MxMIndia

Tag: JWT

  • With a Rs 350 crore budget, Askme could well make it to the largest advertiser among Indian online companies, ahead of ecommerce biggies Flipkart, Snapdeal and Amazon India

    Askme hires JWT, earmarks Rs 350-crore advertising budget

    By Pritha Mitra Dasgupta

     

    Advertising agency J Walter Thompson has bagged the advertising account of Askme-.com, a local search engine that provides information almost everything from restaurants to matrimony to jobs, following a multi-agency pitch. Manav Sethi, group head for marketing andigital products at Getit Infomedia that owns Askme.com, said the company has earmarked Rs 350 crore as its advertising budget for 2015.

     

    This could well make it the largest advertiser among Indian online companies, ahead of ecommerce biggies Flipkart, Snapdeal and Amazon India that spend anywhere between Rs 100-200 crore each on advertising.

     

    JWT will be the creative agency for Askme and Askme Bazaar, an online marketplace that also offers services such as plumbing, painting and carpentry, replacing digital agency Ignitee. “J Walter Thompson India will help position Askme brand as a destination of choice across our target consumers in this category that full of clutter comprising competition with huge marketing budgets,” Sethi said.

     

    He declined to divulge the company’s past advertising budgets and spends. Rival search engines such as Justdial spend an estimated Rs 50-60 crore in advertising a year. According to a senior media planner, Google India spent Rs 100 crore in advertising in 2014.

     

    Source:The Economic Times

    Copyright © 2015, Bennett, Coleman & Co. Ltd.

    All Rights Reserved, Licensed to republish

     

  • The company will unite 11 independent agencies with 40 offices in 17 countries

    Mirum to drive business transformation for JWT

    By A Correspondent

     

    J. Walter Thompson announced the launch of Mirum, a global company uniting 11 digital agencies spanning 17 countries and 40 offices. Former Digitaria Chief Executive Officer Dan Khabie will take charge as Mirum Global and North America CEO. In this role, Khabie will have oversight of Mirum’s overall growth strategy, including P&L responsibility, managing key client relationships and aligning resources to service clients globally. He will report to J. Walter Thompson Company’s Global CEO, Gustavo Martinez, and be based between the West Coast and the East Coast.

     

    Mirum is a new company created with a pioneering spirit, built by bringing together successful regional companies that have a deep understanding of local market needs. Mirum’s principles are rooted in innovation, design, data, marketing and technology to drive business transformation in a world of constantly evolving behaviors and expectations.

     

    “The launch of Mirum is an integral part of our strategy to continue building on J. Walter Thompson’s many assets and capabilities in order to drive business transformation,” stated Martinez. “Mirum is poised to deliver both the technology and creative solutions that global brands demand.”

     

    “Dan’s natural entrepreneurial instincts and passion will foster Mirum’s startup mentality as he drives growth forward across our global network,” said Stefano Zunino, Head of Digital Worldwide, J. Walter Thompson, and Chairman of Mirum.

     

    Mirum’s capabilities are organized around Strategy & Consulting services, Creative & Content, User Experience & Platforms, Analytics & Insight and Product Development & Mobile. Additionally, Mirum has deep vertical service offerings in Digital Retail, Behavioral Media and Financial Services.

     

    Current clients include CBRE, Cyrela, Daum Kakao, Finnair, HSBC, Magazine Luiza, Mazda, Microsoft, Nokia, Petco, Singapore Tourism Board, TD Bank, Walmart and XL, among others.

     

    Mirum companies include Digitaria (U.S.), XM (Asia Pacific), CASA (Brazil), ActivearkJWT (Finland, Sweden, India and U.K.) and Twist Image (Canada). Lunchbox (U.S.), i-Cherry (Brazil), HeathWallace (U.K.), Quirk (South Africa and U.K.), Clarus (Mexico) and X-Prime (France) will also join Mirum.

     

    Daiga Atvara will be Chief Design Officer; Matt Webb, Chief Technology Officer; Dave Wallace, Chief Operations Officer; Nick Read, Chief Financial Officer; Sarah Kotlova, Global Head of Agency Services; and John Baker, Chief Marketing Officer. Khabie plans on naming a Chief Creative Officer, Chief Strategy Officer and Global Head of Data & Analytics over the next six months.

     

    Khabie has also named his global leadership team, which includes Robin Bade and Markus Hakala, Europe; Rob Stokes, MEA; Guilherme Gomide, LATAM; Nanda Ivens, APAC; Mark Goodman, NA; Alex Kavinski, Behavioral Media; and Kevin Weisberg, Digital Retail Marketing.

