L&K Saatchi & Saatchi has announced the appointment of Kartik Smetacek as Executive Creative Director.
Charles Victor, National Creative Director – L&K Saatchi & Saatchi said, “Acquiring talent has and will be our focus across offices. Great work can only come from wonderful creative people and I believe Kartik is definitely one of them. He has extensive, diverse experience and I love the fact that he’s hungry to take on bigger responsibilities and challenges.†Charles added that bringing people like Kartik into the system was one of the many steps taken to raise the creative bar, the results of which will soon be seen.
Through the many years of experience behind him, Kartik has worked on diverse brands like Airtel, Colgate Palmolive, Taj Hotels, Cadbury, DNA, Lakme, Tata Motors, Nerolac, Bigrock and Rustomjee, to name a few.
Emirates has assigned its West Asia & Indian Ocean (WA&IO) brand communications mandate to L&K Saatchi & Saatchi, India following a multi-agency pitch. The agency’s Mumbai office will manage the mainline and digital creative services for Emirates for the region and work with the Central Brand Marketing team in Dubai.
Emirates, a global connector of people and places is the most valuable airline brand worldwide for the third consecutive year, according to The Brand Finance Global 500 report for 2014. Widely acknowledged to be one of the most innovative carriers in the industry, with a state-of-the-art Boeing and Airbus fleet and award winning in-flight entertainment system –ice, Emirates fleet of exclusively wide-bodied aircraft is amongst the youngest in the sky. Flying to more than 140 destinations across six continents, the opportunities for Emirates in the years ahead are very exciting.
L&K Saatchi & Saatchi will carry forward the ‘Hello Tomorrow’ campaign and will create original work for the region along with multimedia campaigns for new routes, networks, products and services.
Anil S Nair
“We are absolutely honored to be chosen by Emirates who has set such high standards for everything that they do. We look forward to working with the Brand Marketing team in Dubai to develop some great work,” shared Anil S Nair, CEO and Managing Partner, L&K Saatchi & Saatchi.
L&K Saatchi & Saatchi has unveiled its latest campaign for two-wheeler brand Hero. The brief shared by the client was to build the technology credentials and establish Hero as an innovative company that is ahead of the technology curve.
The agency stumbled upon the insight that it’s the people behind the technology who make the technology come alive. And for breakthrough and futuristic technology, the people need to have a passion for technology that’s beyond the ordinary.
The campaign details how technology is prevalent from the smallest component like a nut to the designer who conceives futuristic bike concepts and shows how this spirit of zidd makes each of these elements significant. The TVC is a narrative about this zidd for each of these elements – the nut’s zidd to be unshakable, the engine’s zidd to amaze the world, the wheel which will shorten distances, the rider who will not be deterred with challenges, the engineer who will never give up and the designer who will design the unthinkable. Hero’s world doesn’t depend on hope, but on zidd, the obsession with technology which is making the future at Hero MotoCorp, a reality today.
Sanjeev Shukla, General Manager and Head – National Marketing, Hero MotoCorp said: “This campaign is the manifestation of Zidd – a spirit deeply integral to Hero. Zidd personifies the Hero in each one of us – the relentless pursuit of excellence and tireless striving towards perfection. Zidd is not a new concept nor is it a new discovery for us; it is inherent in every Hero and perpetually keeps our wheels in motion, and ahead of time. For us, Future indeed is Now.”
Rahul Nangia, Chief Creative Officer, L&K Saatchi & Saatchi commented, “The challenge was that even though this was meant to be a technology driven film, it couldn’t be cold and futurist. It had to be a Hero MotoCorp film. It had to have the Hero ethic, which is never emotionless.”
Innerwear brand Jockey has released a new campaign targeted towards the youth. The campaign has been conceptualised based on the insight that the young don’t believe in half-measures; they will either go for broke or give it all up.
The TVC depicts a young man who spots a bunch of youngsters in a dance studio and is inspired to dance. Over the next few days he gets more and more consumed by his passion, as he works his way through his own inhibitions and setbacks. Finally, at a club, he is faced with a moment where he can either step up or sit down.
Cariappa, Senior General Manager – Sales and Marketing, Page Industries shared: “The core philosophy of brand Jockey is ‘the best or nothing’. We live by this philosophy in whatever we do, right from product design to quality control. The youth of today resonates with this same philosophy and will not settle for anything which is second to the very best. We believe our three brand films will connect with our audience and inspire them to live by these emotions and aspirations.”
