MxMIndia

Tag: Raghu Bhat

  • To advance the agency's ethos

    Scarecrow M&C Saaatchi elevates Mustafa Kapasi to ECD

    By Our Staff

     

    Mustafa Kapasi
    Mustafa Kapasi

    Scarecrow M&C Saatchi has announced the elevation of Mustafa Kapasi to the role of Executive Creative Director (ECD). He has spent 7 years in Scarecrow and has handled an eclectic mix of brands including Future Generali, Adani Gas, Mahindra Trakstar, Wagh Bakri, Business Standard, Vimal, Spykar and many more.

     

    Said Raghu Bhat, Co-founder of Scarecrow M&C Saatchi: “Mustafa is an exceptional human being who thoroughly deserves this promotion. He has a unique combination of creativity, resilience and a hunger for learning that sets him apart. What I’m most impressed about is his ability to adapt and re-invent himself in the ever-changing digital landscape, which is a testament to his commitment to always get better, at whatever he does.”

     

    Added Manish Bhat, Co-founder of Scarecrow M&C Saatchi: “Mustafa is a true leader who can inspire, motivate and improve his team members. He is a great listener and his life experience allows him to come up with great insights in our conversations. One of his best qualities is that he inspires trust and has a fantastic work ethic, which is very rare to find. I wish and hope that Mustafa will continue to blossom in Scarecrow and create some more great campaigns.”

     

  • The move will strengthen the agency’s creative team

    Scarecrow M&C Saatchi appoints Vijay Assudani as CD

    By A Correspondent

     

    Scarecrow M&C Saatchi has appoints Vijay Assudani as Creative Director. Prior to this, he worked with Lowe Lintas and before that, he was in Leo Burnett Orchard.

     

    Speaking on the appointment, Raghu Bhat, Founder Director, Scarecrow M&C Saatchi said: “What he brings to the table is a combination of great command over creative writing, and some very sharp insightful thinking. His film for ICICI Prudential Life Insurance featuring a disease-afflicted football coach is beautifully crafted and I look forward to more great work from him.”.

     

    Added Manish Bhatt, Founder Director, Scarecrow M&C Saatchi, said, “Scarecrow has been a breeding ground for some hungry talent looking to make their mark in advertising, Vijay is a part of that group. We have had a mutually rewarding relationship before and this time also we are betting on doing some great creative work together”.

     

     

  • #SonaManaHai says Sony Pictures Sports Network’s new campaign

    UEFA CL on Sony Ten 2 from today

    By A Campaign

     

    Sony Pictures Sports Network will bring the upcoming season of the UEFA Champions League to Indian audiences from today, September 17, onwards. The matches featuring the best football players in premier clubs from top European leagues, will be telecast on Sony Ten 2. SPSN also recently launched its campaign for the mega tournament, #SonaManaHai, which captures the sentiments of all Indian football fans and preps them for the upcoming season.

     

    Said Rajesh Kaul, Chief Revenue Officer, Distribution and Head – Sports Business, Sony Pictures Networks India Private Limited: “Sony Pictures Sports Network are the flagbearers for UEFA Champions League, the best football club tournament in the world, in India. UEFA Champions League is the pinnacle of glory for both the clubs as well as the players and the passionate fans. Our audience can look forward to a more exciting viewing experience through a series of programming initiatives this season including a live studio show with celebrated ex-football players providing expert analysis on our channels. It is #SonaManaHai for all our viewers September 17 onwards.”

     

    Added Neville Bastawalla, Head, Marketing & On-Air Promotions, Sports Channels, Sony Pictures Networks India: “#SonaManaHai urges viewers to stay awake and not miss out on all the exciting action from the best football players and teams in UEFA Champions League. Our campaign speaks to two broad sets of audience, the football fans who are unable to stay awake to watch the matches and fringe viewers who are not very familiar with UEFA Champions League however have a fear of missing out on rewarding experiences. Through this insight, we have created a first of its kind clutter breaking campaign to increase the appeal and viewership of the tournament.  In order to reach out to a wider audience across multiple markets, the on-air film, #SonaManaHai has been rolled out in four languages – English, Hindi, Malayalam and Bengali.”

