MxMIndia

Tag: Sonal Dabral

  • The campaign features a 360-degree multimedia integration of TV commercial, radio, cinema, print, innovative outdoor, events, promotions and digital platforms

    Bata goes ‘waist down’ with its new TVC

    By a correspondent

     

    Leading footwear retailer and manufacturer Bata announced the launch of its new Spring Summer’14 marketing campaign for its entire range of footwear, accessories, bags and glasses. The campaign features a 360-degree multimedia integration of TV commercial, radio, cinema, print, innovative outdoor, events, promotions and digital platforms.

     

    The TV commercial has been innovatively shot to capture slice-of-life situations in the lives of people through a literal focus on the footwear. The film uses a unique technique of following those real life moments by showing the action only from knee down. The situations captured include from the nervous to the dramatic to the adventurous, including a group of students eagerly looking at their exam results, colleagues watching a cricket match in office and a group of young girls enjoying their ‘day out.’ The film also showcases all the leading brands in their latest styles from Bata in an aspirational way. Shot in a contemporary manner and stitched together using fast-paced music, the film reiterates the brand’s presence in the lives of individuals, cutting across the barriers of age, a necessity considering the eclectic portfolio of Bata.

     

    The campaign is yet another remarkable milestone in Bata’s journey of symbolizing that shoes can be lifestyle led, young, vibrant and yet comfortable. The campaign’s “waist down” TVC treatment captures how the shoe line’s range covers the gamut of shoes from business indoors to comfortable outdoors.

     

    Sumit Kumar, Vice President and Head of Marketing and Customer Service, Bata India said, “Drawing on our vast experience and understanding of the Indian consumer, we have designed our latest 360-degree marketing campaign to appeal to the sensibilities of the Indian consumer across age groups and demographic profiles. We have a fantastic range of stylish, on-trend and contemporary products that will appeal not only to our loyal customers but also to a wider audience. We intend to communicate the brand as aspirational and yet comfortable. We are continuing our external marketing journey with fabulous in-store environment featuring our new global concept stores to make shopping a pleasurable experience for our customers.”

     

    Sonal Dabral
    Sonal Dabral

    Sonal Dabral, Chairman & CCO, DDB Mudra Group said, “A whole generation of Indians have grown up with Bata and it’s an inseparable part of everyone’s growing up memories. The strategy and the idea behind the new campaign is to build on this equity and to also help the brand make a fresh connect with the youth. I am really excited for the TVC we have worked on. A story told by the stylish Bata shoes themselves which I’m sure will do its bit in helping make this iconic brand a vibrant and colourful brand of today transforming it from just a shoe to a destination where life meets style.”

     

  • A new TVC from Livon Hair Gain Tonic attempts an emotional connect with consumers

    DDB Mudra revitalises Livon Hair Gain’s hair promise

    By A Correspondent

     

    A new campaign from Livon Hair Gain Tonic created by DDB Mudra attempts to work at an emotional level with men. The endeavour of the campaign is to help men overcome the cynicism and establish Livon Hair Gain as a credible solution to address the problem. The TVC “Kyun yeh zindagi” shows a young man facing hair loss holding back from enjoying and participating in everyday situations.

     

    According to a Marico spokesperson, the TVC “engages the audience with a realistic portrayal of moments in their life. Combined with activations in the digital space and on-ground in the chemist channel, we are looking at growing this recently acquired brand with the new campaign”.

     

    Sonal Dabral
    Sonal Dabral

    Commenting on the campaign, Sonal Dabral, Chairman & Chief Creative Officer, DDB Mudra Group, said, “Hair loss is an extremely sensitive issue. It was crucial therefore to communicate our offering with honesty and a high degree of empathy. We are happy that we have been able to create a campaign that is insightful, authentic and most importantly speaks straight to the heart of our target audience.”

     

  • He joins DDB Mudra West from McCann where he was ECD. He will report to Sonal Dabral

    McCann’s Rahul Mathew joins DDB Mudra West as Creative Head

    By A Correspondent

     

    Rahul Mathew

    DDB Mudra West has roped in Rahul Mathew as Creative Head. He will lead the agency’s creative output for clients including Future Group, Volkswagen, Johnson & Johnson, Kalpataru, Hindustan Unilever, Union Bank, Marico, Emirates, Gulf Oil, Godrej, Lavasa, Arvind, Adani Group, CenturyPly and Raj Petro among others. Mr Mathew will partner Rajiv Sabnis, President, DDB Mudra Group, West and will work closely with Sonal Dabral, Chairman & CCO, DDB Mudra Group, who he will be reporting in to.

