

    The assignment will involve using SVG Columbus’ expertise in the digital ecosystem for Social Media, ORM (Online Reputation Management), Web/Mobile user experience, Digital Media and real-time data-analytics for the ongoing CueSlam League.

     

    Commenting on the win, Prasad Mangipudi, Founder – Sportzlive said, “This relationship will help Sportzlive to be in control of it digital assets and user engagement using digital asset management and bespoke digital consumer engagement services deployed by SVG Columbus.”

     

    Added Nitin Sabharwal, Chief Business Officer, SVG Columbus: “We look forward to our foray into sports & entertainment with this relationship and to help Sportzlive get the best in digital conversation management for #cueslam.”