MxMIndia

Tag: Rajesh Mani

  • Features actor and brand ambassador Bhumika Chawla

    Ogilvy creates new campaign for ITC’s agarbattis

    By Our Staff

     

    ITC’s Mangaldeep agarbatti has launched a TVC with actor and brand ambassador Bhumika Chawla to  showcase its new range of agarbattis with camphor-tulsi and panchamrit fragrances.

     

    Speaking about the new campaign, Gaurav Tayal, Chief Executive, Agarbatti & Safety Matches Business, ITC Limited, said: “Traditions are the core of Indian culture. Our new range of Upaveda agarbattis is crafted with this “connect with traditions” in mind and draws inspiration from the ancient Vedic scriptures. Our communication on this range celebrates the connection with traditions, especially for the younger generation of the family.”

     

    Added Rajesh Mani, Group Creative Director, Ogilvy: “Mangaldeep Upaveda is all about respecting our tradition in the midst of our busy daily lives. We call it the ‘Fragrance of Tradition’ because of the traditional ingredients used. The TVC beautifully captures this aspect with a young boy, always engrossed in his own world, quickly remembering his tradition when he gets the fragrance. A subtle change comes across in him and he kind of time travels to traditions and makes them a part of his daily life/routine. Deepak Thomas, the director from Lucifer Circus has brought the story alive beautifully with his craft, detail, and music.”

     

  • The campaign features brand ambassador Vidya Balan

    Nihar questions culture of beauty stereotyping in campaign

     

     

    Nihar Naturals Coconut Hair Oil has launched its latest campaign challenging the culture of beauty stereotyping ingrained in society.

     

    Women are often subjected to perceptions of being ‘more capable’ or ‘less capable’ based on their physical appearance and their choice of hairstyle. Nihar Naturals has always been at the forefront of challenging stereotypes. In 2015, Nihar partnered with Neilson to launch a nationwide study #IAMCapable, to build awareness amongst women about this culture of beauty stereotyping. The report drew attention to the biases faced by Indian women today – 64 per cent of Indian women have agreed that judgments passed on them have affected their ability to reach their true potential.

     

    Leveraging the platform further, BBH has conceptualised and executed the latest campaign, which reiterates Nihar Natural’s brand purpose and takes the conversation a notch higher. Featuring long-term brand ambassador Vidya Balan, the campaign drives a strong message that a woman’s capability should not be judged based on the choice of her hair style.

     

    Speaking on the campaign, Anuradha Aggarwal, Chief Marketing Officer at Marico Limited said: “Over the years Nihar Naturals through its various campaigns has communicated that a woman’s hair cannot be a parameter of judging her or her capability in anyway. In each campaign, the brand has talked about a new aspect in which women are judged. This year’s campaign talks about how beautiful hair is not a sign of a woman’s capability, it is only a sign of a potent hair oil.’”

     

    Said Subhash Kamath, CEO & Managing Partner, BBH India:  “Nihar Naturals is one of Marico’s most successful and fastest growing brands and we’ve been proud to be partners on its journey. The hair care category is a very competitive and cluttered one. So it’s quite a challenge to create a differentiated brand idea. Happily, we’ve been able to do that for Nihar. It’s not just a hair oil but a tongue-in-cheek social commentator too, a strategy that’s worked very well for the past 6 years.”

     

    Added Rajesh Mani, Executive Creative Director, BBH India: “Nihar Naturals has, over the years, taken a humorous dig at societal judgements on women’s hair and equating it with their capability. So the TVC is like a playful theatre of the absurd. The photo studio and the changing of backgrounds according to a woman’s hair style bring about the subconscious judgements that people make about women. And our brand ambassador Vidya Balan has essayed a wonderful role to bring the idea alive. All credit to the director E Suresh of Eeksaurus for a superbly art directed film. His craft took the film to the next level.”

     

  • Nihar Naturals Shanti Amla has undertaken the cause of children's education at the heart of its existence

    Vidya Balan promotes edu message for Nihar

    By A Correspondent

     

    Nihar Naturals Shanti Amla has launched its latest campaign – Dikho Khoobsurat, Karo Khoobsurat in tandem with its long term commitment to furthering children’s education in the country.

     

    Nihar Naturals Shanti Amla has undertaken the cause of children’s education at the heart of its existence. Embarking on this mission four years ago to make education accessible to children across India, the brand contributes 5 per cent of its profits towards children’s educational development, thereby becoming an enabler for consumers to make a positive change to the society.