     

    Mr Mathew joins DDB Mudra from McCann Erickson where he was Executive Creative Director. With over 15 years of experience, Rahul has worked with Ogilvy, JWT, Leo Burnett, Y&R (in Kuala Lumpur and India).

     

    Commenting on his new role, Mr Mathew said, “Few agencies, the world over, can boast of a creative culture the likes of DDB. And to be appointed a custodian of such a celebrated culture is both exciting and frightening.  But with the talented bunch at the agency, Sonal and I hope to make DDB Mudra West one of the brightest stars in the DDB constellation.”

     

    On the appointment, Sonal Dabral, Chairman & CCO, DDB Mudra Group, said, “I’m very excited to welcome Rahul to the DDB Mudra Group family. I’ve known Rahul for a while now and have followed his career across countries and agencies, seeing him build brands and win multiple awards along the way. A new age creative thinker equally adept at traditional and non traditional media,Rahul is just the talent to lead the creative teams in DDB Mudra West.”

     

    Added Rajiv Sabnis, President, DDB Mudra Group, West: “With Rahul coming on board, our ability to provide creative business solutions to our clients gets a strong fillip.”

     

     

     

  • DDB Mudra West strengthens creative team with Satyajeet Kadam and Shagun Seda joining as Creative Directors

    Satya and Shagun join DDB Mudra Mumbai as CDs

    By A Correspondent

     

    Sathyajeet Kadam
    Shagun Seda

    DDB Mudra West has announced the appointment of Satyajeet Kadam and Shagun Seda as Creative Directors, DDB Mudra Mumbai. The creative duo will be based out of Mumbai and will work under the guidance of Sonal Dabral, Chairman & CCO, DDB Mudra Group.

     

    Both have had around 10 years experience in advertising and worked last with TBWA.

     

    Sonal Dabral
    Sonal Dabral

    Said Mr Dabral on the appointment: “I’m very excited about Shagun and Satyajeet joining the DDB Mudra family.  A hugely talented team, they are both modern day storytellers with big brand experience and excellent work that transcends mediums.”

     

    Said, Rajiv Sabnis, President, DDB Mudra Group, West, “Satya and Shagun are very talented and curious people, exactly what we were looking for in DDB Mudra.”

     

  • The four Indian creative whizkids have been appointed to the London International Awards 2013 juries. Judging is scheduled to take place in Las Vegas in early October

    Prasoon Joshi, Sonal Dabral, Santosh Padhi & Roopak Saluja on LIA 2013 jury

    By A Correspondent

     

    Sonal Dabral

    Sonal Dabral, Prasoon Joshi, Santosh Padhi and Roopak Saluja have been appointed to join LIA’s 2013 prestigious juries. The judging is scheduled to take place at the Wynn/Encore Hotel, Las Vegas in early October.

     

    Sonal Dabral, Chairman/CCO of DDB Mudra, Mumbai returns to join the 2013 TV/Cinema/Online Film Jury which will be led this year by Ogilvy’s Worldwide Chief Creative Officer, Tham Khai Meng.

     

     

    Prasoon Joshi

    Prasoon Joshi, President South Asia of McCann Worldgroup, Mumbai will sit on the Non -Traditional Jury, led by Leo Burnett’s Global Chief Creative Officer, Mark Tutssel.

     

    Santosh Padhi, Chief Creative Officer/Co-Founder of Taproot India, Mumbai will join the Print-Poster-Billboard Jury, presided over by David Guerrero, Chairman & Chief Creative Officer, BBDO Guerrero/Proximity, Philippines.

     

     

    Roopak Saluja

    Roopak Saluja, Founder/CEO of The 120 Media Collective, Mumbai joins the 2013 TV/Cinema/Online Film – Production/Post-Production Jury, which is led by Jonathon Ker, Executive Producer at paydirt, Los Angeles.

     

    Says Barbara Levy, President of LIA of the appointments, “It is a reflection of the great creative work that consistently emerges from India that we have appointed Indian jury members across such a broad spectrum of media. To have the honour to have some of the most highly ranked Creative Officers of India’s most awarded creative businesses is something that we are extremely proud of, and is in keeping with our commitment to have the world’s most creative work judged by the world’s most creative people. We look forward to welcoming them and working with them in Las Vegas”.