     

    Said Raghu Bhat, Founder, Director, Scarecrow M&C Saatchi: “When Messi and Salah are scoring, football fans are snoring! UEFA Champion’s League is the greatest and the most discussed football event on earth but matches happen late night. We want this campaign to be the caffeine shot that makes a football fan stay up and watch it live on Sony Pictures Sports Network instead of on YouTube the morning after.”

     

     

  • The campaign will introduce viewers to the new range and inform them about the various usages through Digital, print, OOH, point-of-sale and TV

    FunFoods launches new campaign encouraging consumers to enjoy food guilt-free

    By A Correspondent

     

    Fun Foods by Dr. Oetker has launched a marketing campaign for its new range of dressings with brand ambassador Sonali Bendre and upcoming star Amyra Dastur. The 360-degree campaign will introduce viewers to the new range and inform them about the various usages through Digital, print, OOH, point-of-sale and TV.

     

    Commenting on the marketing campaign launch, Oliver Mirza, Managing Director & CEO, Dr. Oetker India, said: “As a leader in western sauces and spreads category, it is our endeavour to constantly innovate and offer consumers convenient ways to create yummy food. We are confident that the campaign will attract new users into the category and become a catalyst to realise Fun Foods’ vision of Rs 500 crore by 2020.”

     

    Commenting on the launch, Devarshy R. Ganguly, Vice President- Marketing, Dr. Oetker India said: “We are excited to launch a 360-degree marketing campaign which attempts to connect and engage with consumers across multiple touch points like digital, TV, print, OOH and point-of-sale. The campaign is led by a new TV spot that attempts to hook consumers by showcasing lightness and taste through a playful story between Sonali and her on screen sis-in-law Amyra.”

     

    Speaking on the concept of the TVC, Raghu Bhat, Founder Director, Scarecrow M&C Saatchi added: “As consumers are constantly evolving and looking for culinary adventures, it becomes important for brands to engage with them and offer innovative ways to enjoy delicious food. We have taken key successful elements from our earlier campaigns for mayonnaise and extended it to this new campaign. It is high on appetite appeal, chemistry and also has a memorable visual idea which invites consumers to pick up the product from shelves and inspires them to add magic to everyday food.”

     

     

  • Hungry to have a presence in India, M&C Saatchi buys Vivek Suchanti’s stake in agency

    Scarecrow now a part of M&C Saatchi

     

    By A Correspondent

     

    We were all set to do the trek to Ballard Estate in South Mumbai. As also huff and puff up to the second floor office for a roundtable and a revelation. Except that the lure of an exclusive in a pink major killed the idea of the press meet-up.

     

    L to R: Raghu Bhat, Arunava Sengupta and Manish Bhatt

    Guess at the lunch, the rest of the media were to be served the crumbs, while the meat was handed over to the bigger fish. Sigh.

     

    Scarecrow, the eight-plus-year-old independent agency owned by Vivek Suchanti and Manish Bhatt, Raghu Bhat and Arunava Sengupta, has sold majority stake to M&C Saatchi. A global ad network set up by the founders of Saatchi & Saatchi, M&C Saatchi, has had a failed existence in India thus far. It will use the Scarecrow buy as a means to exert its influence in India.

     

    Vivek Suchanti

    With this transaction – much below the Rs 100 crore tag that has reported in the paper in honour of which Scarecrow compromised its relations with the rest of the press, M&C Saatchi has bought the majority 51 per cent stake that Suchanti owned. According to the info we have, there will be a gradual buy over five-six years of the 16.33% stake that Sengupta, Bhat and Bhatt will own. For now, the trio do not get even the crumbs, but they’ll get it with time.

     

    Scarecrow, as an agency, has been doing reasonably well with an impressive clients roster. It has done reasonably well on the awards circuit, though it boycotted Goafest 2018 reportedly because (Manish) Bhatt was upset on not being invited to be part of the Master Jury for the Creative Awards.

     

    So will M&C Saatchi truck with Scarecrow work? Yes, it should, say observers. Even though the 23-year-old agency formed by Jeremy Sinclair (Chairman), Bill Muirhead, David Kershaw (Chief Executive) and the brothers Maurice and Charles Saatchi has floundered in the country. Its buy of Delhi-based February in 2014 and the setting of the mobile arm have not achieved much. In 2015, it sold its digital and direct business to Pi Communcations.

     

    The Scarecrow co-founders Bhat, Bhatt & Sengupta are known to have the drive and have produced advertising that has been memorable.

