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Tag: Kyoorius

  • Ogilvy & Mather maxed the tally at the Kyoorius Creative Awards as also winning a Black Elephant along with Early Man Films for Publicis’ Khali ad

    Khali rules at Kyoorius

     

    By Anuka Roy

     

    As any advertising veteran will tell you, there are always a lot of elephants in the room at awards shows. At the Kyoorius Awards 2016, there were only two: a Blue Elephant and a Black Elephant. The pachyderms are actually the top prizes at the Kyoorius Awards which, in their third year, are again being hosted in association with D&AD.

     

    But the main event at this year’s edition of Kyoorius (its third), was watching Ogilvy & Mather and BBDO grab top honours across categories. While Ogilvy won 17 Elephants, including the coveted Black Elephant, the topmost honour, BBDO racked up an impressive tally of 13 Blue Elephants.

     

    Two Black Elephants were awarded for groundbreaking work in a category that intended to create new conversations with its audience, or have a transformational impact on the industry. While Ogilvy & Mather won it for their creative, Beauty Tips by Reshma, Early Man Films won it for their Ambuja Cement ad that featured plus-sized wrestler Khali. Indeed, the Khali ad was much-talked-about that evening, as Bobby Pawar, Managing Director and Chief Creative Officer of Publicis Worldwide, which created the ad, also acknowledged. “It is one of the most talked about works and I am very proud of it,” Pawar later said. “At it’s most basic level it is a human story of a man who is born too big and strong for this world, and added to that is the element of humour of watching (Khali) him crash into and break things.”  The Khali ad had also won the biggest prize at the Goafest Abby in April.

     

    The Reshma ad, too, clearly touched a chord with people. As Piyush Pandey, Executive Chairman and Creative Director of Ogilvy and Mather India and South Asia, said: “I think the main reason is Reshma’s bravery. I salute her bravery — and my team’s way of thinking about it and working closely with Reshma. It is a very sensitive way of handling, and hats off to each one of them for collaborating for a cause.”

     

    This year’s Kyoorius, held at Mumbai’s NSCI Indoor Stadium, had some firsts. To begin with, there were three categories of awards — Advertising, Media and Digital – which reflect the reality of today. And, as the organisers said, there was at least a 30 per cent increase in the number of entries. A total of 1,863 entries were submitted this year, and each category was judged by its own jury, headed by chairmen/foremen Ralph Barnett, National Creative Director, SapientNitro (for digital), R Balki, Group Chairman, MullenLowe Lintas (for advertising) and Mike Florence, Head of Planning, PHD Media (for media). Some 164 entries were shortlisted as winners of the Baby Elephant (in-book winners), of which 69 were awarded the Blue Elephant, across the advertising, digital and media categories, and two were awarded the exclusive Black Elephant. Other winners included DDB Mudra, The Glitch, Dentsu India, River Advertising, SapientNitro, AIB Vigyapanti, Happy Creative and others.

     

    The awards event was attended by more than 1,500 professionals, including CEOs, marketing directors, brand managers, creative and media gurus from the advertising, digital and media industries across the country. Hosts Lekha Washington and Colvyn Harris kicked off the evening by taking a friendly jibe at AIB comic Tanmay Bhat, whose recent Snapchat video had stirred a controversy. Harris, former JWT South Asia CEO, making his debut as an emcee: said “I have to do something new every year, I was asked by them and I said why not. I really enjoyed myself.”

     

    For advertising and media folk, no evening is complete – not even an awards one – is complete without some high-octane revelry. Addikt, which was in charge of ‘setting the mood’, had put up 180-degree LED screens to go with house beats and psychedelic displays. “What we try to do here is to create celebration instead of ceremony. It should be fun, wild and loud. That is why we switch on the big LEDs, add bright colours and loud music,” said Barry Schwarz, Creative Director of Addikt. When the advertising and media industry parties it up, nothing can be considered OTT.  Hmmm.

     

    First appeared in dna of brands dated June 6, 2016

  • Mike Florence to be the foreman of the Jury

    Kyoorius Creative Awards 2016 announces the Media jury

    By A Correspondent

     

    Kyoorius announced the media jury for the Kyoorius Creative Awards. The awards are held in association with D&AD. Mike Florence, Head of Planning, PHD Media will head the jury in the 3rd edition of the Awards. Mike combines a mix of creativity & rigour and oversees planning output across all his clients, including Sainsbury’s and Warner Bros.

     

    Under the Media Awards, the jury comprises of

    • Mike Florence, Head of Planning, PHD Media
    • Steven Kalifowitz, Senior Manager, Brand Strategy, Twitter, APAC
    • Kartik Sharma, Managing Director, Maxus
    • Stephen Li, CEO, OMD
    • Swati Bhattacharya, CCO, FCB Ulka
    • Pat Law, Founder, Goodstuphx
    • Shripad Kulkarni, Managing Director, India, Vizeum (A Dentsu Aegis Network Company)

     

    The Media and the Digital Jury session will take place from 5th – 7th May 2016 and the Advertising jury session will take place from 4th – 7thMay 2016. The jury sessions will be open to the industry people to watch, learn, check and benefit from the discussions and display of entries. Like every year, the awards will uphold the zero-tolerance policy towards scam ads.

     

    Rajesh Kejriwal

    Rajesh Kejriwal, Founder and CEO of Kyoorius, said ‘Kyoorius Creative Awards are now considered the most prestigious competition in India and this has been built on the caliber of the judges and the transparent and unbiased judging process. Media is, in many ways, the future of the communication industry and is slowly becoming the home for marketing innovation. Media agencies definitely need to reinvent themselves to become integrators and devise innovative & effective solutions for Brands. Given this scenario Kyoorius has included Media Awards as part of the Kyoorius Creative Awards. We have been lucky to have such a stellar jury list and without doubt the selected jury members bring utmost professionalism, objectivity and integrity to the Kyoorius judging process.’

     

    Kyoorius Creative Awards will call for entries across a total of 15 categories and 135 sub-categories this year.