     

    The TVC created by BBH India showcases Vidya Balan walking through the streets, wherein people are gesturing to ward off the evil eye or traditional Indian habit of ‘Nazar Utarna’. While walking, packs of school children start following her lead. At the end of the TVC, Vidya gives credit to Nihar Shanti Amla for her long, lustrous and beautiful hair, which is garnering her admiration from these people. She adds that not only does the brand help add to her appeal, but also takes on its commitment to educate children, by contributing 5 per cent of its profits towards this cause. The tagline ‘Dikho Khoobsurat, Karo Khoobsurat’ further reiterates the brand purpose of Nihar Shanti Amla of being an ally to progress.

     

    Speaking about the new campaign, Anuradha Aggarwal, Chief Marketing Officer at Marico Limited says, “It has been four years since Marico started investing in educating underprivileged children through Nihar Naturals Shanti Amla, with a clear objective to bring about a discernible change in the society. The new campaign, ‘Dikho Khoobsurat, Karo Khoobsurat’ captures the essence of our brand purpose of giving you healthy and radiant hair, while focusing on the creation of an environment where children are not compelled to drop out of school for financial reasons.”

     

    Subhash Kamath, CEO & Managing Partner, BBH India adds “We’ve always seen Nihar as a very progressive brand. And progressive brands don’t just say things, they do things that make a real difference to people’s lives. In that context, Nihar Shanti Amla has been consistently successful by giving it’s consumers a dual benefit i.e. get great looking hair as well as do good for society by promoting children’s education. We’ve stayed on this ‘Look good & do good’ premise for 4 years now and it’s paying rich dividends. I believe this new commercial will help grow the brand from strength to strength”

     

    Rajesh Mani, Executive Creative Director, BBH India said, “To bring alive the brand’s twin purposes, we used a very slice of life creative device – “nazar utaarna”. In normal sense, the gesture of nazar utaarna is more for an outward personification of beauty but in this case our brand ambassador – Vidya Balan is being appreciated not just for her great hair but also for being a change agent. The visual narrative is symbolic of what the brand does and the earthy lyrics, sung in a child’s voice, adds memorability to the film.”

     

  • The mandate consisted of ensuring that each brand reached out to its audience, bringing their stories to the world while keeping the products relevant and at the centre of the conversation

    TI Cycles awards digital mandate to Dentsu WebChutney

    By A Correspondent

     

    Dentsu Webchutney, the digital agency from Dentsu Aegis Network, has bagged the digital mandate for TI Cycles. As part of the mandate, the agency will handle the accounts for all the TI Cycle brands including BSA, Hercules and Lady Bird.

     

    Dentsu Webchutney won the account following a multi-agency pitch after contending against eight other agencies that participated in the pitch. Having given the country a range of bicycling experiences since 1949 through names such as Hercules, Lady Bird, Turbo Drive, BSA, Roadeo – TI Cycles has always been at the forefront of innovation. Therefore, they wanted to work with an agency that could not only handle the range of brands that they have under their umbrella but also reinvigorate communication for each one of them. The mandate consisted of ensuring that each brand reached out to its audience, bringing their stories to the world while keeping the products relevant and at the centre of the conversation.

     

    The account will be handled from Dentsu Webchutney’s Bangalore office. For the record, TI Cycles is part of the Chennai-based multi-industry magnate Murugappa Group.

     

    Rajesh Mani, Head – Marketing & Retail, TI Cycles, was very enthusiastic about the new partnership, “In this ever changing field of digital marketing, being dynamic and agile are key for our brands to remain top of mind and actively engage with consumers. Dentsu Webchutney have shown with their pitch and track record that they have the thinking and the team to help our brands consolidate their position as industry leaders on the digital front.”

     

    Gaurav Soi, Executive Vice President, Business Development, Dentsu Webchutney adds, “We are honoured that the team at TI Cycles have entrusted us with the digital mandate for their brands. As their partners, we are looking forward to developing work across digital platforms that will assist in consolidating their brands as industry leaders.”

     

    Commenting on the win, Gautam Reghunath, Vice President, Dentsu Webchutney Bangalore said, “It’s been a great 12 months for us at Dentsu Webchutney Bangalore and we’ve now entered phase two of our Bangalore chapter. We’re a young, energetic agency who consider our power to spot and adapt to changing communication landscapes as our biggest advantage. Having partners who are on the same wavelength is both a pleasure, and a necessity.”

     

    He added, “With TI, we enter the cycling and fitness space at a very interesting time. The company has an interesting mix of both legacy and modern brands under its wing and we look forward to staying true to its vision of being at the helm of India’s fitness journey.”