     

    The complete LIA Jury can be viewed on the website: www.liaawards.com  The LIA Call for Entry Deadline is currently the July 15, 2013

     

  • The Dubai Lynx Awards honour the region's best work in advertising. The 2013 Festival takes place from 10 to 13 March at the Madinat Jumeirah, Dubai

    Sonal Dabral to speak at Dubai Lynx

    By A Correspondent

     

    Sonal Dabral
    Sonal Dabral

    Sonal Dabral, Chairman & CCO, DDB Mudra Group, has been invited to speak at the Dubai Lynx 2013 – International Festival of Creativity. Mr Dabral will be taking the audience through the rich artistic heritage of India and how it has the power to influence brands and communications, not just in India, but also on the international stage.

     

    Terry Savage, Chairman, Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity, said, “At the heart of Lions Festivals, is creativity and Dubai Lynx as one of our events has the same ethos. We have speaking at the event each year great creative leaders who show the way forward in terms of thought leadership and providing inspiration to our delegates. Sonal Dabral fits that role perfectly and we are delighted to have him speaking at Dubai Lynx 2013.”

     

    The Dubai Lynx International Festival of Creativity is the Middle East and North Africa region’s (MENA) annual must-attend event for the advertising and communications industry to learn, be inspired, network and celebrate. The Dubai Lynx Awards honour the region’s best work in advertising. The 2013 Festival takes place from 10 to 13 March at the Madinat Jumeirah, Dubai.

     

    The Dubai Lynx is part of the Lions Festivals stable, which includes Cannes Lions, Spikes Asia, Eurobest and the Asia Effectiveness Awards. The Festival and Awards are produced in partnership with Motivate Publishing, with the support of Dubai Media City (DMC) and in association with the UAE Chapter of the International Advertising Association (IAA).

     

  • Satish Sethumadhavan (popularly known as Sethu) has joined the agency as creative director, and Ashish Phatak and Aman Mannan have taken up the additional role of driving the Tribal DDB creative mandate

    Tribal DDB India beefs up its creative team

    By A Correspondent

     

    With a series of new business wins over the last few months, Tribal DDB India is on a growth spree and is investing in a significant ramp up of its creative team.

     

    Ashish Phatak
    Aman Mannan

    Ashish Phatak and Aman Mannan, both Group Creative Directors at DDB Mudra Mumbai, have taken up the additional role of driving the Tribal DDB creative mandate. Both joined DDB Mudra Mumbai in 2010 and have been working on LIC, Godrej, Future Group and Union Bank of India among others. They have individually and together won multiple awards across Abbys, Cannes, Effies, Emvies, London International Festival, One Show on work for brands like Union Bank of India, Parachute, Saffola, Tata Indico, Hit, Jaipur Foot Foundation.

     

     

    Satish Sethumadhavan

    Satish Sethumadhavan (popularly known as Sethu) has joined the agency as Creative Director. His last stint was with Ogilvy & Mather, Bangalore. Over the past decade, Sethu has worked with world-class brands such as Coca-Cola, Western Union and American Express and famous Indian brands such as ITC’s Bingo, Marico’s Parachute, Haywards, Vicks and Titan among others. Sethu has won multiple awards across Cannes, One Show, Abby, Goafest, etc. and one of his best digital campaigns is the award winning one for Titan HTSE.

     

     

     

    Sonal Dabral
    Sonal Dabral

    Sonal Dabral, Chairman & CCO, DDB Mudra Group, said, “With technology opening up endless possibilities in the way we converse with our target audience these are truly exciting times. At DDB Mudra Group we want to be the best when it comes to providing breakthrough creative solutions to our clients across multiple media and platforms. With this new beefed-up creative structure at Tribal DDB we are walking our talk.”

     

     

     

    Venkat Mallik

    Venkat Mallik, President, Tribal DDB and Rapp India, said, “At Tribal DDB, we believe that the best work in the digital space will emerge from the fusion of the highest standards of brand creative thinking with Digital inventiveness.  We are building our team with award winning talent with backgrounds in digital, as well as, mainstream brand communication. Aman, Ashish and Sethu are individually outstanding creative talent who we are proud to have lead the creative show for us and help set a new benchmark for digital brand creativity.”

     

  • DDB Mudra Delhi has won the Rs 40 crore business of Marico's Livon brand

    DDB Mudra Delhi bags Marico’s Livon

    By A Correspondent

     

    DDB Mudra Delhi has added Marico’s Livon brand to its slew of accounts. The size of the account is pegged at Rs 40 crore. The incumbent on the account ‘Cut the Crap’ had been working on the brand before Marico acquired the brand from Reckitt Benckiser earlier this year. DDB Mudra Group won this mandate after a rigorous multi-agency evaluation process.

