MxMIndia

Tag: Jitender Dabas

  • He will report directly to Chairman and CEO Prasoon Joshi

    McCann elevates Jitender Dabas to COO

    By A Correspondent

     

    Jitender Dabas

    Amidst rumours of a senior-level transition in the industry, McCann India has announced the promotion of Jitender Dabas to Chief Operating officer, McCann Worldgroup India. He will report directly to Chairman and CEO Prasoon Joshi. Dabas is currently Chief Strategy Officer of McCann India operations.

     

    Said Joshi on the development: “Jitender’s elevation would be no surprise to the McCann Worldgroup family and the Industry. We at McCann have always had home grown talent in leadership positions – those who understand our culture and have exceptional talent.  I have seen Jitu grow over the years from strength to strength. He has not only honed his expertise in strategy but also demonstrated keen Business leadership. I am sure that in the new role he will benefit our clients even more. Jitender Dabas will also be able to work more closely with our formidable leadership across geography in McCann India”.

     

    Further commenting on McCann India, Joshi added: “On every parameter that defines our industry – Business, Talent, Reputation, Awards – McCann India keeps proving that today it’s the topmost agency in India. It’s teamwork, a shared vision and focus that enables McCann as a collective to deliver on and beyond expected norms. Our belief in creating meaningful work for the brands and the culture of excellence along with the ability to reinvent ourselves is what makes McCann a powerhouse.”

     

  • Executed by McCann, THE ad campaign underlines Udacity’s proposition of offering tech education the Silicon Valley way

    Udacity India launches brand campaign to promote its Nanodegree certification

    By A Correspondent

     

    Udacity, the Silicon Valley-based lifelong learning platform, has unveiled an ad campaign created by McCann Worldgroup India, that establishes the venture’s differentiators.

     

    Said Ishan Gupta, Managing Director-India, Udacity: “At Udacity, we bring knowledge and innovation together to create nanodegree programmes and provide the most relevant and advanced tech education possible. We expect that this film will make our value proposition clearer, and inspire many of India’s young and driven students and technology enthusiasts to learn cutting-edge skills that would propel them ahead of their peers.”

     

    Added Jitender Dabas, Chief Strategy Officer, McCann Worldgroup India:“The brief was simple – to establish what sets Udacity apart from all others. In a time when higher education has come under attack for lax standards and low barriers to entry, our strategy was to tell young Indians that the source makes all the difference. There is education, and then there is Silicon Valley way education that Udacity excels in.”

     

     

  • McCann’s ‘Truth About Street’ study will dig deep locally to understand the richness and diversity of local culture and the effect on peoples’ lives, attitudes and behaviours

    20k McCann-ers take to streets to discover consumer truths

    By A Correspondent

     

    As part of a global research initiative, McCann Worldgroup has enlisted all of its employees around the world to leave their desks for a day and head to the streets in their local markets to meet with and interview people face-to-face to gain insights into their shopping behaviour and their relationship to cultural values. This new “Truth About Street” study will involve roughly 20,000 McCann Worldgroup employees in more than 100 countries.

     

    Said Luca Lindner, McCann Worldgroup President: “This is the first time that we have galvanised our entire employee base to help us develop in-depth insights about local culture and its connection today to brand attitudes and shopping behaviour. In doing so, our employees will hear first-hand the cultural shifts that are affecting our clients and have a deeper understanding of how to apply these learnings to help grow our client’s brands and businesses.”

     

    Added  Prasoon Joshi, Chairman of McCann Worldgroup Asia Pacific and CEO of McCann Worldgroup India: “Truth About Street is a testament to the effort and energy that goes into building McCann’s understanding of local culture, especially in a dynamically changing country like India. The study is proof of our unmatched sense of community and collaboration. We are committed to maintaining our edge in being the power-house of knowledge about people, cultural shifts and evolving trends and thus giving the best to our clients.”

     

    Said Jitender Dabas, Chief Strategy Officer, McCann Worldgroup India:  “This 24-hour global-local truth hunt is a proprietary study unlike anything ever done by any agency in India or anywhere the world. It sees each and every employee engaged in unearthing rich, meaningful insights around globally relevant and locally nuanced issues and topics to capture the essence of their city and its people.”

     

    The findings will be incorporated in the next wave of the company’s Truth About Global Brands study.