     

  • The campaign breaks with a 4-min film, 'Daddy aur Zooey a soul-stirring story of a father and son, the unique relationship they share

    JWT gives Tata AIA Life a makeover

    By A Correspondent

     

    J. Walter Thompson’s new campaign for Tata AIA Life, ‘Daddy aur Zooey’ gives the brand a complete makeover. The new campaign from the brand redefines Life Insurance by reminding everyone of a simple truth – ‘We live for the good of our loved ones’. A sentiment that’s the heart of life insurance, but often forgotten in the cluttered category.

     

    Commenting on the campaign, Ravi Vishwanath, Deputy CEO, Tata AIA Life said, “Making Good happen for our customers, partners, shareholders, and employees is why we exist.  Our campaign tells a simple truth well, but in a fresh way.  I am grateful to the amazing JWT Delhi and Boot Polissh Films teams for translating our vision into this campaign, which is a labour of love.”

     

    The campaign breaks with a 4-min film, ‘Daddy aur Zooey is a soul-stirring story of a father and son, the unique relationship they share. It is a film that is unflinchingly real, depicting bittersweet moments that we have all lived through.

     

    Anirudh Verma

    “It’s a proud moment to be part of rebuilding, redesigning a Tata brand from ground up.

     

    A unique look and feel to life insurance that makes it more now, approachable and people friendly. And with all hope to greater success”, says Anirudh Verma, VP & Senior Creative Director.

     

    Breaking all media conventions, Daddy aur Zooey will be premiered on TV as the first branded short film by an Insurance company. It will be also released as a shareable Internet film on YouTube and promoted under the social media handle #daddyaurzooey. The original soundtrack from the film ‘Tu Hai Mera’, will be aired as a full-length song for radio listeners. The film has been produced by Boot Polissh Films.

     

  • For J Walter Thompson CEO Gustavo Martinez, the 2020 agenda is about growth, work, new kind of talent and a new way of working

    Why India is a key office for JWT

     

    By Pritha Mitra Dasgupta

     

    Gustavo Martinez, the new global CEO of J Walter Thompson (JWT), says India will have to play a big role in pushing the advertising agency’s global growth rate to 6%-7% a year from less than 4% now. Mr Martinez, who spent about a year to know the network offices and set a growth agenda for 2020 before officially taking over as global CEO on January 1, 2015, started out by announcing new management structures in two of JWT’s biggest offices – New York and India.

     

    “I spent about 11 months to define and understand the company, to create and plan and now it is time to implement,” Mr Martinez said. He said the 2020 agenda is about growth, work, new kind of talent and new way of working. “I think we need to grow at least 6-7% per year globally between organic and inorganic,” he said. “Non-organic is clearly through acquisitions in new capabilities like digital, social content agency, content agency, digital platforms …. Organic is trying to expand our portfolio of clients.

     

    And that’s why it is important for people like Colvyn Harris to join my growth global team to specially deliver the organic growth,” Mr Martinez said. He expects India to be one of the biggest growth providers for the firm, adding he will be happy if JWT grows at about 8% rate in India. “India is a continent. It’s a region in itself,” he said. While JWT is still the largest agency network in India, industry estimate reveals that the JWT India suffered severe revenue losses of about Rs 55-60 crore, in the last two years. Mr Martinez denied this. “The facts are wrong. JWT India is still one of our largest companies and one of the most profitable companies we have in the organisation,” he said.

     

    “I also don’t want to measure JWT one year or the last six months performance. I will see the whole trend of the organisation. Clearly, in order to deliver the growth, we have set very ambitious targets and India needs to push the envelope.

     

    And therefore we are… reinforcing and reenergising the organisation.” On Tuesday, the firm had announced Tarun Rai as the new CEO of JWT South Asia, replacing Colvyn Harris who has been promoted as executive director, global growth and client development.

     

    In terms of improving skillset in JWT, Mr Martinez said ‘shopper marketing’ is an avenue that needs to be built in India. “Retail is still very traditional in India. I think because of the implementation of the new laws, the regulations it will catch up with the rest of the world. Shopper marketing will definitely become one of the fastest growing disciplines within our communication portfolio,” Mr Martinez said.

     

    He said that while global investor sentiment is positive towards India, the government needs to simplify regulations and processes as they are currently “extremely complex”. “My clients are definitely willing to increase their investments in the country. There was some kind of bitterness before because India didn’t crystallise enough.

     

    I think after the formation of the new government the sentiment is up again,” he said. Mr Martinez listed lack of infrastructure and legal problems among the hurdles that stopped big investment flow into India. “That for me will be the big challenge. It exactly what happened with Mexico two or three years ago. The new president put in the right changes and the laws but the problem was implementation.

     

    In India, the Prime Minister (Narendra Modi) will be successful only if he can implement his plan,” he said. He also said mobile phone will play a dominant role in the future. “We are already becoming a multi-screen kind of consumer. Everything is going to be mobile. Data is going to fundamental and third is creativity. How can be more creative taking advantage and leverage all the new resources and channels that we have?” Mr Martinez said.