     

    Sonal Dabral

    Sonal Dabral, Chairman & CCO, DDB Mudra Group, said, “Livon presents us with a wonderful opportunity to take the DDB ideology of social creativity forward. A brand that talks to audiences that live in a connected world, we look forward to creating ideas that have an inherent ‘talk value’ that drives the brand forward. Besides, with Marico, we are really excited about partnering with one of the most professional Indian multinationals.”

     

     

    Vandana Das

    Commenting on this big win, Vandana Das, President, DDB Mudra Group, Delhi, says, “It’s a great starting point and very encouraging for all of us to be associated with a brand from Marico’s stable. Having won Livon, we are all really delighted and geared to have a long innings together. We look forward to doing some path-breaking and exciting work on the business in months ahead.”

     

  • Acclaimed creative directors to meet in Las Vegas to select the world's best work

    Sonal Dabral & Josy Paul on London Intnl Awards jury

    By A Correspondent

     

    Sonal Dabral

    Sonal Dabral, Chairman and Chief Creative Officer of DDB Mudra Group India will be judging the 2012 Non-traditional – Print, Poster, Billboard. The president of this Jury is Steve Back, Chief Creative Officer, Ogilvy and Mather, Singapore. Josy Paul, Chairman and Chief Creative Officer of BBDO India, who is also on the Jury of the London International Awards 2012 will judge the Integrated Category. The President of this Jury is Amir Kassaei, Chief Creative Officer, DDB Worldwide.

     

    The London International Awards has many prominent names who will lead the jury. Creative leaders like Mark Tutssel, Steve Back, Colleen DeCourcy, Nick Law, Deborah Adler, Ralph van Dijk, Anna Fawcett and Andy Bloch.

     

    Josy Paul

    This elite group, along with some of the most talented, recognized and awarded individuals from around the globe, will assemble in Las Vegas over the next week to select the 2012 winners.

     

    As an awards show, LIA has established itself throughout its 26-year history as a revolutionary global leader honouring creativity and new ideas in Advertising, Design and Digital media.

     

  • 6 Reasons why tonight’s the Big Night @ Goafest

    By A N Chorrea

     

    Yes, Balki doesn’t care an eff about it and the folks at Cag have serious issues about the innumerable fakes that come in as entries, but the Abby is the Abby is the Abby. So why’s it the Badi Raat?

     

    1. Because the Creative Abbys will be presented tonight

     

    2. Because even as some of the Creative Abbys were given away last night (and the Media Abbys too!), the meaty, glamourous ones are happening tonight.

     

    3. Because it will be interesting to see how many metals Agnello Dias nets tonight. Yesterday, wifey Nandini Dias’s Lodestar UM bagged several honours. Tonight could well be Aggie’s. Total domination by the Diases!

     

    4. Remember Bobby quit Mudra half-way, just as Sonal quit Bates half-way… It will be interesting to see the mix of emotions as their ex and current agencies walk away with honours (If it was a television event, I am sure the camera would focus on Bobby every time Mudra gets an award or on Colvyn when Aggie gets it for Pepsi… quite like they do in the film awards where you see Rekha’s expressions on Amitabh, Vivek Oberoi on Salman. Etc etc etc)

     

    5. It’s the last day of Goafest. May as well live it up!

     

    Click here to view all Goafest 2012 stories

     

  • Ajay Chandwani on how Abby is not just a creative advertising award any more, though it had started that way more than 40 years ago

    Go-Goafest!: Ajay Chandwani on why the Abby this year is special

    By Ajay Chandwani

     

    The Creative Abby has evolved in many ways and this year is no exception. With the 9 verticals, the Abby is not just a creative advertising award any more, though it had started that way more than 40 years ago. Direct, Design, Digital and Film Craft have all created new communication communities with companies participating from these functional areas. The Abby is sought after by film directors, through the line stalwarts, mobile and digital companies and others.

     

    New categories like Environment Design, Online Integrated Digital andMobile, Augmented Reality, Direct response inMobileand so on added a new dimension to entry opportunities. No wonder we saw 4,253 entries this year, a significant increase over last year.

     

    The combination of discussion with secret ballot seems to have been welcomed by most creatives for the second year running. This is a departure from the open hands vote of 3 years that Goafest 2008-10 used, with endorsement from the creative community. Also new rules on multi-category entering and discretionary clubbing on winners with similarity has gone down well with the creative folks.

