MxMIndia

Tag: Isobar South Asia

  • Will lead the agency's creative team

    Isobar appoints Aalap Desai as NCD

    By Our Staff

     

    Isobar, the digital agency from the house of Dentsu India, has roped in Aalap Desai as National Creative Director (NCD). In his new role, Desai will lead the agency’s creative team and report into Gopa Kumar, COO, Isobar India.

     

    Shamsuddin Jasani
    Shamsuddin Jasani

    Speaking on the appointment, Shamsuddin Jasani, Managing Director, Isobar South Asia said: “At Isobar, our motto is to ‘Invent, Make, Change’. We are striving to deliver innovative creative experience-led solutions for our brands in India. Aalap looks at tech as not something dry and lifeless but as something that can change lives and makes it work harder for brands. That’s a perfect fit with our philosophy and is the apt approach we need to make Isobar future-proof as a leader in innovations in India.”

     

    Aalap Desai
    Aalap Desai

    Commenting on his joining, Desai said: “Digital is a creative mine that is still hugely under-explored. Solving brand challenges with a proper insight that is supplemented by digital intuition is an explosive combination that very few people are aware of and something that even fewer choose to tap into. This combination has always been part of the Isobar DNA, and I will work towards hyper-charging it. Also, the past year has been tiring. Work pressure has eclipsed the joy we derived from work. One of my top agendas will be to reverse that because I genuinely believe that a tiny, seemingly insignificant thing as joy is actually the only key that opens up many locks. It unlocks creativity, leading to unlocking fame, awards, and a thriving creative culture because all of these follow. Isobar has phenomenal energy and a brilliant set of people. I’m looking forward to having tons of fun.”

     

  • As per the mandate, Isobar India will handle the entire gamut of strategic planning, digital strategy and creative duties for the brand

    Isobar bags digital & creative mandate for BSH Home Appliances

    By A Correspondent

     

    Bosch Home Appliances (BSH) has brought on board Isobar India, the digital agency from the house of Dentsu international, as its strategy and creative agency partner. Headquartered in Munich, Germany, BSH is poised to enhance its marketing strategy in India with this announcement. The agency won the account following a multi-agency pitch and will service the brand from its Mumbai office. As per the mandate, Isobar India will handle the entire gamut of strategic planning, digital strategy and creative duties for the brand.

     

    Commenting on the partnership, Neeraj Bahl, MD, BSH Household Appliances said: “We are delighted to have Isobar on board to drive the digital communications for Bosch and Siemens. Keeping in mind our core proposition of empowering the Indian audiences and enabling them with peaceful and hassle-free life at home, Isobar was an appropriate fitment for us as their solution-oriented approach combined with creative renditions aligns with our core requirements. We are confident that together, we will be able to creatively connect with audiences to make Bosch a relatable household name.”

     

    Speaking on the win, Shamsuddin Jasani, Group MD, Isobar South Asia added: “I am thrilled to witness the faith that BSH has put in us. Our digital-first, innovation-led approach truly hit home and now, together with the BSH team, we look forward to creating long term relationship to help drive value for all stakeholders.”

     

     

  • Appoints Priyanka Agrawal as Country Head; Rahul Vengalil joins as Chief Business Officer…

    Isobar India launches ‘Isobar Consulting’

    By A Correspondent

     

    Isobar, the digital agency from the house of Dentsu Aegis Network (DAN), has announced the launch of Isobar Consulting in India. Isobar Consulting will help brands define their digital transformation strategies.

     

    Priyanka Agrawal
    Shamsuddin Jasani
    Rahul Vengalil

    Isobar Consulting will be led by Priyanka Agrawal, Co-founder, COO and Chief Strategy Officer, Fractal Ink, as Country Head. Additionally, the agency has also appointed Rahul Vengalil as Chief Business Officer, Isobar Consulting. Both will report into Shamsuddin Jasani, Group MD, Isobar South Asia.

     

    Said Jasani: “We have been readying ourselves to launch this world-class Experience-led Transformation business for almost six months now. However, we wanted to fine tune it before launch and now, on the back of two big wins, we are launching Isobar Consulting. I feel that by drawing capabilities from two of the finest agencies within the Isobar India group – Fractal Ink and Isobar India, we can deliver a roadmap for a lot of businesses that seek this transformation. Experience-led Transformation is our key offering, and we genuinely believe that we have a substantial competitive advantage in this space. With the addition of this service, the Isobar India Group can deliver end-to-end solutions to clients – right from consulting to delivery.”