     

  • Rajesh Mani comes on board as Executive Creative Director at Commonwealth Mumbai Hub

    Rajesh Mani joins Commonwealth as ECD

    By A Correspondent

     

    Rajesh Mani has come on board Commonwealth as Executive Creative Director at the Mumbai office. Mr Mani has moved to Commonwealth from Leo Burnett and has 12 years of experience in creating distinct and memorable work.

     

    He co-created, with Rajiv Rao, the hugely popular Blackberry Boys version 1 and also wrote the much loved song for Blackberry Boys. He has also done some acclaimed films like Hutch callertunes, Vodafone 60P/minute film and was also part of the core team that launched the Zoozoos. His other internationally acclaimed work was for the global launch of Lenovo X300 laptops with a film that was showcased during the Beijing Olympics titled ‘The Flying Sumos’.

     

    Mr Mani, or Mani as he likes to be called, said: “Leo Burnett was a leap of faith. At Ogilvy, I worked on one of the best brands in the country, Vodafone. Commonwealth offered an exciting prospect of working on one of the biggest car brands in the world at a global level and a rare opportunity to interact and imbibe from the best in the business – Prasoon Joshi, Jeff Goodby, Linus Karlsson and Washington Olivetto. On a global platform like Commonwealth, it is important to understand the finer points of cross-cultural communication challenges and pegging ideas on simple human truths that are geography agnostic.”

     

    Prasoon Joshi said: “Am really pleased that Rajesh Mani is a part of Commonwealth. He has tremendous experience and talent which will further strengthen the operation. I am positive that Rajesh will be instrumental in creating and delivering stellar quality work.”

     

    Commonwealth is a first-of-its-kind 50-50 joint venture, combining San Francisco-based Goodby, Silverstein & Partners, an Omnicom Group company, and New York-based McCann Erickson Worldwide, an Interpublic Group company. In forming the joint venture, Commonwealth combines a wealth of creative talent, extensive global automotive experience and strategic business leadership that is unique in the industry.

     

     

  • Aegis Media's Vizeum celebrates its third anniversary as some of its clients applaud its efforts and contribution

    Clients applaud Vizeum as it celebrates third anniv

    From the MxM Infodesk

     

    Media agency Vizeum celebrates its third anniversary and the agency is celebrating the event along with parents Aegis Media India which acknowledges the agency’s positive contribution to the kitty.

     

    “Clients just seem to love them,” said Ashish Bhasin, Chairman India and CEO South East Asia, Aegis Media. “I congratulate Yesu (S Yesudas) on the extraordinary leadership provided by him.  I also congratulate each member of the Vizeum team on the wise career choice made by them.”

     

    Explaining further on the mandate for Vizeum India, said S Yesudas, Managing Director “We do not have any dreams to be the largest or among the largest media specialists in terms of financial size.  But we really want to be known as a credible consultant who builds bridges of relevance with its clients”

     

    But finally it’s the clients word that is the final call on how a service provider like a media agency is doing. Here are views from three of these:

    Shivnath Thukral, Group President – Corporate Branding and Strategic Initiatives, Essar Group:  “Vizeum rides the highs and lows of my organization, understanding the circumstances under which we operate.  It is achieved through a complete understanding externally and internally. They think the way we think.  They enmesh themselves in the work we do. They help meet our aspirations”

     

    Vivek Krishnani, Head of Marketing, Distribution and Syndication, Fox Star Studios India: “Vizeum came to us with an approach to help make a difference to our business and they did just that!! In an industry where logic of share of voice  can be to outshout by increasing media spend and thereby being susceptible to wastage – With Vizeum’s help we have been able to optimize our spends and get more for less !! I admire their persuasiveness and the desire to do more which reinforces their partnership spirit and drive to achieve excellence!!”

     

    Aditya Swamy, EVP & Business Head, MTV India:  “Vizeum is an agency that focuses on finding a non traditional approach to a brief. Eager to show maximum bang for the buck, their recommendations are truly customized to meet the challenge at hand. Strategic partnerships, clutter breaking innovations and leveraging relationships have been some of their key strengths. I congratulate Yesu and his team  for completing 3 action packed years in India and look forward to working together in the future too”

     

    Rajesh Mani, GM- Marketing & Retail TI Cycles and BSA Motors  (Murugappa Group): “The decision to move to Vizeum was much deliberated upon at our end after they made their pitch which impressed us.  It is a two year old relationship now and the comfort with them has only grown.  Their team as well as the top leadership stay involved in our business as our own team gives us great comfort. We wish them the very best ”