     

  • The last of the series of Effies 2016 interviews has Rajdeepak Das and Jitender Dabas

    ‘We had a great idea, but we had a better client’

     

    Rajdeepak Das, CCO, The Leo Group India

     

    Grand Effie is huge… what does this win mean to you?

    We had an idea but we had a better client. The client had a vision on marketing team, Rajiv Bajaj and everyone bettered the vision. Not every time in your life you create a brand from an iconic historic thing from Ground Zero and make it one of the biggest brands in the country. A brand which is going to be $5million brand. I think it’s close to my client. People have ideas but it’s the client who give she to those ideas. So cheers to the client, Sumit, Saumya, Rajiv, Eric and everyone. It’s a massive team behind the client. We are just the creative team, you think we are glamorous but there is a massive team behind this that has made it happen. It’s (Grand Effie trophy) is black because it has gone through a massive amount of fire to be black.

     

    Did you think the client would accept your (Bajaj V) idea?

    In Burnett, we believe in one thing: human kind. Every piece of work that comes out is human kind. We don’t believe if it’s not human kind we are going to sell it, when you have human kind we make sure people buy it and thats what we did.

     

    This year Leo Burnett has done very well on the back on Bajaj V and HDFC Life. You are Agency #5 which is a dramatic leap from last year. What do you attribute the success of this to?

    As an agency we are one of the youngest agency in the country. If you look at my team, the people who work on it, have one goal in life, do the best piece of work for client and believe in one thing, human kind.

     

    And you are one of the youngest CCOs in the country!

    A CCO is as good as the team you work with. Guys like Projo, Kevin, Sachin and there are 750 creatives people in the agency that make what we are.

     

    Jitender Dabas, Chief Strategy Officer – McCann Worldgroup India

     

    McCann did very well this year compared to the last few years. You had some great work. Your views on the overall performance of the agency?

    Very happy because as you rightly said we had some big campaigns which were very dear to us and not just in terms of the work you saw on Maggi which brought the brand back from dead but even on behaviour change campaigns like the one on open defecation because that gives a special joy because then you are working towards trying to change behaviour of Indians and I do believe that the kind of work you do for behaviour change, that’s the real work because that is not just selling products but actually moving a nation towards newer habits. So I am particularly proud of that and if you look at our other clients that have won like IDFC which is a completely new entrant. We won Effie for Dabur Odomos, again a fairly big campaign in terms of trying to change people’s behaviour and to fight dengue. Nescafe again is a campaign that we have always loved and built a campaign over years. Yes, of course, there we other misses, we thought Dettol and Paytm campaigns which we were very proud of.

     

    Regrets on not winning the grand Effie for Maggi or Dettol?

    Well, if we are competing there should always be regrets because that will bring you back much stronger. Yes, I did expect that both Dettol and Maggi were massive campaigns and the results are quite evident but it’s the jury’s prerogative to decide what deserves the award.

     

    You were in three figures this year, one of your best performance ever in the Effies over the last 16 years. How do you ensure you get to #1 next year?

    We have the breadth of brands. We have big brands right from global clients like Nestle, Coca-Cola, General Motors, Perfetti and there are Indian biggies like Britannia, which are currently under presented in the list we have. So what it takes is to focus more on producing good work.

     

    Your takeouts from the awardwinners this year?

    Lowe are worthy and deserving winners of this year. They have a spread of work which is just not concentrated on certain brands but across the brands. Also, a lot of work that is not just about the brand but impacting stuff outside the brand, changing what the society does, having a point of view on the society. Lowe has always done excellent work around that.

     

    Bajaj again a big idea and not the conventional way you look at a brand campaign or advertising. What I am happy about is that the kind of work which is winning is not straightforward work though from a pure planner perspective, Effies were about what moves the needles on sales. That’s something I would love to perhaps bring the focus back more on that but because the ideas are bigger they are winning but bringing it back to the needle of saying simple work that really increases market share even if it is one poster or a film should also get rewarded.

     

  • Advertising around an observance like Karva Chauth is regressive, and brands need to reconsider. Jitender Dabas present his POV

    Jitender Dabas: Share The Load, Not The Fast

     

    By Jitender Dabas

     

    One of the most celebrated campaign from last year has been #sharetheload by Ariel. A remarkable campaign that challenges us to re-think the way we look at the issues of gender equality. And then I came across another ad by shaadi.com asking men to share another load. Promoted with the hashtag #FastForHer it asks men to fast alongside their wives to show their love this Karva Chauth.