     

     

  • KickStrat is a 24-week training programme that allows young and budding talents to explore account planning and strategy as a significant career choice

    Isobar to nurture future strategists

    By A Correspondent

     

    Isobar India, the digital agency from the house of Dentsu Aegis Network (DAN), has announced the launch of ‘KickStrat’, an internship opportunity to foster future strategists.

     

    KickStrat is a 24-week training programme that allows young and budding talents to explore account planning and strategy as a significant career choice.

     

    Speaking on the launch, Shamsuddin Jasani, Group MD, Isobar South Asia said: “We are excited to launch this program and train our future strategic leaders. We intend to enable ‘strategic planning’ for interested candidates who can think fast and think hard. This program will help transform new talent into capable strategists for the future. At Isobar, we believe in nurturing culture and a value system that is unique and will help the industry at large.”

     

    Added Gopa Kumar, Chief Operating Officer, Isobar India: “We are excited to launch this programme for all the budding brand strategy planners. As we see a shift in the entire communication landscape where everyone is looking at driving transformation, planners will play an important part in driving strategic relationships with clients and help in long-term development and retention. There is a huge dearth of talent, and this program aims to enable and nurture new talent.”

     

     

  • The tool has been launched under the umbrella of DMC Explore

    DAN launches Dentsu Marketing Cloud Video+ for OTT

    By A Correspondent

     

    The data sciences division of the Dentsu Aegis Network (DAN) India has announced the launch of ‘DMC Video+ [Dentsu Marketing Cloud Video+]’, a tool that provides an agnostic approach towards planning and buying on over-the-top TV (OTT) platforms.

     

    Shamsuddin Jasani

    Commenting on the launch, Shamsuddin Jasani, Group MD, Isobar- South Asia said: “The Indian OTT ecosystem is hyper competitive and has attracted varying types of players, each of whom offer varied value propositions to consumers. This has created a somewhat fragmented ecosystem with no accurate measure of how brands should engage and activate these audiences. With rapid increase in consumption of online content – primarily fueled by OTT Video, audio and gaming, the ecosystem suffers from the absence of a single source of truth when it comes to buying inventory from these platforms. The Dentsu Marketing Cloud Video+ presents a unique solution to this problem by creating a single ecosystem to understand and buy these audiences in a seamless manner, limiting the rise of another walled garden ecosystem.”

     

    Gautam Mehra

    Added Gautam Mehra, CEO, DAN Programmatic & Chief Data Officer, DAN – South Asia: “In an environment that is now heavily focused on reducing wastage, brands know they need to move budgets from linear TV and traditional advertising towards digital advertising driven by OTT. They however, tend to play it conservatively when they aren’t sure exactly how much of shift will achieve the best ROI. In the absence of transparency, unified insights and audience buying system for OTT consumers, there exist several inefficiencies within the ecosystem. The promise of the Dentsu Marketing Cloud Video+ product is to plug this gap, thereby guiding brands on their journey of capitalizing on audiences who are increasingly mobile and engaged in consuming high quality production content on OTT rather than traditional video consumption of user generated content.”

     

    The tool has been launched under the umbrella of DMC Explore through which clients are not only enabled to gain deep insights into the content consumption of audiences in the OTT ecosystem, but can also activate selected segments for their campaigns.

     

     

  • As per the mandate, Isobar India will manage integrated communications for Diageo's Antiquity and Captain Morgan

    Isobar wins creative and digital mandate for four Diageo India brands

    By A Correspondent

     

    Isobar India has been appointed as the creative and digital partner for Diageo India. Isobar India won the account following a multi-agency pitch and will manage the duties out of its Bengaluru office. As per the mandate, Isobar India will manage integrated communications for Diageo’s Antiquity and Captain Morgan, along with the digital duties for Signature and Royal Challenge.

     

    Speaking on the association, Amarpreet Anand, Executive Vice President & Portfolio Head, Diageo India said: “We are very happy to bring Isobar on board as our partners on some of our most prestigious brands in India, to handle the mandate of creative and digital across different brands. At Diageo, we are constantly trying to build a strong agency ecosystem and onboard the right set of creative minds to build our brands. Isobar bring their insights on brand building in the creative space and digital-first thinking which will be of much value.”