     

    We’ll wait to see what happens next. We can sure it’ll be handed over first to that pink paper.

     

     

  • The ad film has been directed by award-winning film director Harvey B-Brown

    Scarecrow promotes Fresh Look with Disha Patani

    By A Correspondent

     

    Scarecrow Communication has created an integrated campaign for FreshLook featuring Bollywood actor Disha Patani. The ad film has been directed by award winning film director Harvey B-Brown whose body of work includes spots for Moschino, Lagerfeld and music videos for George Michael and Bryan Ferry.

     

    Said Anuj Mehtani, Vice-President, Scarecrow Delhi: “It’s really interesting to see how many categories are evolving from pure functionality to a desirable space, which is happening in the eye care category as well. FreshLook is set to tap with its fashion and lifestyle proposition and we are excited to be a part of this engagement process.”

     

    Added Raghu Bhat, Founder Director, Scarecrow: “The task is to create salience for colour contact lens and make it mainstream. We are talking to an audience craving for a daily dose of fame. The creative opportunity was to position eyes as the prime weapon of choice – where Freshlook colored contacts could be your fashion ally in the daily war against anonymity.”

     

     

  • This was the result of a multi-agency pitch in July

    Scarecrow wins the creative and digital duties for Skechers

    By A Correspondent

     

    Skechers, the American lifestyle and performance footwear company has assigned its creative duties to Scarecrow Communications. This was the result of a multi-agency pitch in July.

     

    Said Soumen Das, Senior Manager Marketing, Skechers: “We are very thrilled to partner with Scarecrow Communications as our creative agency. The work done by them in the industry has been very promising, effective and innovative which gets an ever-expanding brand like ours super-excited. We believe their advertising knowledge will be of great advantage and we look forward to doing some incredible work with them.”

     

    Added Joybrato Dutta, Creative Director, Scarecrow Communications: “Skechers is an aspirational brand. The product is fantastic and the category is something my team and I would love to work on. Work has already begun and they are launching quite a few cool products. I am sure together we can create some memorable campaigns and take the brand to newer heights.”

     

    Said Raghu Bhat, Founder Director, Scarecrow Communications: “I was always intrigued by how Skechers overtook Adidas and become the No. 2 brand in America. I got part of the answer by trying the shoes – they are the most comfortable sneakers ever. Also, they ‘understood’ a basic truth – that millennials want to dress up like they work out, even if they don’t. Really looking forward to co-creating the India journey of a brand that knows its consumers so well”

     

  • Edelweiss was announced as the Principal Sponsor of the Indian Olympic team in April this year

    Edelweiss unveils ‪#‎iAmTeamIndia campaign to support Indian Olympic team

    By A Correspondent

     

    Edelweiss Group has launched a campaign to garner support for the Indian team going to Rio Olympics. Edelweiss launched a foot-tapping anthem inspiring people to support the Indian team and has also released an e-book which tells the Indian team to ‘Go fearless, entire India is with you’. This book was handed over to IOA chairman, N Ramachandran and IOA general secretary, Rajeev Mehta by Rashesh Shah, Chairman, Edelweiss Group at the official send-off held in Delhi earlier this month. The #iAmTeamIndia anthem was also released at this ceremony.

     

    Edelweiss was announced as the Principal Sponsor of the Indian Olympic team in April this year. In addition to the sponsorship, Edelweiss offered a life insurance cover of Rs 1 crore each to every athlete representing India at Rio Olympics. This insurance cover was provided by Edelweiss Tokio life insurance, the life insurance joint venture between Edelweiss Group and Tokio Marine Holdings of Japan.

     

    In keeping with its philosophy of offering need based solutions, Edelweiss has made this anthem keeping in mind the needs of athletes – protection and support. Edelweiss believes that while it has taken the first step towards protection with sponsorship and insurance cover, it is the support for the athletes that is needed the most. Through this anthem, Edelweiss is garnering the support for the Indian team, which is the largest Indian contingent ever to go for the Olympic Games.

     

    Conceptualized by Scarecrow communications, the anthem is catchy and fast paced and aims to build excitement about India’s medal hope at the Olympics this time. The vibrant video highlights that the team of over 120 athletes is backed by cheers and support of a nation that is over a billion strong. Edelweiss is using 360-degree communication, from Television to Digital, Print, Outdoor, Radio and Cinema to make the anthem popular and take it to the masses.

