Omni-Channel agency PointNine Lintas announced its foray into martech and launched the beta version of its first product, Probitec. Probitec is envisaged to be an end-to-end solution for executing and monitoring on-ground programmes for consumer engagement.
Announcing the go-live, Vikas Mehta – CEO, PointNine Lintas said: “A few years ago, we saw the wave of adtech sweeping the advertising business. The action is now shifting towards marketing technologies (martech), and we’re really excited about the possibilities it presents for innovations and inventions. Until now, agencies have primarily viewed their business model as ‘service providers’. At PointNine Lintas, we are committed to an equally strong focus on developing products that can add value to the marketing ecosystem. Probitec is a fine example of that, because it offers a platformic solution to a decades-old problem of transparency in the activation business.â€
LinEngage, the consumer engagement division of PointNine Lintas, has led the product development of Probitec in collaboration with technology partner, TalentBridge Technologies – a Bangalore based technology firm.
LinEngage, the activation and experiential marketing agency of MullenLoweLintas Group announced the start of its Delhi (NCR) office to cater to clients in North India. Gagan Pal Singh Nagi has been appointed VP & Business Head – North for LinEngage. He will head the Gurugramoffice and report to SriharshGrandhe, Executive VP, who runs LinEngage in India.
Commenting on the new setup, Vikas Mehta, Group CMO and President-Marketing Services, Mullen Lowe Lintas Group said, “As we move into the experience-age, activation is moving from the fringes of a marketing plan to its core. LinEngage is an essential component of our Marketing Services offerings as we strengthen our omni-channel capabilities. Over the past few months, Sriharsh and team have made significant strides in evolving LinEngage’s service-stack to reflect the needs of an experience economy. He’s quietly built a client portfolio in Delhi and we’re getting great traction from clients in NCR across product categories. The Gurgaon office will help us cater to their needs even better, and help further expand our portfolio.â€
Singh joins the agency from RK Swamy Hansa where he was General Manager and Business Head – North for Hansa Events, the experiential business unit.
Refractive error, defined as optical imperfections that prevent the eye from properly focusing light, causing blurred vision affects an estimated 30% of the population globally. This percentage is growing as more and more children are developing myopia at early age.
Acuvue® Brand Contact Lenses along with LinEngage – the experiential marketing & activation agency of MullenLowe Lintas Group, have initiated a program to create awareness on the importance of eye health and promote early detection of refractive errors among young students in India. The diagnosis is conducted by trained optometrists and wherever appropriate, the students are encouraged to try contact lens, one of the effective vision correction options available today. This method of eyesight correction allows students to not only see better, but also feel more confident about their looks. It also enables them to continue with all their activities that could have otherwise been hampered due to use of spectacles.
Acuvue® &LinEngage orchestrated this unique engagement initiative. It’s an initiative that needs a deep understanding of the campus dynamics, youth mindset and the sensitive nature of the product. The first such trial was conducted recently across 3 colleges in Mumbai and plans are afoot to organize it across more colleges as well. About 2000 students have already participated and benefitted from the positive outcome of the program.
Commenting on the initiative undertaken by the company, Vivek Bhatnagar, Director – Vision Care, said: “Anchored by a vision to bring healthy vision to people in India, Acuvue® believes that this initiative will help the younger generation to become more aware and learn about the importance of eye-health at an early age itself. The initial feedback from students in Mumbai has been positive and we are looking to expand this initiative to other parts of the country.â€
Sharing the communication objective behind this initiative, Sriharsh Grandhe, EVP, LinEngage said: “Contact Lenses in India has been a stubborn category with very little momentum. Primarily, there is a big lacking in consumer familiarity and misinformation. LinEngage’s specialized approach using technology for engaging with audiences interestingly has shown promise. We are excited about partnering with Acuvue® in the consumer education initiative.â€
In India, Contact Lens as a category has not yet taken off and is used by a very small percentage of the population. Few reasons for its poor adoptions are:
:: Potential wearers have very little knowledge about CL and they carry many myths about them in their mind
:: The Optometrists are comfortable to offer specs instead of CL as the patient does not ask for CL; and also wearing CL is a more skillful job which many Optometrists do not possess or have low confidence in
:: The owners of optical outlets prefer to sell spectacles for two reasons: they are perceived to have high margins and also the owner has freedom to decide the price as there is usually no MRP on the product
With this initiative, Acuvue® and LinEngage seek to create awareness on the importance of eye health and promote early detection of refractive errors among young students in India.