     

    On the win, Shamsuddin Jasani, Group MD, Isobar South Asia added: “We have grown from being a digital agency to an agency for the digital age. I am very happy that Diageo has appointed us as the integrated agency for Antiquity and Captain Morgan, along with awarding us the digital duties for Signature and Royal Challenge. It is an exciting opportunity and we are looking forward to delivering result-oriented strategies aiming at business transformation through the creative use of digital.”

     

     

  • The agency has announced key leadership changes across the country

    Isobar India announces key elevations and leadership changes across India

    By A Correspondent

     

    Anadi Sah

    Isobar India has announced key elevations and leadership changes. Anadi Sah has been promoted to Executive Creative Director, in addition to his current role of Lead Innovation, Technology and Creative. As part of this new mandate, Sah will now spearhead Isobar’s Innovation and Creative Unit at a national level along with Anish Varghese, Chief Creative Officer, Isobar India.

     

    Himanshu Arora

    Himanshu Arora, Business Head Gurgaon will now be Associate Vice President, incharge of the agency’s business for North region. And Aakriti Sinha, currently  Director, Social Media, will now be National Head for Isobar’s Social Media Practice and will be responsible for scaling up the agency’s social media solutions.

     

     

     

    Madhura Ranade

    Madhura Ranade, Director, Business will take charge as Head – Branded Content & Partnerships, Isobar’s new service offering.

     

     

     

     

    Shamsuddin Jasani

    Said Shamsuddin Jasani, Group MD, Isobar South Asia on the appointments: “ We are preparing for the next stage of growth for Isobar India. We have identified the leaders of Isobar who will work with us to take the agency  to greater heights. Anadi, Himanshu, Madhura, and Aakriti have played an important role in developing the vision and leadership needed to shape our business and brand strategy across our creative, marketing and technology functions. Their promotions will ensure we continue to power our India agenda and drive excellence in our experience-led transformation proposition.”

     

     

  • He will continue to report into Isobar South Asia, Group MD, Shamsuddin Jasani

    Isobar India elevates Shekhar Mhaskar as Chief Growth Officer

    By A Correspondent

     

    Shekhar Mhaskar

    Isobar has elevated Shekhar Mhaskar to Chief Growth Officer. He was earlier Executive Vice President, a position he has held since 2018. He will continue to report into Isobar South Asia, Group MD, Shamsuddin Jasani.

     

    On the appointment, Jasani said: “I am delighted with Shekhar’s elevation as Chief Growth Officer. He has played an important role in developing the vision and leadership needed to shape our business and brand strategy across our client, marketing, and technology functions. In addition to his responsibilities, he will also work with me, bringing alive our vision of being the Digital Transformation experts while keeping our amazing agency credentials growing.”

     

    Commenting on the elevation, Mhaskar said: “In today’s age, when businesses are getting transformed and disrupted globally at the speed of light, Isobar has an industry-leading proposition to deliver experience-led business transformation for our clients in a truly agile way. I am excited to shoulder the new responsibility to drive complex & strategic digital transformation programs that ensure our clients thrive, and commercially succeed in the present-day experience economy.”

     

     

  • The campaign intends to promote contactless everyday payments in India

    Isobar unveils integrated marketing campaign for Visa India

    By A Correspondent

     

    Isobar India has collaborated with Visa to launch the ‘Tap to pay with Visa. Just like that.’ campaign.

     

    Commenting on the launch, TR Ramachandran, Group Country Manager for India & South Asia – Visa said: “The campaign, ‘Tap to pay with Visa. Just like that.’ is designed to drive consumer awareness of contactless payments by drawing attention to their simplicity. Through this campaign, we are trying to induce a change in consumer habit, showcasing that payments can be a lot simpler than you think. Visa data shows that the lion’s share of face-to-face transactions, about 87%, are of below Rs 2000, also the threshold for contactless transactions. We are constantly working to transform digital payments through technology and a contactless card makes such payments frictionless. The campaign brings to life the thought that a tap, a simple action we inadvertently do every day, can mean much more and can actually help make everyday payments simple.”