Commenting on the creative thought process, Rahul Nangia, Chief Creative Officer, L&K Saatchi & Saatchi said: “It was amazing that so many people, who are so passionate about what they do, came together for this project, from across the world. From the client, to the director, to the production, to the crew, to the performers, to the composers, to the post-production guys; it has been the most strange and interesting motley of people. It is incredible that a theme like this found people who actually believed in giving it their all. I hope that honesty of purpose comes through in the films.”
HSBC has awarded its communication mandate to L&K Saatchi & Saatchi for the re-launch of its Premier offering in India. HSBC Premier is the group’s premium financial services product, offering exclusive banking services to High Net Worth Individuals. The agency will be taking forward the globally integrated campaign for the re-launch of Premier. The agency’s Mumbai office will handle the account. The new positioning for HSBC Premier is ‘Personal support, for your Personal Economy.’
Anil Nair
Commenting on the win, Anil Nair- CEO and Managing Partner L&K Saatchi & Saatchi said, “We are extremely pleased to work with HSBC in India. HSBC has given us the mandate on the ‘premier’ business which is very challenging and exciting. We look forward to creating interesting work in collaboration with the HSBC team in India.”
The campaign took an inside-out approach for the re-launch, starting with HSBC’s own relationship managers to better understand the real challenges that their clients face.
Extensive research, consultation and interviews with both Relationship Managers and clients revealed the insight that high net worth individuals across the world have one major characteristic in common: they each have their own individual, highly personal economy. Interconnected to all aspects of their lives – whether home, family, work, experiences or passions – their personal economies are always with them, always changing and needing care and attention in order to grow.
The re-launched offering gives clients a suite of wealth management products, including investment advice and portfolio management, protection, retirement and education investment.”
Delna Sethna Patel has joined L&K Saatchi & Saatchi as Chief Creative Officer. She was until recently working with Leo Burnett where was Regional Creative Director on Brand Whisper.
Ms Sethna Patel will focus on the P&G business, specifically: Head & Shoulders, Ariel, Olay and Pampers, according to a communique.
On joining the agency she said: “I am looking forward to working with Anil and Praveen to grow business and push the creative envelope.”
Said Anil S Nair, CEO and Managing Partner: “Delna is a kind of creative leader who brings the best out of everyone who works with her, irrespective of the department they work in. We are excited to have such an inspirational leader in our team.”
It’s not an acquisition like various others. Paris-based Publicis group has acquired a majority stake in Mumbai-headquartered full-service independent agency Law & Kenneth (L&K). In turn, L&K has merged with the India operations of the group’s Saatchi & Saatchi and taken full management control of the agency.
Anil S Nair (CEO & Managing Partner, L&K S&S), Sandhya Srinivasan (CSO & Managing Partner, L&K S&S) and Anil K Nair (CEO & Managing Partner, Digital L&K S&S)
The baton was in fact passed on to the L&K bosses some two months back, and once Saatchi’s key clients like Procter & Gamble were taken into confidence, the deal was announced on Thursday. Saatchi & Saatchi India will be re-branded L&K Saatchi & Saatchi.
Law & Kenneth Chairman and Managing Director Praveen Kenneth will manage the new entity in the same role. He will join the Saatchi & Saatchi Asia-Pacific board and will work with Chris Foster, Chairman and CEO of Saatchi & Saatchi APAC. L&K’s core team of managing partners – Anil S Nair (CEO), Sandhya Srinivasan (CSO) and Anil K. Nair (CEO, Digital L&K) will take charge of the new company.
Interesting Kenneth was CEO of Publicis India from 1999-2003. In 2004, he and British adman Andy Law founded L&K along with investor and co-founder Anita Roddick of The Body Shop. Pre-merger, the agency served a cross-section of local and global clients, including Renault, Dabur, Tata AIG Insurance, Godrej, ITC, Reliance, Idea and Hero MotoCorp.
According to industry estimates, the combined entity will have a turnover upwards of Rs 100 crore, with more than 75 per cent contribution from the erstwhile L&K’s clients.
Said Kenneth: “L&K was born out of passion and our story is an example of the Saatchi & Saatchi spirit of ‘Nothing Is Impossible’.” While what Publicis brings to the table is the financial muscle and international scale, Kenneth & Co will drive the enterprise hard. “The combination of L&K’s stability, size proven success and experience in India’s dynamic marketplace, together with Saatchi & Saatchi’s iconic status and mystique, results in a creative powerhouse that is L&K Saatchi & Saatchi,” Kenneth added.
The Publicis group has been on an acquisition spree in recent years and employs 3000 professionals across 10 global media service networks in India.
By A Correspondent