     

    To deal with this kind of challenges, Mr Martinez is introducing a new style of management in the system that he called “channel agnostic”. “Focus on how we can deliver the new demands of the clients. More focus towards digital orientation and technology orientation. We need to have a management ready to embrace the challenges and try to even foresee those challenges and to readopt the structure in a nimble way for these changes,” Mr Martinez said.

     

    Source:The Economic Times

    Copyright © 2015, Bennett, Coleman & Co. Ltd. All Rights Reserved

    Licensed to republish

     

  • The outgoing WWM CEO will take over from Colvyn Harris who will assume a global role

    Change of Guard at JWT. Tarun Rai is new CEO South Asia

     

    By A Correspondent

     

    There is a change of guard at JWT in India. Gustavo Martinez, Chief Executive Officer of J  Walter Thompson Company,  announced that Tarun Rai will succeed Colyvn  Harris as CEO,  J. Walter Thompson South Asia, beginning early 2015. Mr Harris, 57, who has had a longstanding tenure with the company, will assume the role of Executive Director, Global Growth and Client Development, reporting to Martinez.

     

     

    In the role of CEO, Mr Rai will lead J Walter Thompson South Asia, which includes India,  Sri Lanka and Nepal, as well as J. Walter Thompson’s Indian companies, including  Contract Advertising, Hungama Digital Services, J. Walter Thompson Mindset, Encompass and Social Wavelength. He will report to Gustavo Martinez, and will work closely with Nick Romas, J Walter Thompson Asia Pacific CFO.

     

    “I am thrilled to welcome Tarun Rai back to J. Walter Thompson,” said Mr Martinez. “Tarun has the global business acumen and pioneering spirit needed to lead J. Walter Thompson South Asia. He was an important part of our, and now he will be a critical part of our future.”

     

    As was reported by MxMIndia on Monda, Mr Rai, 51, has announced his decision to leave Worldwide Media, where he held the role of CEO since 2008.

     

    “It’s wonderful to return home to J Walter Thompson during this pivotal time in the company’s history,” says Mr Rai. “Being away for a few years has given me an invaluable ‘outside-in’ perspective of the advertising business. Having a chance to head J. Walter  Thompson South Asia and work with Gustavo Martinez as he leads J. Walter Thompson into the next 150 years is a huge honour.”

     

    During his last tenure at J Walter Thompson, Mr Rai worked with clients like Hindustan Unilever, Diageo, GlaxoSmithKline, Pizza Hut, De Beers, ITC, Tata Steel, Nestlé, Hero, Godrej and Kellogg’s amongst others. He is someone who understands and reflects J. Walter Thompson’s values and ethics, notes a communique Mr Rai is an advertising and media professional with more than 25 years’ experience. He holds a business degree and is an alumnus of the London School of Economics.

     

    Mr Harris, who has spent 35 years at J. Walter Thompson, has been CEO of Contract Advertising and Managing Director of J. Walter Thompson Colombo, as well as holding various industry leadership roles and board positions, including President of the Advertising Agencies Association of India.

     

    Under his leadership, JWT has built a formidable reputation with a diverse spectrum of traditional, mainstream, activation, events and digital marketing services capabilities, including the acquisitions of Encompass, Hungama  Digital Services, Mindset and Social Wavelength, adds the communiqué. The agency also won its first Cannes  Grand Prix and first Titanium Lion under his leadership, and was the highest awarded Indian agency at Cannes 2014.

     

    “Every day has been an opportunity across my professional career at J. Walter Thompson,” said Mr Harris. “Building our capabilities to meet the ambition of our clients’ brands has been my relentless passion and purpose. I have worked with the most amazing and talented team one can ever hope for, and the bluest-of-blue chip clients across every category one can dream of. I am proud to have sustained and grown our client partnerships, and that our clients continue to be leaders in their respective categories for the ideas we have delivered for them. I look forward to being an integral part of the global client development team.”

     

    “I am deeply grateful for Colvyn Harris’ longstanding leadership and commitment to J Walter Thompson,” said Mr Martinez. “Colvyn has been a real asset and a great support during my first 11 months in the company. He will continue to help me further the growth of the company in this new role.

     

    “2015 will be a big year, especially for J Walter Thompson South Asia under Tarun’s leadership and vision,” he added.

     

     

  • It was the opportunity that attracted him to the Exec Chairman job a little over three years back. And he's made the most of it!

    Upclose with Rohit Ohri, Dentsu India

     

    By Pradyuman Maheshwari

     

    After 21 years at JWT, Rohit Ohri moved to head Dentsu India in mid-2011. A scuba diving and golf enthusiast, Mr Ohri completed three years at Dentsu in August this year. From an all-Japanese client set, today over 70 percent of his clients are homegrown.