     

  • Fergus O'Hare to be the foreman of the Jury

    Kyoorius announces Digital jury

    By A Correspondent

     

    Kyoorius announced the digital jury for the Kyoorius Creative Awards, held in association with D&AD. Fergus O’Hare, Director of Facebook Creative Shop for APAC will chair the jury in the 3rd edition of the Digital Awards. He is also known as the rock star of Facebook for his extravagant and charismatic presentation skills.

     

    This year, The Kyoorius Creative Awards will have three juries i.e. Advertising, Digital and Media.

     

    Under the Digital Awards, the jury comprise

    • Fergus O’Hare, Director APAC, Facebook Creative Shop
    • Ralph Barnett, National Creative Director, SapientNitro
    • Corey Cruz, Head of Creatives, Digitas LBi
    • Gary Steele, Executive Creative Director, TBWA
    • Karl Gomes, Chief Fanatic, Fanatics
    • Shormistha Mukherjee, Co-Founder & Director, Flying Cursor Interactive
    • Gauri Joshi, Unit Creative Director (Digital), Lowe Lintas

     

    Rajesh Kejriwal, Founder and CEO of Kyoorius, said “Kyoorius Creative Awards discovers and celebrates rare talent who are changing the world with their artistry and craftsmanship, those magical intersections of idea and craft.  It is a huge honour to have such exemplary creative minds on the jury panel – the outstanding calibre of our digital jurors attest the importance of our awards and goes on to substantiate that an award show is only as good as its jury.”

     

    Kyoorius Creative Awards will call for entries across a total of 15 categories and 135 sub-categories this year.

     

    The jury sessions are open to the industry people to watch, learn, check and benefit from the discussions and display of entries. Like every year, the awards will uphold the zero-tolerance policy for scam ads.

     

  • In a departure of sorts, the D&AD-backed Kyoorius will have an Indian jury foreman or chairperson

    Ki, Ka, Coup! Believe it or not, Balki, the man who shuns all creative awards, is jury chair at Kyoorius

    By A Correspondent

     

    Kyoorius has announced the advertising jury for the third edition of the Kyoorius Creative Awards, held in association with D&AD. In what is decidedly a coup of sorts, R Balki, Group Chairman, Mullen Lowe Lintas Group and a leading film-maker will be foreman (chairperson) of the jury. The jury session will be held from May 4 to 7, 2016. The awards will be held in Mumbai on June 3.

     

    Kyoorius Creative Awards 2016, previously known as the Kyoorius Digital and Advertising Awards, includes awards for media this year. Hence the Kyoorius Creative Awards will have three juries – Advertising, Media and Digital. Balki will head the advertising jury, other jury foreman will be unveiled in a few weeks.

     

    Kyoorius will call for entries across a total of 15 categories and 135 sub-categories this year. Like every year, the awards will uphold the zero-tolerance policy for scam ads, notes a communiqué. The jury sessions that are open to the industry people to watch, learn, check and benefit from the discussions and display of entries.

     

    The jury for the Kyoorius Creative awards 2016 comprise

    :: Jury Foreman: R. Balki, Group Chairman, Mullen Lowe Lintas Group

    :: Agnello Dias, Co-Founder, Taproot

    :: Nima Namchu, Chief Creative Officer, Havas Worldwide

    :: Tista Sen, National Creative Director, J. Walter Thompson

    :: Ajay Gahlaut, Executive Creative Director, Ogilvy

    :: Scott McClelland, Executive Creative Director Asia-Pacific, Bartle Bogle Hegarty (BBH)

    :: Daniel Comar, Regional Executive Creative Director, Geometry Global

    :: Troy Lim, Executive Creative Director, Publicis

    :: Scott Dungate, Creative Director, Wieden+Kennedy (W&K)

     

    Said Rajesh Kejriwal, Founder and CEO of Kyoorius: “Together with D&AD, we meticulously select top creative talent – international and national – to be included in the jury panel. The juries are selected on the basis of their ability to recognise work that typify gamechanging works in creative communications. I am deeply honoured to have R Balki as the chair (foreman) of the advertising jury this year together with some of the best minds in the industry.”

     

    Balki is obviously busy with the launch of his film ‘Ki and Ka’ on April 2 so couldn’t be reached for comment.

     

  • A 2-day festival for creativity & innovation in marketing and communications

    Kyoorius announces ZEE MELT 2016

    By A Correspondent

     

    Kyoorius announces ZEE MELT 2016, a unique festival that brings together advertising, digital, marketing, emerging technologies and the media & PR industry. MELT is a 2-day festival conceptualized in partnership with Zee Entertainment, Hindustan Times, GroupM, and D&AD.

     

    The festival is scheduled to be held on 11 and 12 March at Hotel Pullman Suites and Novotel, in Aerocity, New Delhi. Over the two days of MELT, Aerocity will transform into a buzzing zone of activity where 2000 people connecting creativity with marketing shall convene to discuss, inspire and learn through sharing and interaction.

     

    MELT 2016 will consist of a range of conferences, seminars, exhibitions, showcases, workshops and networking sessions for delegates from advertising, digital, media & PR, marketing and emerging technologies by industry experts, catering to all experience levels. To name a few, Ted Mellström (Art Director at Forsman&Bodenfors, Sweden); Mark van Iterson (Director Global at Heineken, Amsterdam); Mark Curtis (Founder & Chief Client Officer at Fjord Net, London); Tom Betts (Chief Data Officer at Financial Times, London); Gaurav Mishra (Digital Director at Conde Nast, Mumbai) for Media and PR and Darren David (CEO at Stimulant, San Francisco).

     

    The content for MELT 2016is divided across 4 key pillars:

    :: Learning – These events are based on imparting knowledge and provide inspiration in the form of vocational or skill workshops

     

    :: Showcase and Gallery – To excite visitors with newer experiences, with curated content from partners

     

    :: Networking – Encouraging new, meaningful and relevant interactions with people from the industry

     

    :: Celebration – No festival is complete without opportunities to have a good time with peers and friends

     

    Each of these pillars are being driven by content partners and participating brands at MELT 2016. Each of these will give delegates an opportunity to gain real insights into the creative communications industry from industry specialists.

