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Tag: Saurabh Saksena

  • Saurabh Saksena elevated to the role of President

    VML Announces Babita Baruah as CEO

    By Our Staff

     

    The all-new combo of Wunderman Thompsaon and VMLY&R – VML – has finally announced its India leadership. It may be recealled that the brand, customer experience and commerce company had announced the leadership for the rest of the region, save India.

     

    So Babita Baruah will join as Chief Executive Officer of India from March 1, 2024, and will partner with Saurabh Saksena, who has been elevated into the role of President.

     

    Baruah joins VML India from a dual role working across WPP’s Ford International Market Group as Regional Client Lead and Executive Director at VMLY&R Thailand. She is an old JWT/Wunderman Thompson India hand, where she spent two decades working with global and local brands such as PepsiCo, Unilever, Nestlé, Kellogg’s, Godrej, Kotak Mahindra, Reliance, and Aditya Birla. In 2017, Baruah joined the GTB business in India as Managing Partner and moved to Bangkok in 2021 in a dual capacity role as WPP Lead for the Ford business across India, Australia, New Zealand, Thailand, the Middle East, and South Africa, and Executive Director, VMLY&R Thailand.

     

    As mentioned, Saksena has been elevated into the role of President of VML’s India operations and will partner with Baruah on the leadership of the agency. Over the past 30 years, adds a communiuqe, Saksena has delivered business growth, managed change and transition, and built deep internal capabilities across the five agencies including a decade at Wunderman Thompson and most recently VMLY&R. Over the years, he has worked with ambitious brands in diverse categories such as, CPG, retail, finance, technology, automotive, e-commerce and QSRs.

     

    Regarding the new role, Baruah said: “It’s an honour to lead a market like India for VML. I look forward to working closely with Audrey, Yi-Chung, Saurabh, and the whole team in India to make sure that we connect creativity, experience, data and technology, to be the preferred destination for India’s ambitious brands and talented individuals.”

     

    Said Saksena: “I’m very excited to continue this journey of building a strong and successful VML with Babita by orchestrating innovative growth solutions for our clients that sit at the intersection of creativity, experience, data and technology.”

     

    Added Audrey Kuah, Co-CEO of VML APAC: “Babita is no stranger to India, and we welcome her home as the new VML India CEO. With her vast experience in delivering innovation and growth for clients and a passion for building a high empathy and performance culture, I look forward to working with Babita to take our India business, already one of the strongest in the region, to new heights in 2024.”

     

    Said Yi-Chung Tay, Co-CEO of VML APAC: “Saurabh and Babita will be a driving force for growth in India. I’ve watched Babita grow the Ford and VMLY&R Thailand businesses over the years and I’m confident that she will do the same for our clients in India. Saurabh’s elevation is founded on his record of successfully integrating VMLY&R India’s offices, building culture and increasing profitability. I can’t think of a better duo to lead India, which is a key market for VML in APAC.”

     

  • To drive the integration of VMLY&R’s capabilities across India

    VMLY&R India appoints Saurabh Saksena as CEO

    By Our Staff

     

    Saurabh Saksena
    Saurabh Saksena

    Global brand and customer experience agency, VMLY&R, appoints Saurabh Saksena as Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of VMLY&R India. He will be based out of Mumbai and will report to Hari Ramanathan, CEO- VMLY&R, South and South-East Asia and Japan.

     

    In his new role, Saksena will drive the integration of VMLY&R’s capabilities across India – from creative excellence to transformational solutions at the intersection of brand and customer experience (BX & CX), data, platforms and commerce.

     

    Hari Ramanathan, CEO, VMLY&R South, and South-East Asia and Japan said: “India is an anchor market for us in Asia and with a breadth and depth of offerings that are unmatched in the industry, VMLY&R India, under Saurabh’s leadership, is all set to help clients get their ‘unfair’ share of growth in a vibrant market. Saurabh represents our continued investment in India, as we believe it’s a market with boundless opportunity and a growth story that is waiting to be unlocked.”

     

  • Askme's campaign, 'BAAP of all trends' is in line with brand ethos of being ahead of the curve

    Askme & Askmebazaar unveils unique insights led communication campaign

    By A Correspondent

     

    Leading consumer Internet platform www.askme.com and its online marketplace www.askmebazaar.com have launched two comprehensive campaigns. Ranbir Kapoor is seen in these commercials for ASKME whereas Farhan Akhtar is new face in Askmebazaar iconic TVC. Both these campaigns aim to bring together Askme’s single proposition of ‘One stop destination’.

     

    Askme’s campaign, ‘BAAP of all trends’ is in line with brand ethos of being ahead of the curve. Through this campaign, the company aims to position itself as the one stop destination that caters to diverse needs of a customer. With enormous options available online, today’s youth seeks some credible advice. Where to go, what to do and what to eat are questions that grapple today’s youth from Kanpur to Bandra. Askme seeks to provide answer to these questions and many more in times to come.

     

    In a move to connect with today’s youth, the campaign aims to fill the gap between a whole plethora of options available in the online space but lack of one credible source for the same. Askme allows its customers to stay ahead with all the information from best places to travel to best places to eat at, and so on, all from one trustworthy online platform that is ASKME.

     

    Further, with the launch of the campaign by Askmebazaar.com, the company introduces a novel concept of online retail therapy. ‘One Click Therapy’ as the name suggests acts as the driving force for customers to lead a stress free life. Online marketplace in Askmebazaar is positioned as stress buster via retail therapy as it offers next day delivery on top brand with best deals.

     

    Conceptualized by the creative agency JWT, both the campaigns use a comprehensive multimedia approach, compelling facts and vivid imagery designed to change consumers buying behavior.

     

    Speaking on the occasion Manav Sethi, Group CMO, Askme said, “Both these campaigns are built on consumer insights. Search has moved from discovery to aggregated opinions and hence Askme assumes that leadership position across India to communicate best places to eat, wear, and relax etc. The option to transact these products and be in the trend is made available by Askmebazaar where majority find platforms such as these an option full of choices, brands and best prices and hence “stress mein don’t go bizarre; shop on askmebazaar”

     

    Saurabh Saksena, Senior Vice President & Executive Business Director, J Walter Thompson said, “Over the past few years the consumers are turning to the internet to see what choices they have to make, whether for eating-out, travel destinations, fashion, gadgets, plays, etc. While there are many destinations that offers them choice, few offer them advise. The poor consumer is left asking people who they know (and who may not be experts) for their advise about where to eat, where to travel to, which movie to watch, what to wear and what gadget to buy, etc.

     

    And these ‘advisors’ may not be the best people to ask. This forms the basis for our campaign, we have had most fun coming up with. “Don’t ask just about anyone, ask the BAAP of all trends, askme.com” askme.com offers to satisfy this need to get advise/ recommendations from a credible source, through curated experiences.”