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Tag: Ogilvy South Asia

  • Soho Square sticks to the brand’s popular emotional story-telling space but with a very refreshing take

    Soho Square unveils debut film for Havells Wires

    By A Correspondent

     

    Havells is out with its latest campaign for its heat-resistant and flame retardant wires. Taking forward the product attribute of ‘wires that don’t catch fire’, Soho Square sticks to the brand’s popular emotional story-telling space but with a very refreshing take.The film has been directed by Amit Sharma of Chrome Pictures and shot in Himachal Pradesh.

     

    Speaking about the film, Piyush Pandey, Executive Chairman and Creative Director, Ogilvy South Asia: “In our first Havells ad, wires that don’t catch fire prevent a young heart from getting hurt. A memorable film for a memorable brand.”

     

    Added Sumanto Chattopadhyay, Chairman & CCO, Soho Square: “It is a challenge and a pleasure to work on an iconic brand with a history of memorable advertising. We believe that this latest refresh of the Havells wires campaign has the right ingredients to catch on with consumers.”

     

    Said Amit Tiwari, Vice President, Marketing, Havells India Ltd: “Havells has been an image and market leader in the wire category business, and communication has been integral to the brand. Havells Wires that don’t catch fire has been an iconic campaign over the years. This year the task was to take it further and strengthen our positioning. We have always chosen emotional stories to convey our message and this time too we were looking for a story that is universal.”

     

     

  • The latest TVC shows Akshay Kumar spending time with army jawans at a camp

    Ogilvy South unveils latest campaign for Fortune Oils

    By A Correspondent

     

    Fortune Oils has released its latest campaign featuring brand ambassador Akshay Kumar. Taking forward the brand’s message, Fortune Oils’ latest TVC shows Akshay spending time with army jawans at a camp – drawing on his association and support for the Indian Army.Conceived and executed by Ogilvy South, this film celebrates the idea of home-cooked food and the emotional attachment we all have with it in a fresh and interesting story.

     

    Said Piyush Pandey Executive Chairman and Creative Director, Ogilvy South Asia: “The film continues on the theme of ‘ghar ka khana’ but  this time we use jawans as they are the ones who miss ghar ka khana for long extended periods away from home. Akshay Kumar is a good fit because he has been a Chef in his early days (before he became a Bollywood star). I am sure he will touch the hearts of people and strengthen Fortune Oils connect with the people of India.”

     

    Added Angshu Mallick, COO, Adani Wilmar Ltd: “Fortune Oils’ communications have always been about connecting with our consumers on an emotional level. So when we were considering a brand ambassador, who better than Akshay Kumar. He is popular, likeable and relatable with people across different ages. Known to be a hardworking and conscientious person, Akshay epitomises all the values that Fortune stands for and is the perfect representative for our brand.”

     

    Said Azazul Haque, CCO, Ogilvy South: “The idea of choosing Akshay Kumar as a brand ambassador came from the client and we loved it. A cooking oil brand choosing a male brand ambassador was a bold and progressive decision. Also Akshay has good credibility as a food expert because of his affiliation with world famous cookery shows and his own past with the food industry. From there the idea of him cooking for others generated. Because of his strong associations with the Indian Army, we thought a story of him cooking for the jawans, who miss ‘Ghar ka khana’ the most will make for an emotionally engaging plot.  Because ‘Ghar ka khana, ghar ka khana hota hai’ is not just a positioning, but also an emotion. The premise that one misses home cooked food when away from home is a human truth.”

     

     

  • The Ogilvy bossman on Roda Mehta who will be recognised with the AAAI Lifetime Achievement Award today

    Piyush Pandey on Roda Mehta

     

    The Advertising Agencies Association of India is felicitating Roda Mehta this (July 14) evening with the ‘Lifetime Achievement Award’, regarded as the Indian advertising industry’s highest honour. Here we bring you a very personal account on Mehta by Piyush Pandey, Executive Chairman & Creative Director, Ogilvy South Asia.

     

    By Piyush Pandey

    Roda Mehta is one of the foundation pillars of Ogilvy and Mather India. When I joined Ogilvy as an Assistant Account Executive, Roda was a Director of the company. Along with the late Mr Ayer, the late Suresh Mullick and Ranjan Kapur, Roda was one of the four pillars of Ogilvy through the 1980s and 90s. She gave stature to the media business overall. She made media aspirational at Ogilvy, at an equal standing with client servicing and creative.

    A no-nonsense person, Roda has a very sensitive mind. Apart from regular work, I had the privilege of working with Roda on the National Literacy Mission project. She was the brand leader of the task force- the media leader- and I, her creative partner. We travelled the country together and I saw the soft and sensitive side of her- beyond her tough and disciplined approach to work. Roda continues to contribute to media and society in various capacities.