It’s that time of the year when devotees from all walks of life go out of their way to please Lord Ganesha. Be it via performing a simple aarti at one’s home or paying visits to divine destinations across cities, each year the devotees come up novel ways to pay obeisance to the Lord of good luck and prosperity. A similar gesture has been fulfilled by Birla White Wall Care Putty in association with LinEngage, the experiential marketing arm of MullenLowe Lintas Group.
Together, the two have created ‘BW Ganapati’ - an Android app that works using augmented reality. When the user opens the app and points it towards the Ganapati image in the poster, the Ganapati ‘comes alive’ and can be seen in 3D. The Ganapati is accompanied by an aarti in Marathi and flowers are showered on the idol. The user gets a feeling as if he is performing the aarti of Lord Ganesha.
Highlighting the uniqueness of the initiative, Raman Minhas, Group Creative Director – LinEngage said: “This simple and endearing idea shows how even a routine practice can be turned into an engaging experience by tapping the right technology at the right touchpoint. We hope the experience is leveraged in a big way by people from all walks of life.â€
Commenting on the novel initiative, Kedar Rele, Head – Brand & Advertising, Birla White (Unit of UltraTech Cement) said: “As a brand, we at Birla White, always look for innovative opportunities with LinEngage being a channel partner for painters. This smart idea of interactive poster of Ganapati at Point of Sale has helped us very well. Especially at the beginning of our business season, which also happens to be the festive season. Well done, Team LinEngage.â€
The app is available for download on Google Play (download here: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.birlawhite.BWGanapati&hl=en).
LinEngage, the experiential marketing & activation arm of Mullen Lowe Lintas Group has announced the appointment of Sriharsh Grandhe (Harsh) as Executive Vice President based in Mumbai. He would be reporting to Vikas Mehta, CMO | President – Group Marketing Services, Mullen Lowe Lintas Group.
Prior to joining LinEngage, Harsh was with the WPP firm, POSSIBLE Worldwide Singapore as the Engagement Director. At POSSIBLE, Harsh was managing the global rollout of Standard Chartered’s Responsive Website, a first in the Banking domain across 55 countries in APAC, EMEA & Americas. Prior to POSSIBLE, Harsh was an AVP & Practice Head at Wipro where he was responsible for rolling out Marketing as a Process for several global businesses from Europe, US & Australia.
Harsh began his career with Tata Infomedia about two decades ago and has navigated an illustrious journey spanning Advertising, Consumer Engagement, Publishing& Retail. Harsh is an experienced professional across the marketing continuum with a pronounced focus on digital and activation. Throughout his professional journey, he has driven various marketing programs for Standard Chartered, P&G, J&J, a global major in Big Data & Cloud Computing, Large Australian Telco, a Financial Services Major in US and more such global businesses across the markets of US, APAC and Europe.
Speaking of his appointment, Vikas Mehta said, “Our ambition for LinEngage is to make consumer engagement an essential part of a brand’s narrative. A lot more innovation is possible in the area of creating meaningful consumer experiences. Under Harsh’s leadership, we are keen to make strides in strengthening this practice in an industry that’s largely driven by tactical activations.â€
LinEngage offers specialist brand engagement expertise to a host of clients in India. Apart from its focus on the urban pockets, LinEngage boasts of a bespoke rural offering – LinTerland. The motive is to help clients capitalize on the consumer-engagement opportunities in heartland India. Both the urban and rural offerings of LinEngage have been growing steadily over the past few months with host of new business wins. Notable clients include Johnson & Johnson, Franke Faber, Bayer, UltraTech, Castrol, ICICI Prudential and Byju’s to name a few. Harsh’s remit will be to evangelise the experiential marketing practice for the group and further expand the portfolio.
Commenting on his role at LinEngage, Harsh said, “The strong lineage of Mullen Lowe Lintas Group is no secret. India is at an exciting phase of development and the agency is experiencing both momentum and growth. LinEngage is in a sweet spot right now with only one direction to go – upwardsâ€
Harsh has been the recipient of awards at DMA for world-class marketing & activation programs for brands like Visa, Madura Garments etc. A familiar face in advertising he has also worked in agencies such as iContract, Rediffusion Y&R and JWT.
Refractive error, defined as optical imperfections that prevent the eye from properly focusing light, causing blurred vision affects an estimated 30% of the population globally. This percentage is growing as more and more children are developing myopia at early age.