     

    The E-book was given to the Indian team to convey the message that the entire country is standing behind them, cheering them as they go and participate in the largest sporting event. The E-book is a compilation of pictures collected from across the country through the fully integrated campaign which included print, outdoors, on-ground events, digital medium and internal events to invite people of India to come forward and support the team by sharing, liking, uploading pics holding the #iAmTeamIndia placard and till date has garnered over 3 lakh pictures and over 1.5 million interactions, shares and comments. The campaign also managed to garner support from current Olympians like Saina Nehwal, Tintu Luka, Saardar Singh, Gagan Narang, Abhinav Bindra, with past Olympians like Geet Sethi, Prakash Padukone with celebs like Shilpa Shetty, Madhavan, etc.

     

    “Through #iAmTeamIndia anthem and the E book, we at Edelweiss have taken our association with Indian Olympic team to the next level. The main objective is to attract the interest of as many people as possible towards Olympics. This campaign is a beautiful way to motivate and promote the Indian contingent at the Olympics. It will re-energise the spirits of not only the Indian team but also the Indian audience who is going to watch it. In fact, our hashtag #iAmTeamIndia was trending at No. 1 on Twitter. Through this anthem and E book, we really wish the Indian team well for Rio Olympics which starts from August 5 and pray that they bring as many gold and silver medals possible,” said Shabnam Panjwani, CMO, Edelweiss Group.

     

    Explaining the campaign further, Raghu Bhat, Founder Director, Scarecrow Communications said that, “Indian sport needs all the support it can get. Through this film, Edelweiss exhorts Indians to stand behind the national team. Our brief to the film maker (Naren Multani) and the music composers (Rohan & Vinayak) was to create a contemporary rendition of ‘veer ras’. The final result has scale, visual drama and emotion. Something we are proud of.”

     

  • Edelweiss unveils new TVC ‘Saina and Daadi’

    By A Correspondent

     

    Edelweiss Group has launched its latest TVC titled ‘Saina and Daadi’, taking forward the brand’s core idea of – ‘We understand your needs’. Edelweiss follows a customer centric approach – Suno Samjho Suljhao – to thoroughly understand client needs in order to provide the most appropriate financial solution.

     

    The TVC uses a simple storyline using every day example of gifting – where most of us assume that the gift is appropriate or necessary to the one being gifted. And as probably experienced by many, a greater understanding of a person’s needs or aspirations is probably the only way to finding the ‘perfect gift’ – the most appropriate and appreciated gift. The TVC aims at drawing parallels with Edelweiss where financial experts spend time in listening to customers for understanding their needs and aspirations in order to provide the right financial solution.

     

    “Our research over the years has highlighted the issues that consumers grapple with repeatedly in dealing with financial services. Be it being saddled with a product that they don’t need or inherent complexity of world of finance or confusion given the plethora of choices or lack of transparency.

     

    At Edelweiss we believe in understanding our customers by spending time with them and then offering appropriate financial solutions. This message has been beautifully conceived and delivered in our film which shows our brand ambassador Saina Nehwal’s endearing bond with her grandmother and shows her in as a regular person and not in her usual badminton avatar – something that even she liked very much”, said Shabnam Panjwani, CMO, Edelweiss Group.

     

    Explaining the campaign further, Raghu Bhat, Founder Director, Scarecrow Communications said that, “The creative challenge was to convert a claim into an endearing and believable human story. Also, integrating Saina into the storyline in a way she appears as a ‘real’ person rather than a ‘badminton superstar’ was an objective. Vishal Manglorkar’s cinematic interpretation of the brief ensured that we captured lots of nuances without losing out on the ‘soul’ of the story or the essence of the Edelweiss brand.”

     

  • The Essel group company has awarded its creative mandate to Scarecrow Communications after a comprehensive pitch process

    Zee Learn Appoints Scarecrow as its creative agency

    By A Correspondent

     

    Zee Learn, an arm of the Essel Group and one of the leading education companies in India, has awarded its creative mandate to Scarecrow Communications. The agency was selected after a comprehensive pitch process. It may be noted that Scarecrow already handles multiple brands of the Essel Group including &Pictures, Zee Khana Khazana and DittoTv.

     

    Zee Learn pre-schools chain Kidzee (which has 1350+ pre-schools in more than 500+ cities), Mount Litera Zee schools, Brain Cafe, Zee Institute of Creative Art and Zee Institute of Media Arts.