     

    Punit Goenka

    Punit Goenka, MD & CEO of Zee Entertainment Enterprises Limited (ZEEL) said: “As we pursue our vision 2020 of being ranked amongst the leading global media companies, there has been a conscious effort invested in creating and partnering brand IP’s. ZEE MELT will enable stakeholders from Media, Marketing and Communications to meet at a common platform and exchange experiences, knowledge and insights. This is the second edition of MELT and I firmly believe that it grow and be accepted as a premier Industry event in the years to come.”

     

    Rajan Bhalla

    Rajan Bhalla, Chief Marketing Officer, HT Media Ltd said: “HT is delighted to associate with MELT, which bring together doyens from the world of branding, advertising & media, creating an excellent opportunity to interact and engage with them through intellectually stimulating sessions. I am especially excited about ‘HT Osmosis’ at MELT, which will provide creativity new wings.”

     

     

    CVL Srinivas

    Renewing their association with MELT 2016, CVL Srinivas, CEO, GroupM South Asia said: “We are delighted to continue our association with MELT. It is a platform where leaders from technology, content, data and digital interact with young talent to help shape the future of our industry. Like last year, GroupM agencies and specialist units will help curate content for the event in addition to holding workshops.”

     

     

    Rajesh Kejriwal

    Rajesh Kejriwal, CEO and founder of Kyoorius said: “We are delighted to announce the second edition of Zee MELT. This two day gathering of the best speakers and presenters from the industry with the addition of experience zones and workshops is definitely going to set us apart. It is heartening that our founder partners, Zee, Hindustan Times and GroupM, have increased their involvement, bringing more compelling content for delegates to enrich themselves.”

     

  • The biggest takeaway for delegates would be that if you do what pumps your heart and do it with all the passion, money will follow sooner or later, says Rajesh Kejriwal, Founder CEO, Kyoorius on the takeaways from KDY 2015

    Jaldi 5 with Rajesh Kejriwal: We started work on Designyatra 2016 in June itself

    This interview ought to have appeared on Monday, but understandably Kyoorius Founder CEO was busy winding up, and couldn’t respond to these by deadline. But here we are: a quick Q&A with Rajesh Kejriwal. Read on…

     

    01. What do you think would be the biggest takeaway for delegates from the 10th edition of Kyoorius Designyatra?

    The biggest takeaway for delegates would be that if you do what pumps your heart and do it with all the passion, money will follow sooner or later. What is important is to do works that is disruptive and gives you an immense sense of satisfaction while it helps solve the problem for the client.

     

    02. Do you sometimes think that given the kind of content you have at Designyatra it would possibly be good to call it a conference on creative thinking than just design, which it actually is?

    You are right, it has moved beyond “design” in its simplistic term to creativity to innovation in a more defining manner.

     

    03. We say Ogilvy winning most Blue Elephants at the awards from amongst all entrants, and even overall ad agencies have done better than traditional design shops? Shape of things to come? Could we see design agencies getting alienated?

    I don’t think so, in fact I see it as a booster to design studios to participate more and more. Advertising agencies, by the nature of its business, have more work and more budgets. Secondly designers are normally not so kicked about awards though its slowly seeing a shift. And this shift is happening primarily because Kyoorius Awards are seen to be credible and transparent.

     

    04. So have you started preparations for Designyatra 2016? Any early indicators on what to expect?

    We started work on Designyatra 2016 in June itself. We already have a few speakers confirmed, we are firming up the theme at the moment, we will have frozen the dates in the next two weeks – so yes, preparations are in full swing.

     

    05. Ten years of Designyatra? How are you going to grow the franchise in the design arena (the Dubai and interiors/architectural design events you had once spoken of haven’t happened yet)?

    Melt happened and our other initiatives took a backseat for the moment. As Kyoorius we are very keen to do something in the realm of Space – Architecture, Interior, Furniture, Lighting, etc and we will announce something in 2016. We are now very keen to take Designyatra as a festival beyond India for the simple reason that while we have a large audience wanting to come in from various parts of Asia, we do not have the infrastructure in Goa to make this happen for beyond 1500 people.

     

  • The third edition of the special focus on digital brought together leading influentials to showcase the future of digital and explore this year’s theme, 'What pumps your heart'

    Digital is focus on Day 1 of Kyoorius fest

    By A Correspondent

     

    The three-day Kyoorius Designyatra started in Goa with the first day dedicated to digital with the IAA Kyoorius Digiyatra.

     

    The third edition of the special focus on digital brought together leading influentials to showcase the future of digital and explore this year’s theme, ‘What pumps your heart’.

     

    Moderated by Laura Jordan Bambach (of the agency Mr President) and Kevin Finn (from TheSumOf), the day of talks explored the immense and untapped possibilities in the digital space, and many of the speakers touched on ways in which it can touch people’s lives and make them a little easier. Nick Law, Global Chief Creative Officer, R/GA, started the day, explaining R/GA’s model of combining narratives with systematic thinking, or data and story to create impactful campaigns. Daan Lucas and Mike Pelletier (both of Random Studio) caught the audience’s attention with beautiful imagery and installations created for brands that combine art, technology and design. Bambach followed with her philosophy on how to keep work interesting rather than following the norms. She touched on Mr President’s take on social media through the Bacardi campaign.

     

    Satya Raghavan (Head of Content Operations, YouTube India) had the delegates entertained post-lunch with his insights into what people are really watching online. Next up, in a special session titled “What can digital do?”, MukeshJha and Janardan Prasad, co-founders of Autowale, had the spotlight on an app that can provide a sustainable income to rickshaw drivers. Nishant Patni, founder of CultureAlley talked about his app, Hello English, which is teaching millions of Indians how to speak English by localising the experience for different languages and contexts. Lydia Winters from Mojang, makers of the incredibly successful game, Minecraft, talked about how the game is building communities online and effecting change in real life, through their collaboration with UN Habitat, Block by Block.

     

    The last speaker of the day, John McHale, who heads the Experience Design Practive at digital media major SapientNitro, took the audience through his journey from college football to band member to designer and the four pillars that keep him inspired.