     

    With Taproot and WebChutney in the fold, Mr Ohri is now looking at more acquisitions – Public Relations consultancies, Activation companies and even regional agencies. Excerpts from a freewheeling conversation with Rohit Ohri:

     

    Over two decades at JWT – 21, to be precise and now three years at Dentsu. How was the transition and the journey been thus far?

    Three years have been enormous in terms of learning. For 21 years in JWT, I learnt at a particular tempo and pace. Being the largest advertising agency in India, there are systems and processes which kind of work on their own and you don’t really need to do much around them. When I joined Dentsu, the entire organisation had to be built. From IT to HR to the talent and client management systems, all that had to be put into place. While the previous management did a pretty good job in terms of launching Dentsu in India and getting clients, the fundaments were pretty weak. One of the big things we needed to do was to put these in place. It wasn’t just a quick-fix to get the organisation back on track, it was really about transformation. In the three years, we’ve grown significantly. In 2013-14 we’re the fastest growing Dentsu branded agency in any country anywhere in the world.

     

    When you joined, it was a depleted set of accounts…

    After the previous management and the top bosses moved out, there wasn’t any Indian leadership. There was an exodus of Indian clients and a lot of the Japanese clients weren’t really happy with the instability in the agency. There were challenges on every count. All the Dentsu-branded agencies were in the red. When I joined, I didn’t realise how big the mess was, but I knew it needed much fixing. Eight-nine months is a huge time for an agency to lose a lot of its momentum and its business.

     

    The fact that you have to build afresh must have also been an opportunity for you to set up an all-new organisation.

    Yes, we built the whole agency again ground-up; I dipped into my years of experience at JWT, into what was the University of Advertising, and I was fortunate enough to pick out the things that would work and leave things that wouldn’t.

     

    As you look back, would you say joining Dentsu was the right decision?

    The amazing thing is when the news broke on my joining Dentsu, many people called and said: ‘Are you nuts?!’

     

    Some of us in the media also thought the same.

    (laughs) They said I must be crazy. If I waited little longer, I’d be the head of JWT! Why quit? Today, the same people say this was an inspired move!

     

    21 years at JWT is not a short time. Clearly, the path to ahead was known to you. If it wouldn’t be JWT directly, a Contract, etc?

    Yes, but it wasn’t defined. It would’ve been a zig-zag road and gone up there eventually, but I don’t think we had great clarity behind that at that particular time.

     

    Many people have left JWT in their prime. Wonder why.

    It’s different strokes for different people. I felt whenever I needed growth, JWT was able to provide me the space. When I was in Kolkata from just being an account executive to heading all of account management, I said I needed another opportunity and I was moved to Delhi to head of Pepsi. That was a fantastic time. I absolutely loved the seven years I spent as head of Pepsi, we did some of the finest work Pepsi has ever done in this market. That was hugely satisfying! Then I headed the Delhi office which was another huge challenge and hugely exciting. We grew rapidly and Delhi became the largest office of any agency in India and one of the most profitable offices of JWT worldwide. It was very strong and when I quit, we were at the peak. To me, it’s very important in life to time your exits and entries.

     

    But at the fag end of your JWT stint, there were some dampners like a bit of Pepsi and Airtel going to Taproot, right?

    Not really. When you look at the time when I’d left, it was a Rs 112 crore revenue for JWT Delhi office only, larger than many agencies put together! That time it was the fourth largest advertising agency in India as an independent office. We were growing very rapidly. To my mind, one of the big reasons to move out was not the slowing down of JWT, but it was about the opportunity.

     

    Did they try to hold you back?

    Yes, of course. There were other options to go abroad and at that time I wasn’t so keen on moving out of India.

     

    You had some fantastic clients you were virtually married to at JWT. Didn’t you think of bringing them to Dentsu?

    Not at all. While I had relationships with many clients, to my mind the most important thing was that I didn’t want to run before we could walk. The agency had to be built first to a particular strength and capability before you could take on a big client. You can get a client but you can lose a client even faster. In all fairness, Dentsu at that time had pretty big clients. Toyota, Maruti Suzuki, Honda, Panasonic, Hitachi, Canon, we haven’t lost any. When I joined we just had the Japanese clients.

     

    So you consolidated and then the Taproot acquisition.

    Aggie (Agnello Dias) and I worked together in JWT and while I was in JWT, he started Taproot and we lost one project in Pepsi and a bit of the Airtel business to him. We were on two sides of the fence in many ways. There was fierce competition. It’s amazing to think that in one lifetime, there was this great partnership when we were together and then we were on opposite sides of the fence.