     

    Confirming the news, KVS Seshasai, Chief Executive Officer, Zee Learn Limited said, “In Scarecrow, we found the perfect blend of creativity and passion that can empower our journey to the next level. Also, we are poised for strong growth across different categories and this journey with our creative partner will play  a critical role in bringing strong ideas and innovations to life for our brands”

     

    “With Scarecrow Communications as our creative agency, we are confident their passion for creativity will help us communicate our passion and excellence in knowledge building”, added Abhinav Upadhyay, Head – Marketing and Innovation, Zee Learn Limited.

     

    Raghu Bhat

    Said Raghu Bhat, Founder Director, Scarecrow Communications said, “At a personal level, I am very happy to be working on Zee Learn as this is an interest area. But there are two other things that make this mandate even more exciting. Firstly, the sheer audacity of Zee Learn’s vision plus the role of communication in realising it and secondly, the company is very entrepreneurial in its approach.”

     

    Added Arunava Sengupta, Founder Director, Scarecrow Communications: “We are thrilled to be partnering Zee Learn at such an important stage of the brand life cycle. Through this mandate, we have an opportunity to touch of lives of children from the ages of 2 to 18. That is very satisfying.”

     

  • Scarecrow has appointed Iraj Fraz as head of creative operations in Delhi

    Iraj Fraz now at Scarecrow to head creative in Delhi

    Iraj Fraz

    By A Correspondent

    Scarecrow has appointed Iraj Fraz as head of creative operations in Delhi. Fraz started his career at Leo Burnett in 2002,moving on to McCann, Mumbai and in 2006, shifted to Contract Delhi working on brands like Dominos, NIIT and Dabur. Following that, he spent about five years as a CD at JWT Delhi (till Jan 2013), where he did many popular as well as award-winning campaigns for Airtel DTH, Pepsi, Horlicks and Nokia.  His next stop was Y&R, Dubai, to work on Coke, Emaar properties and Mashreq Bank.

     

    Raghu Bhat

    Says Raghu Bhat, Founder Director, Scarecrow Communications, “I have followed his career closely since I first worked with him in McCann. And he offers the perfect mix of world-class creativity, an instinctive understanding of the marketing problem, people skills and the hunger to do more.” Adss Manish Bhatt, also Founder Director, Scarecrow Communications, “We have five brands in Delhi. It’s a decent base. Under Fraz and Anuj Mehtani, who heads account management in Delhi, we now have the people who can power Scarecrow Delhi to the next level.”

     

    Says Fraz, “I came back because I love advertising. Here, in the bylanes of Chandni Chowk and the boardrooms of banks, people discuss ads. We care about advertising, and that makes our country the it place to create interesting work.”

     

    Why Scarecrow? “Because here, the focus hasn’t just been on let’s-do-work-that-keeps-the-business but on let’s-create-work-that-starts-conversations. And I’d like to keep the momentum going.”

     

  • The agency's prime mandate will be to reach out to the existing consumer base of Hungama.com and target digital music consumers across the country

    Hungama.com awards its creative mandate to Scarecrow Communications

    By A Correspondent

     

    Hungama.com has awarded its creative duties to Scarecrow Communications. With this appointment, the agency will be responsible for designing clutter breaking creative communication that further augments the presence of Hungama.com in the digital music industry.

     

    The agency’s prime mandate will be to reach out to the existing consumer base of Hungama.com and target digital music consumers across the country via 360 degree creative communications that maximise the potential of various medium including print, OOH and digital.

     

    Sidhartha Roy

    Commenting on the appointment, Siddhartha Roy, CEO at Hungama.com said, “Scarecrow Communications comes with a widespread portfolio of media and entertainment brands. With the agency’s deep understanding of the sector and innovative creative campaigns for various brands over the years, we have decided to award the creative mandate to them. We at Hungama.com look forward to a fruitful association with Scarecrow Communications that can help us drive our vision towards being a preferred music streaming service.”

     

    Raghu Bhat

    On winning the account, Raghu Bhat, Founder & Director at Scarecrow Communications said, “Hungama.com is the pioneer in digital entertainment. A new-age brand that exists resides at the cusp of devices, music, Bollywood and the internet – four forces that touch the lives of almost every Indian. We are thrilled with this mandate and will also treat this as a great learning opportunity.”