     

    Rajesh Kejriwal, Founder CEO of Kyoorius,said that some 1650 delegates were in attendance on the three days of the event with 31 speakers. What gives Kejriwal satisfaction is the presence of over 400 delegates from amongst corporate and advertisers. “Delegates will hopefully leave today with many ideas and insights on how to make the most of digital, and one of the themes today was the need to humanise it and bring it into the physical world. I’m looking forward to the next two days ahead,” he said.

     

    The three-day Kyoorius Designyatra ends on Saturday, September 12, with the British art and advertising body D&AD-backed awards for design.

     

  • Hungama's musical CSR activity aims to hit the right notes

    Hungama partners with Kyoorius Designyatra 2015 for charitable cause

    By A Correspondent

     

    Hungama partners with Kyoorius Designyatra 2015 to raise awareness for a social cause while adding a musical note to the 10th anniversary of KDY. Hungama and Kyoorius Designyatra 2015 will create one of the biggest live-request playlists to raise the funds via a Twitter activity. By tweeting #HungamaKDY2015 and the name of the song, it will be played at the event. While the activity will contribute INR 100 per song streamed at the event it will also allow participants to actively contribute in the process to raise donations.

     

    With an interesting theme like ‘What pumps your heart’ Kyoorius Designyatra’s 10th anniversary edition aims to engage participants and guests alike during the event with a live music request Twitter activity in association with Hungama. The activity will be a means to raise funds for ‘Laadli’, a campaign that highlights the falling sex ratio of the country and their endeavors to correct the issue by making available relevant data, audits of documents received from Sonography clinics among other activities; of which the end goal is to stabilize the sex ratio difference.

     

    Neeraj Roy

    Speaking on the occasion, Neeraj Roy, MD & CEO of Hungama Digital Media Entertainment said, “It gives us immense pleasure to partner with Kyoorius Deisgnyatra 2015 to help raise charity and awareness for the social cause campaign ‘Laadli’. The campaign that aims to control female feticide has helped shed much light on the topic. With this association we are proud to leverage our platforms for this noble cause.”

     

    Rajesh Kejriwal

    Rajesh Kejriwal, Founder CEO of Kyoorius said, “We are happy to have Hungama partnering with us at Kyoorius Designyatra 2015. Music is an essential part of the conference experience, it’s one of the things that gets delegates really ‘pumped’, so I’m sure Hungama’s Digital Jukebox will be a huge hit. And it’s for a great cause, which makes it all the more impactful.”

     

  • Eighteen months as CEO, Saurabh Varma and his team want Leo Burnett to be among the best in the world

    Tough & wanting to be in the Top 5

     

    Saurabh Varma, CEO, Leo Burnett, was considered an ‘outsider’ when he took charge of the network of agencies 18 months ago. But that didn’t stop him from taking some bold steps in acquiring talent, setting goals, and generally shaking up an organisation that was doing well. But, as Varma tells Pradyuman Maheshwari, just being among the best in India is not enough. He wants Leo Burnett’s India operations to be counted among the Top 5 in the world in two years. And he doesn’t mind being the tough taskmaster boss as long as achieves results.

     

    It’s been a year-and-a-half since you came in. How has been the journey so far, between Leo Burnett then and now?

    It’s been 18-odd months but it seems like a lifetime. For us, the journey always starts with a shared belief and common purpose for collaboration. If you ask any of the leaders or youngsters who have joined us, in the last 18 months, we’ve managed to make sure everybody understands what our shared belief is. As an organisation, we want to become among the Top 5 creative agencies in the world by 2017. Once you have that overall vision, it’s about having a clear strategic roadmap to get there. And that is a function of structures, systems, people, the talent you hire, how you brand yourself in the marketplace and the kind of product you create. In the last 18 months, we’ve been very focused on our growth strategy, which is around integration and specialisation. Integration is not equal to generalisation; it’s not an idea that travels across different media. True integration is when you have a bunch of specialists working together to create magic. We’ve been focused on building our specialist pillars one by one, making sure they have the ability to work with each other. Every client wants integration, but not at the cost of not having specialisation.

     

    Burnett wasn’t doing badly when you took charge. So why the need to reinvent and fix things?

    In 2013, we were already the Creative Agency of the Year, but our benchmark was India. We were not looking to become the best in the world. Now we are. If you don’t refocus on a new strategic mission, on a new ambition, you will become complacent and not move forward. That’s why the need to reinvent.

     

    For us, this journey is a function of three things — people, product and profits. Profits are critical in the overall scheme of things, because our belief is, great creativity across centuries has only happened when you have prosperity. On the people front, we’ve made some significant changes. When I joined, everybody wanted a sense of comfort as far as creative leadership was concerned. There were some standard names floating around in the market, and everybody advised us to go for them.

     

    But you opted for a rank outsider…

    Yes, and it was driven by strategy. We operated without fear, because when the agency is already going through a big change in the leadership at that point, to make one more significant change and change everything, is risky.

     

    Did you have the full support of your international offices on that?

    Absolutely. I’ve had the blessing to do what is required to create a model organisation. For us to hire a 35-year-old Chief Creative Officer was a bold move, but it was a function of our ambition to be among the Top 5 in the world.

     

    Were your clients okay with it? You’ve had some pedigreed, long-standing clients. Did they require any convincing?

    I think the question is not whether they were fine then. The question is whether they are fine now. Obviously, we needed to have conversations with clients and share the reason we were making such a big shift. We needed to convince them about our strategic direction, and why it would benefit them in both the short and long term.

     

    People, product and profits are the mainstay of any business. How have you performed on these?

    I’ve already mentioned one part on the people front. The other part is, if we look at our teams across the board – the business directors, strategic planners or creative leadership team –. there’s a new team in Bengaluru, and a new leadership in Delhi. All of this is a function of knowing we need people who are digital by blood and understand modern paradigms. The industry is full of prima donnas, especially in India, but we’ve steered clear of them. One of the keys to driving integration is a focus on people who can collaborate with each other. So we’ve hired what we call the ‘Positive A’ types – those who have the ability and guts to deliver, and also have a positive spirit about them.