     

    The perception was that Dentsu is a Japanese agency only for Japanese clients and the creative ideology is completely middle-of-the-road! To change all of that you needed a flaming torch. That would be an agency like Taproot and quite honestly, Dentsu had not even heard of TapRoot. The Japanese took my word and we agreed this was a great idea. At that time, I think, Aggie was already talking to some holding companies and pretty close to signing on the LOI. Everyone said the Japanese will take so long! But if they have an agreement in the plan and they believe your strategy is correct, the implementation is absolutely fast! Within 10 days they had an offer on Aggie’s table saying this is what we’re looking at.

     

    It was a huge high for you, a personal victory of sorts. Would you say that has been your biggest high in the last 3 years?

    Yes, the Taproot acquisition was a huge high. Suddenly the industry perception about what Dentsu wanted to do in India actually changed. Fundamentally, apart from the fact that we’ve done well on a business front, changing perceptions is the hardest part in the business.

     

    Taproot has been reasonably independent in the Dentsu fold. Any plans to change the name.

    You’ll see some changes going forward. It’ll become a Dentsu company, the Taproot brand will stay.

     

    A Dentsu in the prefix or suffix?

    We’re working on the nomenclature. Taproot has a very unique culture and we didn’t want to destroy that. You’ve got something for a specific value. There were different stages in the post-merger process. In the first stage, we kept it completely separate. In this stage, we started working together. We have a Creative Council and all creative guys work with them on certain group creative initiatives. Part 2 is we’ve started pitching for clients together. Because we’re working together, we use Taproot’s creative ability and you use Dentsu’s integrated thinking.

     

    This has been working very successfully over the last two years. I’ll give you an example. We’ve got NourishCo, a Tata and Pepsi joint venture. We handle all their businesses together. We have AkzoNobel here, ITC in Bangalore and we did the Congress business together. It’s a win-win situation for both.

     

    What about your existing creative agencies?

    We have four creative agencies: Taproot, Dentsu Communications, Dentsu Creative Impact and Dentsu Marcom. It’s not such a huge number because Dentsu Communications is roughly the same size as Taproot. If you look at just Dentsu brands, they’ve also grown on their own. In the South, we won TVS, we have MRF in Chennai, HT here and then we have Max, the agency has won a large number of clients on it’s own. The big thing has been Honda. We’ve seen enormous growth in Honda Motorcycles. Dentsu Creative Impact and Dentsu Marcom are doing very well. All of them are growing. To achieve 65 per cent growth, every single piece of that business has to deliver. All the engines have been firing. The idea is that the acquisition adds to the overall Dentsu strategy which is interconnected. The entire group benefits then, from that relationship.

     

    How about Dentsu Media?

    Ever since Divya Gupta has come on, we’ve made fair progress, a lot of it has been a challenge for us. This year has been spectacular for Dentsu Media. They’ve done really well.

     

    How’s the WebChutney acquisition doing?

    When I look at my overall strategy, I see that four or five years down the line, there won’t be separate digital and creative agencies. There will be one agency. Keeping creative excellence in mind, I was looking for a digital agency that also excelled in creative work. That’s been my greatest satisfaction to see the quality of work that WebChutney has done…

     

    Is that also going to be integrated in the system like Taproot?

    A lot of it is already happening. One of the big initiatives we’re doing for next year is that the creative agency and the digital agency will sit collocated, so WebChutney move in with the Dentsu brand agency.

     

    And one keeps hearing about more acquisitions coming up, are they the route that you looking at?

    I don’t think acquisitions is the strategy that we are following but we are looking at full-service integrated offering for clients. Here, we have a creative agency with a media agency and a digital agency coming together and creating a whole set of services, so there are very clearly some holes still left to be filled.

     

    Like?

    Like PR and Activation.

     

    PR and Activation, and anything else?

    And, of course, digital is one space we are continuously looking at.

     

    Any more creative agencies?

    Well, we are not closed to that, that’s all I can tell you right now.

     

    You are already have a large presence in Delhi, Mumbai and Bangalore. Why another creative agency?

    May be for geographic expansion. We were not there in Kolkata.

     

    Is there any business there?

    There is a fair amount of business in Kolkata, Ahmedabad and Hyderabad. JWT’s Mindset acquisition in Hyderabad has been quite a successful acquisition for them. So the opportunities exist…

     

    Lastly, a few months back, there were rumours that you were quitting.

    Yeah, I heard those rumours myself, but I did clarify very quickly. There is no truth in them, but people keep talking. The interesting thing is that when I speak to my colleagues outside India, they are absolutely amazed that people in advertising agencies in India get so much of media coverage.