     

    Both the campaigns in their own way address the relationship between men & women in our society. One did it by challenging the way we think the other simply rode it.

     

    Karva Chauth is fast becoming the next opportunity for the marketers. It’s got everything – tradition, relationships, dressing up, celebrations, gifting and it comes in the festival month of October.

     

    Everything seems right for brands to jump in. Except one. The very genesis of the festival or ritual. According to Wikipedia, Karva Chauth is a one-day festival celebrated by Hindu women in many countries in which married women fast from sunrise to moonrise for the safety and longevity of their husbands. A ritual that is not only regressive and unequal but also irrational.

     

    So what should brands do with Karva Chauth? How should brands navigate a festival like KarvaChauth.

     

    Every festival is a market opportunity in India but brands need to make a choice. Brands must understand a lot of inequality in Indian society is camouflaged by tradition and emotions. By adding frills and mush to a dogmatic ritual and making it ‘fun’, you only make it bigger and bulkier

     

    In a society fighting severe issues on gender inequality we need to over-correct and I believe brands can play a significant role by stating their POVs on such issues… Brands, especially targeting the modern woman are being built on their POVs not differentiators.

     

    If brands start spending marketing dollars to promote Karva Chauth they will almost be legitimizing it the way Aditya Chopra did it through DDLJ. There are more small town and villages where women are not doing it because of choice but under pressure. And when the aspirational stereotype women is advertising is seen doing it, it makes it okay for millions of women in small towns to continue doing it. The mood/celebration and the appealing presentation of any festival has the power to often drown the voice of reason. Rationality and logical debate gets subdued under the loud sound of collective celebration. Every press ad or TV spot adds to that.

     

    And if as a result of all this, a woman is under pressure to fast against her will or health because you have legitimised it by putting your brand monies behind it, then you are responsible.

     

    It’s also dangerous as you not only cater to the fervor of the married women but you are also lending a hand in introducing this practice in the most appealing way to children who sit in front of it the TV watch the ad and co-relate it to what their mothers are doing.

     

    We are teaching young kids in school to give up the exciting part of Diwali – the crackers … because it harms the environment. Can’t we ask the grown up to give up the ‘regressive’ and ‘irrational’ ritual of KarwaChauth

     

    Let’s understand one thing – nothing is ‘harmless’ when it comes to inequality and gender bias – there is nothing called a harmless eve-teasing or harmless-stereotyping or a harmless Karva Chauth . They all add to shape how a society treats its women and brands must realise this.
    The burden of progression will always lie on the shoulders of leader brands whether they are in media, cinema or consumer goods.

     

    For the brands championing women’s equality being silent on KC is not just a missed opportunity but a sign of careful middle path which is disappointing. A strong POV on not just KC but other such festivals is certainly awaited.

     

    #FastforHER disappoints me. I am waiting for #DontFastforME

     

     

    Jitender Dabas is Chief Strategy Officer, McCann Worldgroup. The views expressed here are his own and do not necessarily reflect those of his organisation

     

  • Meanwhile, Punit Kapoor, who Joined MRM McCann in May 2006 and was heading its Delhi operations has been elevated as Vice President & General Manager for all India operations of MRM McCann

    McCann elevates Jitender Dabas, others to key roles

    By A Correspondent

     

    McCann India has made few key announcements. Jitender Dabas who joined McCann Delhi in January 2011, has been elevated to Chief Strategy Officer – McCann Worldgroup India. Also, Suraja Kishore, who joined McCann Mumbai in Nov 2013 has been elevated to National Head Planning—Truth Central. Meanwhile, Punit Kapoor, who Joined MRM McCann in May 2006 and was heading its Delhi operations has been elevated as Vice President & General Manager for all India operations of MRM McCann.

     

    Prasoon Joshi

    Commenting on these promotions, Prasoon Joshi – Chairman McCann Asia Pacific & CEO McCann Worldgroup India said,“I am happy to announce these promotions. Over these years,Jitender brings forth an intricate understanding of brands coupled with Leadership in building a stellar strategic planning team. I am confident he will bring tremendous value to the organization at McCann Worldgroup level. Suraja who has been instrumental at great brand work will now also head the “Truth Central” which is McCann Worldgroup’s Global Thought leadership unit engagedin creating original research, unearthing unique truths to help shape and grow clients’ businesses. Punit, who has helped grow MRM’s Delhi business year on year beyond industry average is ready to take on the challenge for MRM at national level.”