     

    Was it easy bringing this about? Or was it tough getting the old-timers to believe in this whole new philosophy?

    When you have a clear strategic roadmap, and you share your vision continuously with the teams, they start getting a sense of confidence that you genuinely believe in that vision yourself. They look at the leader to see whether he has the confidence to deliver against that vision. When they start seeing results, it creates more momentum.

     

    We’ve heard stories that Saurabh is a very tough guy, a taskmaster and all of that. Is all of that true?

    I would think that would be absolutely true. I think we have ruthlessly pursued a single agenda to be the best creative agency in the world.

     

    So what comes first, the carrot or the stick?

    No it’s not about the carrot or the stick, it’s about decision-making, it’s about making sure that everybody is aligned to a single vision, and I think if you look at what’s happened with us, most of the people have stayed back because they believed in that vision.

     

    All of us, on the outside, were closely following the many changes taking place [at the agency]…

    Most people have stayed back because they believed in the vision. People who did not are the ones we felt were not going to add to the energy and the momentum that we wanted, and are not with us anymore.

     

    Was it easy getting a few of the older guys to exit?

    A lot of what you call the ‘old guys’ are still in our system and they’re thriving and succeeding. I think what people want to see is a shared belief and a shared destiny, and everybody who exists here, believes in that.

     

    What about profits? How are you doing in terms of your bottomlines?

    Right now, we are the fastest-growing Leo Burnett agency in Asia. We are growing twice as fast as the industry average, and I wouldn’t be surprised if we are the fastest-growing agency in the country at the moment. We have huge momentum as an agency and this happened because of focussing on our clients, solving their problems and doing great work, that’s all.

     

    How has the change in strategy impacted your other arms like Orchard and Indigo?

    So like I said, first, we’re united by that single ambition, which is to be among the Top 5 creative agencies in the world. Second is the function of deciding what the unique purpose of each company is: What is the leadership we need in that country and how we’re going to grow. If you look at Indigo, we are blessed that it’s a build agency. About 18 months ago, we were only a Mumbai agency. Today, we are one of the best holistic digital agencies in the country. For us, Indigo has been a unique growth story, but that’s only one part of it. The second part is integrating it with Leo Burnett as a network. Till18 months ago, there were hardly any shared clients; Indigo and Leo Burnett had their own sets of clients. Today, we have integrated across the board on clients for whom we do multiple things, from search, social and retail to activation and ATL. There are teams from Indigo, from our park shopper unit, from activation unit all working together seamlessly to create solutions.

     

    Wouldn’t it have been better if you had to integrate Indigo within Leo Burnett to make it fully forward-looking?

    It already is integrated incredibly well at the moment. When you say integration, it is merged; we have one P/L, that’s the great part about Leo Burnett at the moment. We don’t have the same silos you see in some large organisations. Our ability, therefore, to create a systemic solution for clients, is far more dynamic than other agencies. The way we work on these solutions is that we have one integration manager, rather than an account manager, who runs everything and understands search, social, e-commerce, retail, and that requires a very different kind of training as far as the individual is concerned.

     

    In the last 18 months, while you have possibly been putting your house in order, you’ve been away from most industry events. Was that deliberate?

    It’s deliberate for two reasons. First, the only thing that really matters is our clients’ work. When you spend too much energy on extra-curricular activities, it defocuses you from your true objective. Second, we don’t think there is enough maturity as far as the awards in India go, to participate. There are too many factions, and we don’t want to be a part of any of them.

     

    But some amount of collaboration with other agencies always helps, right?

    We have been collaborating. The Publicis group has 13,000 people, and that’s where we want to collaborate. We have access to one of the best PR agencies, MSL, and some of the best media agencies with huge digital capabilities, like Starcom and Zenith, and that’s where we’re collaborating. We have lots of shared exercises and shared programmes.

     

    And awards?

    Every agency loves awards. We participate in Spikes, Adfest, we have a huge battalion going to Cannes – the biggest you can possibly imagine, right from youngsters to account people, HR people etc. We do believe in awards; in seminars and listening to the best people in the world really matters. It tells us what the benchmarks in the world are. What we do not want to be a part of, is what’s happening at the moment.

     

    You have the D&AD-backed Kyoorius Awards, but you didn’t participate in that either…

    I think the whole industry has not come together. I’ve been pretty vocal about my sentiments on this. Until the time awards are driven by a sense of maturity and not agendas, we will not participate.

     

    One of the things said about you not participating is because there’s not enough work that you think can win awards. Is that true?

    I am certain that if you put our best work alongside the best work of any other agency, we will be among the Top # in India any time. So that’s not the problem. The issue is what kind of awards do you believe in? We’re not an agency which believes in doing a poster for or press campaign for an award. If you see some of our work you will see what we believe in, is great work.

     

    Are you looking at any acquisitions, any more organic growth, to achieve becoming among the top five agencies of the world?

    We are continuously looking at building our specialist functions but we’re not looking at acquiring agencies for scale. That’s never been part of our strategy. For us it is very strategic; if there is an agency or a specialist function which is in line with our strategic intent, we will go for that acquisition.

     

    Coming back to your start at Leo Burnett, there were questions being asked about whether you can do it. You were not from an Indian scenario; you were put into a system which was doing fairly well, but had to reinvent. Do you think those disadvantages actually proved to be your strengths?

    I never thought of it as a disadvantage. For us it was a strategic decision. We started discussing this move four years ago. We planned for this move for the last three years. So it wasn’t done all of a sudden. The industry will say what it will; we’ve never really bothered about that. For us it’s about following through all our strategy and delivering on what we believe is the right thing to do for ourselves and for our clients.

     

    The fact that your predecessor Arvind Sharma and Co put in some great work would’ve helped?

    Yes, we’ve always focused on great work. Work for our clients and solving their problems. That’s the strength of Leo Burnett and that’s an advantage we continue to build on.

     

    And great work is possible even through a non-star creative head?