     

  • TVC speaks of the numerous options provided by the portal to help consumers find the right house to match their needs

    99acres.com urges consumers to get checklist right in new campaign

    By A Correspondent

     

    99acres.com has unveiled its new TV commercial, “Sab Dekh Lijiye, Phir Ghar Lijiye”. Designed with the objective to establish the concept of ‘first check everything before you settle in’, the new 30 seconds TVC speaks of the numerous options provided by the portal to help consumers find the right house to match their needs.

     

    Conceptualised by JWT, the TVC opens with a contemporary husband-wife lying down comfortably on a sofa, and having a playful conversation about who they like. The husband asks his wife if she’s thinking about Kalyan. In a mesmerised tone answering yes, she asks “It’s Shobha that you’re thinking about right?” In complete awe of Shobha, he accepts that he finds Shobha lovely.

     

    While they continue to talk mother-in-law is shown over-hearing their conversation while chopping vegetables in the backdrop. The wife then quickly adds that while she loves Kalyan but she can’t stop thinking about Mahesh and Amrit. The husband tells her that she should stop checking out everyone. In spur of the moment the wife decidedly answers that she loves Amrit, the husband too agrees and says he loves Amrit too. A shocked mother-in-law bangs her head into the table, while it is revealed that ‘Kalyan’, ‘Shobha’, ‘Mahesh’, and ‘Amrit’, are actually names of apartments and residential societies and the couple is actually deciding on a house from the various options available on 99acres.com. Meanwhile a voice over suggests the viewers to check-out all their options before settling down on the house of their choice.

     

    Commenting on the campaign, Sumeet Singh, Senior Vice President- Marketing and Corporate Communications, Info Edge said, “With over 65,000 new listings posted every week on 99acres.com , the portal is able to cater to various needs of different types of consumers. We understand that buying a property is a big decision and to reach the best option, one has to go through or check-out many options. Through this campaign, we have used an entertaining plot to subtly inform our consumers to check all available options while looking for property and 99acres.com is a place where one can find maximum options.”

     

    The idea, Sumitra Sengupta, Vice President, JWT Delhi, says, “Was born when we examined what one has to do to avoid missing out. You need to check options.”

     

  • Offers consumers a chance to win an air ticket every hour, every day for two months

    Kurkure rolls out high-decibel festive campaign

    By A Correspondent

     

    In today’s day and age we use technology to connect or share greetings even during festivals. But while technology has so many benefits, it is also making us more distant. Kurkure’s new Festive campaign attempts to create a behavioural change, encouraging people to meet each other in person, face to face, fuelling real love in relationships!

     

    On buying a pack of Kurkure for Rs.10, consumers stand a chance to win a free air ticket, every hour, over two months. To top it all, every fortnight, one mega winner can win a round trip to any international destination in the world.

     

    Speaking about the latest festive campaign, Vani Gupta, Director Marketing, PepsiCo India said, “We are living in an age where people today are challenged for time and would rather call and SMS, versus making the effort of meeting people in the physical world. Our latest festive campaign seeks to reignite the warmth and love of celebrating as a family together. We are confident that this campaign will touch hearts and make a real difference in behaviour and the larger culture around technology.”

     

    To avail this offer, consumers should look for the Kurkure promo packs that will provide the contest code which they need to SMS to the given number. The promotion is valid up to October 31, 2014, one lucky winner will be selected every hour, every day.

     

    “We’re all getting more attached to our devices than the people we grew up with…and it’s really annoying on festivals to get a text or a much forwarded wish from people we are so close to! So Kurkure wants to go all out and say that the thing to do this Diwali is to make the effort and meet your family and loved ones,” Sonia Bhatnagar, Executive Creative Director, JWT.

     

  • She will be part of the Power of One (Po1) team that the ad agency is putting together to work on the PepsiCo contract

    Anuja Chauhan of ‘Yeh dil maange more’ fame back at JWT to pep up Pepsi campaigns

    By Pritha Mitra Dasgupta

     

    Anuja Chauhan, who built a solid reputation in advertising (‘Yeh dil maange more’) before veering off into chick lit (‘The Zoya Factor’), is returning to J Walter Thompson India as creative consultant. She will be part of the Power of One (Po1) team that the ad agency is putting together to work on the PepsiCo contract, the first time that JWT will have a group of people solely dedicated to the promotion of one brand. Chauhan is returning to advertising at the behest of PepsiCo, having worked on several campaigns for the company, including ‘Mera number kab aayega’ and ‘Nothing official about it’, apart from the one cited above.

     

    The agency set up the team about two months ago to work on the 15 PepsiCo brands that it handles. JWT has had the account for the last 25 years and it’s the agency largest.

     

    Colvyn Harris

    Colvyn Harris, CEO, JWT South Asia, said the agency has similar structure in other geographies which are formed “on the specific requests of clients, and depends on their scale and ambition.”