     

    On the launch of the campaign, Shamsuddin Jasani, Group MD, Isobar South Asia added: “We are very excited and honoured that Visa has believed in us to work on such an important campaign. The work we have done on this campaign reflects our ethos of ideas without limits. I am really proud of the team who have been able to transcend mediums to deliver this project.”

     

     

  • The 2019 trends report explores the changing nature of the human relationship with technology

    Isobar launches ‘Augmented Humanity: Isobar Trends Report 2019’

    By A Correspondent

     

    Isobar has released ‘Augmented Humanity: Isobar Trends Report 2019, an exploration of five digital trends for 2019. The report explores the extent to which humanity will work in harmony with technology to expand and enrich life in 2019.

     

    Written by the innovation and strategy experts across Isobar’s 85 offices in 45 markets, the report builds on the concept of Augmented Humanity, developed by Isobar in 2018. The 2019 trends report explores the changing nature of the human relationship with technology: from how we work and play, to how we travel, shop, spend our leisure time and engage with brands.

     

    The report is centered around a belief that technology augments our experience of the world, allowing us to work more efficiently, to live healthier lifestyles, to make better human decisions and to expand our creativity. It explains why Isobar believes that this is an important moment in human history, outlines some of the myriad opportunities that these technological developments open up and shines a light on some of the challenges posed by digital disruption.

     

    The annual report provides guidance on navigating this new landscape to keep businesses and brands ahead of the curve for 2019 and beyond. Each chapter outlines why these developments are important, key examples of the trends in action, why businesses need to be aware of them, and how they can take advantage of their positive potential.

     

    Said Jean Lin, Isobar’s Global CEO: “Technology today plays a key role in driving relevance, scale, and elevating human experiences. It is our job to harness its wonderful power and the potential for businesses and brands, in serving people better in the age of Augmented Humanity.”

     

    Added Shamsuddin Jasani, Group Managing Director, Isobar South Asia: “We need to embrace the power of technology. Today, we are on the edge of an augmented age where technology is redefining the possibilities of what a human can truly be capable of. This next phase of transformational technological advances, wearable and embedded devices will unlock human potential by tapping into almost all our day to day activities. In 2019, we shall see how digital is going to be omnipresent and VOICE will be the biggest game changer in the field of marketing.”

     

     

  • The report evaluates the eight most significant specialist commerce providers

    Forrester names Isobar as a leader among Commerce Specialist Service Providers

    By A Correspondent

     

    Forrester has named Isobar as a leader in its recent report ‘The Forrester Waveä: Commerce Specialist Service Providers, Q4 2018.’ The report evaluates the eight most significant specialist commerce providers, with Isobar scoring highest in the current offering category, recognising its services excel in fusing creative and commerce.

     

    Shawn Mishra

    “We believe our placement on the Wave underlines our commitment to Commerce,” said Shawn Mishra, Senior Vice-President, Global Managing Partner, Isobar Commerce Practice. “In 2018, we focused on further expanding the capabilities of our Commerce Practice and we’re grateful to have been recognised for our efforts. We believe our global reach and technological capabilities, coupled with our strong foundation of creativity and innovation, puts us in a unique position to provide brands with an unmatched digital capability to help them succeed in their experience-led transformation journeys.”

     

    Jean Lin

    Added Jean Lin, Global CEO, Isobar: “Forrester Research is one of the most respected firms in the industry and we are proud to have been named a Leader for Commerce Specialist Service Providers in the latest Forrester Waveä. Reinventing the last mile, bringing compelling brand experience and commerce closer together, has become one of the most important transformation tasks for business and brands in today’s digital economy. At Isobar, our aim is to provide this for our clients to enable transformation and drive growth.”

     

    Commenting on the occasion, Shamsuddin Jasani, Group Managing Director, Isobar South Asia said: “We are really proud of on being recognized as a Leader in Commerce practice in the latest Forrester Waveä report. At Isobar commerce India, we are providing end to end commerce experiences using platforms and solutions with the biggest technology players, including Salesforce, Adobe, SAP Hybris and Magento – combining strategic, technology and operational support to multimarket and regional clients in addition to media and Omni channel capabilities. In India e-commerce, it’s still at a nascent stage, but the potential here is explosive. I am very much certain with such acclaims we will help drive the e-commerce ecosystem in 2019, within the Indian market in the most effective ways.”

     

     

  • 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.”