     

    Jury composition has also evolved with younger and recent award winning contemporary judges being added from several agencies. At least 15 per cent of the judges were first time jury members at Abbys. Also we saw 3 new Jury Chairmen at Goafest Abby this year … Sonal Dabral of Mudra DDB, Ashish Khazanchi of Publicis and Abhijit Awasti of Ogilvy.

     

    Another added feature this year has been that judges from advertising mainstream agencies are rubbing shoulders with specialist judges in Direct, Design, Digital and Film Craft juries. The lines between specialists are blurring as convergence and creativity becomes a child of the 360 degree touch point era.

     

    The healthiest debates in discussion have been on ‘Are we honouring best in local Indian standards or benchmarking against international winners?’ With so many Indian entries chasing International awards and Indian judges at global festivals, it’s not surprising that most juries have worked out their balance on this subject.

     

    Let’s hope the audience likes the winners picked on April 21!

     

    Ajay Chandwani is Director at Percept Limited and is member of Award Governing Council in charge of Jury selection, judging process and conducting of Creative Abby

    Click here to view all Goafest 2012 stories

     

  • There were a record 300 entries, a 50 per cent jump over last year. The number of participating agencies doubled to 33 agencies

    Jury meets to select winners of the 9th Mirchi KAAN Awards

    By A Correspondent

     

    The ninth edition of the Mirchi Kaan Awards had an unprecedented response when the Ad gurus met to select the best radio ads of 2011. There were a record 300 entries, a 50 per cent jump over last year. The number of participating agencies doubled to 33 agencies. And the number of entries for the Best Use of Radio as a Medium saw a tripling of entries to a record 31. Entries were spread across 15 categories, ranging from food to cosmetics.

     

    The winners will be felicitated at a gala event hosted by Cyrus Broacha on April 17 at Comedy Store, Phoenix Mills. The Mirchi KAAN Awards was introduced in 2004 to celebrate creativity in the challenging and evolving field of radio advertising. Over the years it has recognised and honoured ground-breaking and original radio campaigns.

     

    Speaking about the ninth Mirchi KAAN Awards, GG Jayanta, National Marketing Head, Radio Mirchi, said: “Every year the stakes get higher. In our 9th edition, the entries and the number of participating agencies have doubled. This is a testament to the prestige that winning a KAAN award gives. I thank the jury for having taken the time out of their busy schedule and selecting the winning entries.”

     

    The eminent jury included stalwarts like Pratap Suthan, Priti Nair, Amit Akali, Malvika Mehra, Manohar Nayak, Josy Paul, Rekha Nigam, Deepa Krishnan, Ramanuj Shastry, Tista Sen, Sonal Dabral and Ravi Deshpande.

     

    Sharing his thoughts about the quality of entries received this year, Josy Paul, Chairman and National Creative Director- BBDO India, said:  “Radio is a very personal and one to one medium. Hence good execution is of utmost importance. There has been resurgence in lot of fresh ideas this year which has lead to more freshness in programming.”

     

    Sonal Dabral, Chairman and Chief Creative Officer, DDB Mudra Group, said: “I am on the Mirchi KAAN Jury for the very first time this year and I am quite excited to be a part of this process. Radio as a medium has a lot of potential. Unlike earlier, a lot of brands have now started including and demanding for Radio advertisements to be included in the overall marketing campaign.”

     

    Ravi Deshpande, Chairman and Chief Creative Officer, Contract Advertising, said: “Advertising is always evolving, and especially radio advertising has seen tremendous amount of growth. Interesting trends of conversations are always happening and it’s nice to see them getting adapted to the medium of radio”.

     

    Ramanuj Shastry, Chief Creative Officer, Saatchi & Saatchi, said: “It’s fun to be a part of the Mirchi KAAN Awards. New writers are coming in, innovative projects are being showcased. As a jury member it is a pleasant experience to watch this fantastic trend”.

     

    Amit Akali, National Creative Director, Grey Worldwide, said: “The Tony Hertz workshop for these aspirants as a run-up to the main KAAN Awards is a commendable initiative by Radio Mirchi. The workshop will help the listeners to learn the nuances of radio advertising and improve the quality”.

     

    This year the theme of the Mirchi KAAN Awards’ ‘Listen, Learn, Shine’ focuses solely on the quality of work in the developing industry of radio advertising. Celebrated and renowned ad guru, Tony Hertz, will conduct a seminar on the art and craft of radio advertising for the aspirants from various ad agencies on April 17 as a build up to the Awards night. ET Now is the television partner and Afaqs.com is the digital partner of the ninth Mirchi KAAN Awards.