     

    The Po1 team is headed by Babita Baruah, senior vice president and executive business director, JWT Delhi. Baruah, who recently took over the account from executive business director Saurabh Saxena, will be assisted by senior VP Mythili Chandrasekhar on the planning side. On the creative side, the account has been divided into three–cola, foods and juices–and placed under various executive creative directors.

     

    Martin Sorrell

    Commenting on this new initiative, Martin Sorrell, CEO of WPP Group, of which JWT is a part, said: “In creating “Power of One”, JWT has brought together skills and capabilities from across our Group, for both foods and beverages, under one single unit to provide integrated solutions to PepsiCo’s brands and businesses.” Chauhan said she was “excited to be part of the team”, which she describes as nimble and flexible.

     

    PepsiCo is upbeat about Ms Chauhan’s return. “It’s great to have Anuja make a strong comeback on the PepsiCo portfolio,” said Deepika Warrier, vice president of marketing at PepsiCo India. “She conceptualised the #BackToSchool video that we recently released digitally. It became a big hit overnight!”

     

    Santosh Desai

    Santosh Desai, managing director and CEO of Futurebrands, said: PepsiCo needs to take risks and lead the youth rather than following them. Anuja Chauhan is associated with some of greatest ads and therefore the answer is clear. The company needs to go out on a limb and create some great advertising for others to follow.”

     

    Source:The Economic Times

    Copyright © 2014, Bennett, Coleman & Co. Ltd. All Rights Reserved

    Licensed to republish

     

  • J Walter Thompson likely to win global advertising contract from Tatas for image makeover

    JWT likely to win global ad contract from Tatas

    By Pritha Mitra Dasgupta

     

    WPP-owned J Walter Thompson is likely to win a global advertising contract from the Tata Group, the first time that the conglomerate will embark on a corporate brand initiative as part of Chairman Cyrus Mistry’s push to make its worldwide presence felt more strongly.

     

    The two sides are yet to sign on the dotted line but a verbal commitment has been extended to the agency, according to well-placed insiders. A formal announcement is likely this week. Sources estimate the size of the business at just under Rs 200 crore. The group hasn’t engaged in any brand activity except during centenary celebrations a few years ago.

     

    During the celebrations, an award winning, football-themed film on the group’s values was made by Arun Nanda-led Rediffusion Y&R. “The new management under the leadership of Cyrus Mistry feels the need to position Tata as a force on the global platform,” said a top Tata Sons executive explaining the rationale behind the campaign.

     

    Mr Mistry, who took over as chairman of holding company Tata Sons in 2012 from Ratan Tata, will be looking to strengthen the group’s presence in global markets as an increasing share of its business comes from overseas. “More than half of the (group) companies’ revenues are… from the international markets,” said the person cited above.

     

    “And while people are aware of the individual companies, they don’t know that these companies actually belong to Tata Sons. And thus the company feels that this is the right time to launch a global campaign.”

     

    As reported in May, pitches kicked off in the first week of April. with five agencies participating – JWT, TBWA, Y&R, McCann World-Group and FCB Ulka.

     

    Of these, the first three made it to the final round of presentations that took place in May. The brief was simple, according to the CEO of one of the agencies that participated: “What should the Tatas do to be globally visible?”

     

    The group wants people to look beyond Tata Consultancy Services and Tata Motors unit Jaguar Land Rover, he suggested. “I think the idea is to build salience for the brand Tata so that people see more than just TCS and JLR. It is something that they are trying to fix.”

     

    A JWT executive said winning the deal was more about prestige than anything else. “More than the size of the business it is an extremely prestigious account because no other Indian company has gone global this way,” the person said. He said the pitch was led by Colvyn Harris, CEO of JWT South Asia, and the team had members from the agency’s New York and London offices. Harris declined to comment.

     

    A Tata Sons spokesperson said, “We have not appointed any agency so far, and will make an announcement at the appropriate time.” It wasn’t clear whether Tata wants one advertising campaign that will run across markets or if it will have separate country-wise campaigns with one overarching theme and tagline since the positioning of the group’s units vary across geographies. For instance, the group is the largest employer in the manufacturing sector in the UK, which is very different from its positioning in the US or even China. A top executive at another agency that participated in the pitch said, “They don’t have a plan yet. They have also not finalised the media plan as well and therefore don’t know if it will be an above-the-line (aimed at a wide audience) or below-the-line campaign (more sharply focused). And therefore they have not yet finalised a media agency.”

     

    However, executives aware of the plans say the media business will be integrated with one of the WPP agencies, a strategy that works well for both JWT and Tata if the two go ahead with the initiative.