    There are people who make a difference to Ogilvy, there are people who make a difference to the industry. Roda did both!

    Roda inspired many women to play significant roles in their companies and business.

    Today, we salute Roda Mehta. We salute her for being honoured with the AAAI Lifetime achievement award for her contribution to the Advertising Industry. Let’s take this occasion to thank her for what she has done for all of us at Ogilvy. And wish her the best for the future.

  • And this is what Ogilvy CEO Kunal Jeswani said: We don't create work to win awards. We just bring our best game to every client and every brief. That's how we win

    Young people at Ogilvy India have done us proud: Piyush Pandey

    By A Correspondent

     

    Outside of the rich pickings by McCann Health, for more conventional advertising work, Ogilvy India bagged nine metals – Two Golds, two Silvers and five Bronzes.

     

    Here’s what Piyush Pandey, Executive Chairman & Creative Director, Ogilvy South Asia said: “I am very happy for the young people who work at Ogilvy India and have done us proud.  My congratulations to all other agencies in India.” Added Kunal Jeswani, CEO, Ogilvy India:  “People often ask me what differentiates Ogilvy. As consumers move seamlessly from one platform to the next and agencies and marketers struggle to keep up, what should clients look to Ogilvy for?  What is the one thing that we rally our people and services around, that defines us and sets us apart?  It is the ability to tell great brand stories and build brand love.  The nine Lions we picked up at the 2017 Cannes Festival is recognition from one of the toughest competitions in our industry, that we do this incredible well.  Great clients and great teams partner to create great work at Ogilvy every day.  How do we do this consistently? We don’t create work to win awards.  We just bring our best game to every client and every brief. That’s how we win.”

     

    Said Kainaz Karmakar and HarshadRajadhyaksha, the creative leaders on Savlon Chalk Sticks which is possibly the second most awarded campaign at 2017 Cannes (after McCann’s Afghanistan ministry of health):  “Savlon’s Healthy Hands Chalk Sticks is simple, surprising and effective,  That is the reason why juries from around the world have thought it to be worthy of such heavy metals, in such large numbers. Beauty Tips by Reshma also got us the highly regarded Lion for Creative Effectiveness. The honesty of this campaign cuts through the clutter and goes straight to the heart,  We are beyond happy and we share this glory with our rockstar teams and our brave clients. “

     

  • In India, open defecation is a well-established traditional practice deeply ingrained from early childhood

    Ogilvy Delhi promotes Swachh Bharat Mission to tackle open defecation

    By A Correspondent

     

    Ogilvy Delhi has launched a campaign to curb open defecation. Under the Swachh Bharat Mission, one of the key ills to curb is open defecation. The Ministry of Drinking Water and Sanitation, Government of India, wanted to develop communication that would help bring about this change.

     

    Amitabh Bachchan has shown his commitment to the Swachh Bharat Mission and was a natural choice for a campaign on behaviour change. It was also clear that it needed to stay away from messaging and protagonists that came across as preachy. Therefore ‘Bachchanji’ was used in this campaign to make it memorable and interesting.

     

    Said Piyush Pandey, Executive Chairman & Creative Director, Ogilvy South Asia: “Open defecation is not a new or modern problem. It is so deeply entrenched that it is considered normal. To raise a doubt in people’s mind about it was a challenge in itself. The communication would have to break habits and would need to be endearing and assertive without being preachy.   We have worked with Mr Bachchan on many communication campaigns and he himself is associated with the government of India across various issues. Thus the task for us on this campaign to curb open defecation was to use our celebrity’s strengths and yet create communication that is differentiated.”

     

    Added Ajay Gahlaut, ECD, Ogilvy Group Companies, North: “Any campaign that is designed to change behaviour at a mass level needs to be easily understood by all sections of society. We had Mr Bachchan for our TV ads, so that ensured that the campaign would not be missed and would appeal to everybody. The challenge was to make the campaign a little different and refreshing. Which is where the idea of ‘BachchaJi’ and ‘BachchanJi” came about. After that it was just a matter of making sure that their light -hearted banter addressed all relevant barriers.”

     

  • NCD Abhijit Avasthi calls it a day after a 15-year bonding with Ogilvy. Rajiv Rao will hold solo charge wef Dec 1

    Ogilvy’s ‘jod’ goes unstuck as Abhijit ‘Kinu’ Avasthi quits

     

    By A Correspondent

     

    It’s a bond one thought would last forever. For many years, Ogilvy & Mather India has been known for Piyush Pandey. So strong is the association with Pandey that the agency’s name could well be prefixed with a Pandey.