    No I think we have the biggest rock star in the making. And mark my words on that. Raj Deepak Das will be the biggest star, I’m not talking about India, but globally. I’m only betting on my belief in that, and my ability to partner with him in making that happen. So for us all, what we’ve done is we’ve strategically decided what we need to do, we believe we have the talent, we’ve identified the talent to take us into that trajectory.

     

    Are you looking at hiring more talent?

    All the time. With our growth we need to continuously find new talent to join us, and like I keep saying, talent is what we call the ‘Positive A’ types.

     

    On a lighter note, now that you’ve reached close to where you are, do you think you would be less tough on everybody, or is that something that you need to be?

    See I don’t think I’m tough, I’m single-minded. I’m single-minded in my ambition, and single-minded in my focus. That’s what I’m doing and I think some of those decisions, might not seem the right decisions at a certain point of time, and I can live with that.

     

    This interview first appeared in dna on brands on June 15, 2015

     

  • Will Kyoorius replace Goafest? Will delegates attend both or will they sacrifice one of them? If yes, then who will lose? Sanjeev Kotnala analyses

    Sanjeev Kotnala: Comparing apples with oranges. Why you must compare Goafest & Kyoorius

    By Sanjeev Kotnala

     

    It is bound to happen. And my telling otherwise is not going to help. Comparisons are inevitable. The industry remains divided between the two. No one has taken sides. They are waiting and watching further development.  Will they become two iconic award properties? Will Kyoorius replace Goafest? Will delegates attend both or will they sacrifice one of them? If yes, then who will lose.  Their being less than seven weeks apart adds to the conflict.

     

    Goafest, the event supported by the industry bodies like AAAI, Ad Club, ISA and IAA is 10 years’ old. It is held in Goa, the fun capital in the peak of the summer, something not everyone is comfortable with. But it helps to keep costs under control and attract more delegates. It may be credited to have brought the industry together on many subjects, yet it is the cause of divided too. On an average, on twin-sharing basis a delegate spends Rs 36,000.

     

    Kyoorius is two-year-old industry function in the advertising arena, run by an independent organisation. It extended itself to include partner events this year. It is held in Mumbai, the advertising capital of the country, which gives it advantage of reach. To attend the awards and ZeeMelt15 you spent on an average of 5,500 inclusive of travel to and fro from home.

     

    Here is disclaimer. I attended all editions of Goafest, first edition of Kyoorius Awards and missed this year’s edition + ZeeMelt15. The comments here are based on conversation with statistically significant number of delegates. As the rule goes ‘Perception is bigger than reality’, I did not contact any official, promoter or sponsor at the two shows.

     

    Kyoorius may have failed to generate the desired heat with so many seminars, workshops and talks but its contet been appreciated. Yet, an overall feeling remains that it lacked the buzz, the fun and the glamour associated with the industry. This was the real first year: give it time. Goafest wins hands down in area of buzz, excitement but definitely need to reinvent itself on content. Unfortunately, no one really knows what the fault with Goafest content is. Seems media verdict and conversation over tea and smoke shape perceptions.  Maybe it refers to parallel tracks, India-relevant talks and workshops. My belief: all it needs is to get the non-participating agencies back into game.

     

    This is where Kyoorius won. It had the agencies missing in Goafest participating. With its stated objective of awarding the work, jury gallery, transparency and the dazzle of the award function, it looked more popular, serious and inviting.

     

    Kyoorius defined its intent. It created space for  some relevant practical sessions with partner brands. Goafest seemed doing more of a lip-service to its ever-changing themes. If one believes  all the talk then it seems the partner brands with their relevant category / brand-centric events  are getting more buck for theuir money in Kyoorius than the sponsors in Goafest. Something that need serious rethink.

     

    Goafest seems more like what advertising events are. Fun-and-work together. Away from work. Immersion into complete festivity. The true Goa feel you can only get in Goa.  This was missing in Kyoorius. The delegate from Mumbai always had work in their backyard and many attended it for only one-half. The number of registered delegates can not be debated but there is doubt on how many really turned up at Kyoorius. Anyway it was far short of the target.

     

    Both awards have the capability of becoming Asia-Pacific events. One of them seems to be in a hurry and  has a headstart. It is speaking with the other regional awards for partnership. Goafest currently does not have much to show much other than few entries and delegates from neighbouring countries.

     

    Oh, on the party, Goafest outscores Kyoorius many times over. Though the party in Goa are really one banqet hall affair and very cramped for space. The party at Kyoorius was termed serious and no fun.

     

    Net net, even though we may say more the merrier and that space exists for more than three or four such events spaced out thrugh the year, the truth remain that finally there maybe  space for just two national level awards, but only one regional award festival. So, with time, one award function will have to supersede the other. Merger is out of question. Kyoorius has cleary stated its intent to be THE SHOW in India’s advertising calendar. There is nothing wrong with it but for the small hitch that is Goafest’s ambitions are the same. Having left few flanks open and allowed this to happen Goafest has its work cut out for the 2016 edition.

     

    Sanjeev Kotnala is Founder and Head Catalyst at Intradia. A Brand, Marketing and Management Advisor. He conducts specialised workshops in the area of IDEATION (Harvest and Liberate) and Innovation (InNoWait). His focus energy in enhancing client’s internal team’s potential and capabilities. In process decreasing their dependence  on external resources. To contact email sanjeev@intradia.in  or tweet at s_kotnala visit www.intradia.in  www.sanjeevkotnala.com.

     

  • Mudra picks up lone Black Elephant for the Zydus Wellness campaign. Ogilvy gets 15 Blues. Contract next with 5 Blues

    DDB Mudra, Ogilvy win the Big Elephants @ Kyoorius

     

    By A Correspondent

     

    In the news for the right reasons, screamed the T-shirts worn by the large contingent from DDB Mudra as they ran up to collect the only Black Elephant for Zydus Wellness Ltd’s Nutralite The Black Elephant is the highest award presented by Kyoorius and is the equivalent of the Grand Prix at the Goafest Abby.