     

    Source:The Economic Times

    Copyright © 2014, Bennett, Coleman & Co. Ltd. All Rights Reserved

    Licensed to republish

     

  • The campaign aims to instill confidence in women for everyday weight management

    Kellogg’s Special K takes ‘No More Excuses’ positioning in latest TVC

    By A Correspondent

     

    Kellogg’s Special K has unveiled ‘No More Excuses’ campaign to initiate a movement for women to get rid of their excuses and begin to manage their weight every day. Post the 2 Week Challenge campaign, Kellogg’s Special K brings ‘No More Excuses’ to sustain the momentum of one’s weight management journey.

     

    This campaign has been born out of the insight that today’s woman is constantly trying to fulfill her duties as a wife, daughter, mother or professional.  Kellogg’s Special K aims to inspire these women towards reclaiming their lives. The ‘No More Excuses’ campaign highlights a woman’s weight concerns and inspires her to keep her weight management journey on track through the new-found confidence in herself.

     

    The TVC for this motivational campaign features brand ambassador Deepika Padukone who effectively drives the importance of everyday weight management through the ‘No More Excuses’ theme. Deepika motivates her friends to overcome their excuses and start managing weight by eating breakfast everyday like low fat Kellogg’s Special K. In the TVC, Deepika is unwinding at a salon, along with her friends and plans a summer dress shopping spree. When her friends say that they don’t have the right shape to carry off a dress, she shares her new mantra of ‘No More Excuses’ and inspires them to get on the weight management journey. The film ends with both her friends emerging from the trial room wearing stunning summer dresses, with style and confidence, bringing to life the ‘No More Excuses’ theme.

     

    Throwing light on the insight behind the new campaign, Harpreet Singh Tibb, Marketing Director, Kellogg India stated, “The new campaign is driven from a brilliant insight, which has been cleverly executed through ‘No More Excuses’.  Kellogg’s Special K strives to consistently cater to women’s weight management needs and this campaign addresses a specific need for women to prioritize themselves and give up their excuses.  We are very glad to have initiated an association with Femina and will partner with women to motivate them to start and more importantly, continue their weight management journey and get back to life.”

     

    Nandita Chalam, Vice President & Executive Creative Director of JWT who leads this campaign shared, “After crossing the age of thirty or after marriage, many women give up wearing short dresses, going dancing or doing many other things that they once loved. That’s often because they are no longer confident of their weight and appearance. Yet when it comes to actually doing something about weight management, they have countless excuses for not doing anything. Our new campaign for Kellogg’s Special K says. “No More Excuses. Get back to life.” Deepika Padukone, known for her disciplined approach to fitness, urges her friends to stop making excuses and start making Kellogg’s Special K a part of their breakfast routine. And then she tells them, and all the other women out there, to get back to doing the things they once loved.”

     

  • CommonFloor.com strives to remove all fear associated with property decision making

    JWT unveils first campaign for CommonFloor.com

    By A Correspondent

     

    Leading real estate portal has launched a new marketing campaign with the tagline – “No Darr. Find Ghar”. The campaign, executed by JWT, targets nervous newbies to help them overcome the fear of property related decision making. It drives home the key advantages of CommonFloor.com like exhaustive choices, accurate information, deep insights, easy-to-use tools and innovative technology. It also showcases how CommonFloor.com’s features like Verified Property Listings, Map Search, Direct Call to the Property Owners (available on mobile app) and even a Virtual Tour of the Property can empower every consumer.

     

    Sharing his views on the launch, Sumit Jain, Co-founder and CEO, CommonFloor.com, said “This is a major milestone in our journey. As a company we have come this far without a large scale marketing push, so I can only imagine how inspiring our growth trajectory will be with a campaign of this magnitude. This endeavour is the work of some of the brightest and most sought after talent in the industry. I am thus certain that this will take our organization to the next level.”

     

    Vinayak Warke, VP- Marketing, CommonFloor.com said “At CommonFloor.com, our focus has always been on empowering people to realize their property dreams. The objective of this campaign is to highlight the problems faced by property seekers and how CommonFloor.com addresses this through a fearless and informative experience, leading the user to an easy and effective property decision.”

     

    Sharing his thoughts on the strategy and creative idea of the campaign, Senthil Kumar, National Creative Director, JWT said” The Creative Idea of House Haunting versus House Hunting leaps straight from the consumer insight that finding a dream house can become a nightmare. We translated this insight literally in form of a very comic Eighties Indian Horror Movie flick narrative that makes the spot something you’ll surely watch out for. The TVC shows the crazy story of a couple who end up House Hunting in an unknown location with a ghost for a house owner. It then shows how the smart husband saves the day by using the CommonFloor mobile app. The execution is true to the Eighties Indian Horror Film style that will make every viewer laugh out loud. I am also sure that when it comes to House Hunting, it will make viewers remember India’s biggest and most trusted online real estate portal CommonFloor.com.”