     

    But over the last five years, National Creative Directors Abhijit Avasthi and Rajiv Rao have come into their own and established themselves as creative gurus with their own standing, albeit a notch below Pandey.

     

    The news of Ogilvy India National Creative Director Abhijit Avasthi parting ways with the agency after working there a decade-and-a-half sent shockwaves in the industry. Confirming this development, Avasthi said he was mulling his next steps.  He said he was in discussions with Mr Pandey (coincidentally also his maternal uncle) for a few months.

     

    Last evening, Piyush Pandey, Executive Chairman & Creative Director, Ogilvy South Asia sent a mail to Ogilvy & Mather employees announcing the development. Rajiv Rao, who also shares the creative charge of the agency as National Creative Director (NCD), will be the sole NCD with effect from December 1.

     

    Mr Avasthi will be with the agency till November 30 and continue to be associated with small projects, Mr Pandey said in a mail. According to sources, Mr Avasthi is likely to set up his own creative agency, a move that he has been contemplating for a while. The outgoing NCD though is tightlipped about his plans and would talk about them when the time is right.

     

    A metallurgist by formal education, Kinu, as Avasthi is known in the fraternity, got into advertising after working in a steel plant, manufacturing textile dyes, trading in saris and even exporting playing cards and match-boxes. He started as a copywriter with Enterprise Nexus in 1997 and joined Ogilvy in July 1999. Other than winning several awards and being on the jury of many award shows, Avasthi has been several acclaimed advertising campaigns to his credit. These being for: Fevicol, Cadbury, Asian Paints, Google, Tata Sky, Bajaj, Centerfresh, Mentos and Unilever amongst others.

     

    Friends in Ogilvy, say that while he is a creative, Kinu has a sharp business mind and in his quiet, affable way can win over clients and make decent monies for his agency.

     

    Watch this space for more.

     

    Image: Part of a Fevicol ad was doctored to show a hand (Abhijit Avasthi’s) getting unstuck from that of Ogilvy’s

     

  • The WARC100 is a benchmark for commercial creativity, allowing agencies to compare their performance with their peers

    OgilvyOne is India’s smartest digital agency: WARC100

    By A Correspondent

     

    OgilvyOne Mumbai has been ranked the fifth smartest digital agency in the world by WARC100.

     

    WARC100 recently announced its worldwide ranking of The Smartest Digital Agencies in 2014 and OgilvyOne Mumbai is the only Indian digital agency to feature in the top 5.

     

    Vikram Menon, President, OgilvyOne Worldwide said, “We can’t help feeling a sense of immense pride at being ranked the 5th Smartest Digital Agency in the World among the WARC100. This is an extremely competitive space which is why this ranking is tantamount to an endorsement and recognition of OgilvyOne’s capabilities and talent in India; we are also grateful that our clients give us the opportunity to do quality work for their brands.”

     

    Piyush Pandey

    Piyush Pandey, Executive Chairman & CD, Ogilvy South Asia said, “This ranking is an enormous credit to OgilvyOne’s digital team in India. I am happy and proud of this achievement.  OgilvyOne India’s accolades in the past month have reinforced the Ogilvy India network’s brand building capabilities particularly in the digital domain.  The WARC100 ranking is credit to our creative reputation not just in India but also around the world.”

     

    The WARC100 is a benchmark for commercial creativity, allowing agencies to compare their performance with their peers. It is an annual list of the world’s best campaigns, agencies and brands, based on their performance in effectiveness and strategy.

     

  • Ogilvy Mumbai got sisters to promise the same instead – an initiative supported by The Indian Head Injury Foundation

    Ogilvy gives new meaning to brother-sister bond

    By A Correspondent

     

    In keeping with the occasion of Raksha Bandhan, where brothers promise to protect their sisters, Ogilvy Mumbai got sisters to promise the same instead – an initiative supported by The Indian Head Injury Foundation (IHIF). Sisters came out in support of this cause of protecting their brothers, and their promises are taking centre stage on the web.

     

    The brief received by The Indian Head Injury Foundation was simple: Raise awareness about head injuries. The immediate and urgent task was to first encourage ‘prevention’ – wearing helmets on two-wheelers was the first step to saving lives of motorists on two wheelers.

     

    Sumanto Chattopadhyay, Executive Creative Director, Ogilvy South Asia said: “A sister buckling up a helmet on her brother’s head is a wonderful way to reinterpret the tradition of tying the rakhi. The raksha bandhan of the helmet buckle is doubly significant because it not only symbolizes the brother’s protection of the sister but it means that, in real terms, the sister too protects the brother.”