     

    Kyoorius, in association with D&AD, the London-based body of creative, design and advertising communities, held an awards event to announce the winners of the second edition of the Kyoorius Advertising & Digital Awards at Dome, at the NSCI stadium in Mumbai. Over 1,800 advertising and marketing professionals from across India and abroad attended the event held on Friday evening.

     

    WINNERSPEAK:
     

    Piyush Pandey

    Executive Chairman and Creative Director, Ogilvy India

    I am so happy that we won 15 awards because the young people at Ogilvy are taking the tradition forward and making us look good, making me look good, and the brand Ogilvy look better, and they are making their clients look better. It feels good. I didn’t see much of mainline work today and I would like to see more of it next year. There is a lot of work that we as industry practitioners appreciate, but I would like to see more work that consumers appreciated and was good enough for the jury to appreciate as well. I miss some of that work. I think the jury was fantastic. I know many people on the jury; it was a wonderful jury. But I think the Indian jury should be more balanced, to get the sensibilities a little better. They are much better than I’ve ever seen, but we could get even better in the future.

     

    Madhukar Kamath

    Group CEO and MD, DDB Mudra group

    Good work rises to the top, appreciation is wonderful, the team is happy. Full credit to Sonal and his team for all the work they’ve been doing over the last few years. It is a vindication of the belief — work in silence and let success be your noise. It was good to see the quality of work right across different categories and feel happier that some of your work has risen to the top. It was a good body of work.

     

    (Talking about the jury )Every awards show has its own flavour. Globally, that’s also been the scenario. This is the type of jury that a Kyoorius puts together, which is good. I’ve always thought that as long as there is peer group appreciation, it is good.

     

    In India brands have been built over centuries. That does not mean that we’re not doing great work. I’ve never believed that India has been inferior. Here, you do work for India. Right from the beginning, we’ve built great brands here. Indian advertising has always been culturally contextual and it has been wonderful in terms of building brands for the country, because that is what advertising is all about, in terms of content that builds brands and connects to consumers.

     

    Rana Barua

    CEO, Contract Advertising

    The fact that Kyoorius has kept only one colour elephant is a good and interesting format for now. We’ll have to see in the long run how we can sustain something like this. We at Contract won a lot of awards. The quality of work is good, and clients are pushing us to do better, so that’s the big challenge. The jury is very prestigious, very eclectic, interesting. Only that sometimes you wonder whether they get the whole thing, because there is a lot of international jury judging Indian work. With a lot of Indian friends in the jury, I’m sure they understand what is happening. Maybe we need more Indian presence on the jury, because a lot of unique work happens within our country, because our country is a lot more unique than others. I think India is pretty sorted in the way we work, because it appeals to Indians. India itself is a nation of many countries put together. If our campaigns work for such a massive country, they will work anywhere in the world as well.

    (interviews by Dyanne Coelho)

     

    The next level of awards – the Blue Elephant — was presented for Creative (36 winners, 38 if you consider that two of them were shared by two agencies) and Digital Advertising (12 winners). Ogilvy bagged 13 Blue Elephants in Creative and two in Digital. Two of the Ogilvy creative awards were awarded jointly.

     

    From Times Square-inspired sets, to sound and motion graphics, the entire visual experience for the night was created by Dutch and Malaysian specialists. Hosts Suresh Venkat and Mandira Bedi regaled the crowd with witty banter in the 75-odd minute awards presentation.

     

    A total of 1,419 entries (up almost 40% from the previous year) were submitted across advertising and digital categories. Ogilvy, DDB Mudra, Contract Advertising, Ideas@Work, Scarecrow Communications, Soho Square, BBH, BBDO India, Dentsu Webchutney, Madison, Madison BMB, ITSA Brand Innovations, Experience Commerce, Rediffusion Y&R, BBH, Famous Innovations, Havas Worldwide, Fanatics Viscomm, Grey, Linen Lintas, PHD India, Sapient, Web Maffia, River Advertising, Creativeland Asia, Blink Digital, Whyness Worldwide, and TBWA were some of the agencies who were awarded the ‘Baby Elephant’ trophy as ‘In Book’ winners.

     

    Of the 163 In Book winners, also nominees for Blue Elephants, the advertising and digital juries awarded 36 Blue Elephants in Advertising and 12 Blue Elephants in Digital categories.

     

    In the advertising categories, the 36 Blue Elephant winners included campaigns by Contract Advertising, Ideas@Work, Creativeland Asia, Ogilvy, Early Man Film, DDB Mudra, BBDO, Fanatics, Grey, TBWA and Linen Lintas.

     

    In digital categories, 12 Blue Elephant winners included work by PHD India, Pigeon & Co., Quasar, Quidich, Dentsu Webchutney, Experience Commerce, Leaf Design, Madison Media, Sapient and Ogilvy.

     

    DDB Mudra was awarded the lone Black Elephant this year for the direct marketing campaign, Health Cha Shree Ganesh. The campaign for Nutralite, gave the Ganesh idol a healthy makeover – with a physically fit idol and equally fit priest, accompanied by sugarfree modaks and offerings at a pandal in Mumbai. Devotees could participate in Zumba workouts while waiting in line and ‘donate’ calories while working out on a treadmill.

     

    Said Aneil ‘Andee’ Deepak, Executive Director, DDB Mudra Group and Head of Ideas, DDB MudraMax and who now heads the agency’s experiential business after MudraMax President Mandeep Malhotra move on: “The standard of work that has come in this year has really improved and so have the judging standards. The judging is so top notch that winning here means everything. This is the best award show in India. We feel fantastic. I think the move of keeping only the Blue Elephant award, taking away division between categories of winning is a good move. It makes the hungrier survive. If you are hungry for that one black elephant, you better beat everyone else. It’s a great motivation to win the black elephant.”

     

    Rajesh Kejriwal, Founder-CEO of Kyoorius, said on the awards: “We are overwhelmed by the response. Our association with D&AD guarantees a transparent and neutral platform, with the jury representing the best of international and local talent.”

     

    When asked about the trends this year, he said: “We saw a lot of work around gender equality and women’s rights, reflecting the national sentiment on these issues. Plus, of course, in a World Cup year, loads of cricket.”

     

    Tim Lindsay, CEO of D&AD who is associated with Kyoorius for a second consecutive year (or a third, if you include the Design Awards that he is associated with for three years), said: “The Kyoorius Awards continue to grow in size and stature, and are an important indicator of the world-class standards of the Indian creative scene. But the real heroes are the creatives themselves, who are producing ever more engaging, emotional and beautifully-crafted work  D&AD are proud to partner.”  At the international D&AD awards, which were incidentally also held last week, Indian agencies won some ‘Pencils’, as the Metals?? medals?? are called there.

     

    Alongside the Elephant winners, all nominations will be featured in the Kyoorius Advertising Awards Annual and the Kyoorius Digital Awards Annual – distributed to over 5,000 corporates and creatives across India.

     

    The awards night marked the end of a two-day festival of creativity in advertising, media and marketing developed by Kyoorius in partnership with Zee, marketing services giant GroupM and D&AD.

     

  • The first day of the inaugural edition of Zee Melt 2015 saw some 1338 registered delegates in attendance with speakers from across continents

    Day 1: Melting pot of creativity

     

    By Dyanne Coelho

     

    It was meant to be a melting pot of talent, which indeed it was. The first edition of Zee Melt 2015 saw some 1338 registered delegates in attendance on Day One with speakers hailing from diverse backgrounds and continents.

     

    The two-day festival of creativity in advertising and marketing organised by not-for-profit firm Kyoorius in partnership with Zee Entertainment, GroupM and D&AD, opened in Mumbai with a mix of events.

     

    HT Osmosis, the anchor event for the day – hosted by Campaign India Managing Editor Gokul Krishnamoorthy, and Suresh Venkat – saw speakers from creative agencies across the globe shedding light on innovation, creativity, uncluttering advertising and zooming out from the billboard trend. It began with a presentation by Chris Sanderson, co-founder of The Future Laboratory, followed by Daniele Fiandaca of Creative Social talking about the several advantages of breaking out of the clutter and innovating. Christian Behrendt of Razorfish followed with atake on why we should shift from ‘award-winning’ to ‘world-changing’ creativity. Bo Hellberg of Brave and HeyHumanspoke about the possibility that human creativity will soon be replaced by artificial intellect aka machines that dish out creative ideas and storylines. The sessions continued with talks by Jason Harrison of Gain Theory, Huib van Bockel of The Social Brand, Dylan Berg of 72andSunny, Daniel Hirschmann of Hirsch & Mann, Hugh MacLeod of Gapingvoid and Takahiro Hosoda and  Kazuaki Hashida  of Hakuhodo.

     

    Concurrently, a seminar entitled Kinetic Future Citizens was focusedon understanding the consumers of the future; their interests, needs, wants and behaviour. Speakers including Lightbox’s Sid Talwar, YouTube India’s Satya Raghavan, Digital data strategist Subhendu Mukherjee, Facebook’s Fergus O’Hare and Happy Finish’s Simon Gosling talked about how brands can connect and entertain their audiences.

     

    A series of workshops were conducted through the day. These hands-on sessions with experts include interactivity with AR/VR, photography, branding and technology.

     

    GroupM’s showcase space was a crowded spot at Melt.  Participants were given guided tours of Mindshare’s The Loop Room and The Purple Box, Moribus; the Behavioral Economics Lab by Maxus, global work by Mediacom and MECFresh by MEC Global.Happy Finish’s showcase displayed the latest in augmented and virtual reality. A particular favorite among visitors was the Smash it! Cricket VR experience.

     

    The recurring themes and topics that emerged from the talks and workshops through the day was innovation and breaking the rules in advertising and the concept of smart data to understand your end consumer and attend to their specific needs. Some speakers also talked about the importance of engaging directly with the consumer through on-field advertising and marketing campaigns rather than mere print or television advertisements. “You have to make sure you’re touching people and you have a relationship with them. Print won’t go away, but it is no longer the primary medium,” said Daniele Fiandaca of Creative Social.

     

    Another recurring theme was the need for agencies and brands to explore ways in which advertising and technology can help improve the lives of those with fewer resources. Sessions such as the 90% talks with Anu Sridharan of NextDrop, Upasana Makati of White Print and Angad Daryani showed how social entrepreneurs can make a difference to the lives of ‘the other 90 percent’. Unny Radhakrishnan and Alex Jaspers of Maxus delved deep into the topic of creativity plus technology to solve problems. Both have to go hand in hand they emphasized. “Sometimes the solution may not be mere advertising, but to combine advertising with electronics, architecture, engineering and biotechnology as well,” said Jaspers.

     

    One of the most untapped areas in advertising is mobile, and delegates were able to find some answers about how to unlock the potential of mobile marketing and experiences with Tomi Ahonen, Fergus O’Hare from Facebook, and others.

     

    Talking about the common fight between digital versus other forms of media, Prasanth Kumar, CEO, Mindshare South Asia said: “The approach shouldn’t be between digital and/or television or print, rather in advertising and marketing the content is important. The key is to pass on the message effectively and engage with the audience irrespective of the medium. The idea is to get all media together.”

     

    Day One concluded with a debated organised by the India chapter of the International Advertising Association IAA Debates battling out on the issue of whether the mobile is likely to become the primary screen for news and entertainment in the next three to four years. Vikram Sakhuja and Raghav Bahl spoke for the motion and Arnab Goswami and Rajiv Lochan were against the motion. While the team for the motion argued that an increasing number of people are using mobile phones each day, the team against retorted saying that three to four years is too short for this to be a reality as mobile internet especially 3G networks is still a luxury enjoyed by a few and buffering videos are a downer. The team against the motion were declared winners of the debate.

     

    Said Rajesh Kejriwal, Founder CEO of Kyoorius, said, “We were delighted and encouraged to see delegates participate so actively in sessions at MELT. Day One went off brilliant. What was particularly heartening to note was when people told me that they profited from attending the proceedings.”

     

    Day Two of the event will see a continuation of the conference and culminate with the Kyoorius Awards with over 1500 members of the fraternity in attendance.