MxMIndia

Tag: Vaishali Verma

  • Menon will be based in Bengaluru and report to Vaishali Verma

    Initiative appoints Laya Menon as EVP

    By A Correspondent

     

    Initiative has appointed Laya Menon as Executive Vice President. Menon will be based in Bengaluru and report to Vaishali Verma, CEO, Initiative.

     

    Menon joins Initiative from GroupM after working there for 15 years.In her new role, Menon will drive Initiative’s business growth and profitability in Bangalore which handles ecommerce major Amazon, MRF, 3M and others.

     

    Said Verma: “I welcome Laya to the Initiative family and she comes on-board with a rich experience of 19 years. I can’t think of a better person to lead Initiative’s Bangalore office which has some of the biggest clients of IPG Mediabrands in India. Laya’s strengths include business management, strategic thinking and client relationship and I am confident that she will strengthen and grow the agency through Initiative’s Culture Velocity.”

     

     

  • The account was won following a multi-agency pitch

    Anchor appoints Initiative & Leo Burnett for media & creative

    By A Correspondent

     

    Electrical goods maker Anchor has appointed Initiative for its media mandate and Leo Burnett India for its creative duties.

     

    Said Vivek Sharma, Managing Director, Anchor Electricals Private Limited, on the creative mandate to LBI: “We were looking for a partner whose innovative ideas and approach are in sync with our brand’s vision. We have partnered with Leo Burnett India as our new creative agency based on their strategic planning and innovative creative thinking. We believe and have complete faith in the team’s passion, commitment and their ability to do justice to our mandate. We look forward to a stronger collaboration and are confident that the partnership with Leo Burnett will help us further strengthen our ability to reach out to our existing and potential consumers with influential and relevant communication.” And this is what he said on the Initiative appointment: “As a company, we are strategically aligning ourselves to substantially improve consumer connect. AEPL would aggressively use mass media in building saliency and creating awareness for its businesses in the months to come. We, at AEPL, are happy to partner with Initiative in this exciting phase of growth”.

     

    Said Dheeraj Sinha, MD – India & Chief Strategy Officer – South Asia, Leo Burnett: “It’s a great opportunity to re-energise a brand that has tremendous local equity in the name ‘Anchor’, and now has the advantage of global expertise in the name of ‘Panasonic’. Our opportunity is to build a brand and a business in this category like it has never been done before.”

     

    Added Vaishali Verma, CEO, Initiative: “This is one more prestigious addition to our esteemed portfolio of clients. We look forward to working with Anchor and create cutting-edge, strategic media solutions. Working with an ambitious company like Anchor is a great challenge and we look forward to creating impactful business solutions through our proprietary global tools.”

     

     

  • He will continue to be Managing Director of Magna

    Arun Sharma is now COO, Initiative

    By A Correspondent

     

    The IPG Mediabrands-owned full-service media agency Initiative has announced the elevation of Arun Sharma to the role of Chief Operating Officer (COO) for Delhi.  Prior to this, as Senior Partner of Initiative, Sharma played a pivotal role in spearheading the Reckitt Benckiser account. Last year, Sharma was also given the additional mandate of IPG Mediabrand’s newly launched unit Magna and was named Managing Director of the division.

     

    Said Vaishali Verma, CEO, Initiative: “We couldn’t have found a better person for this position as he is one of our own and has been leading the RB business for the last 4 years with many industry and RB India firsts. Also, Initiative as an agency believes in growing brands through culture, something that Arun has led from the front with creating a successful asset as Banega Swachh India for Dettol.”

     

    Talking about the new role, Sharma said: “Indian media industry is going through very exciting times. Initiative with its strong brand equity, perfect mix of large and reputed global and local clients, cutting edge tools and techniques, strong product offerings, talented and driven bunch of people is best poised to serve its client in this dynamic market scenario. In my new dual roles as COO Initiative Delhi and MD of Magna, my key priority would be to help our clients grow their business by leveraging our expertise, strategic use of our tools, by implementing our global learning and dominant scale in media. I am extremely excited and looking forward to the bigger challenge that I have been given, supported by a great team on ground.”

     

    An alumni of MICA, Sharma started his career with Madison in 1998 as Strategic Planning Supervisor for the Coke Business. In 1999, he moved to Universal McCann as Associate Media Director and handled businesses like Nestle, L’Oreal and Gillette. In 2003, he had a brief stint with Mediacom following which Sharma moved to the client’s side and joined Bharti Airtel as DGM Marketing. Following a stint of 11 years, in 2014, Sharma quit Bharti Airtel as VP Marketing – Head Media (All Business, South Asia) and moved to Initiative as Vice President – Reckitt Benckiser Business Head.

     

     

  • The account will be managed by Initiative's Mumbai office

    Indigo Paints appoints Initiative as media AOR

    By A Correspondent

     

    Paint manufacturer Indigo Paints has appointed Initiative as its media agency on record (AOR). The mandate includes media investment and strategic partnership including print, television, digital, out-of-home (OOH) and radio. The account will be managed by Initiative’s Mumbai office.

     

    Talking about the appointment, Hemant Jalan, Managing Director, Indigo Paints, said: “Indigo Paints is a fairly young company and we started our operations in 2000. We have always developed innovative products, and in this short timeline we have managed to challenge the established players in the category. In the paints category in India, which is otherwise dominated by a select few established brands, we have managed to clock in very high growth rates and we hope to continue this momentum for the next several years.”

     

    Added Vaishali Verma, CEO, Initiative:  “It is a moment of pride for us to be associated with Indigo Paints and we are delighted with the trust that the company has shown in us. The opportunity to partner Indigo Paints during this high growth phase is extremely stimulating for all of us at Initiative. The greatest strength of Initiative is strategy and we are committed to creating innovative, cutting-edge work for Indigo Paints.”

     

     

  • Simplilearn, a pioneer in online education for professionals, creates course programs, exams, and lab projects for professionals across the world

    Lodestar UM wins media duties of Simplilearn

    By A Correspondent

     

    Lodestar UM has been awarded the media mandate for Simplilearn, a professional certifications company. As part of the mandate win, the agency will take care of the brand’s media duties in domestic and international market.

     

    Lodestar UM has emerged as one of the dominant players in Bangalore market and has added yet another win to its vast portfolio of clients. Over the years it has built the biggest solutions network in the industry, offering integrated end-to-end solutions for its clients.

     

    Simplilearn, a pioneer in online education for professionals, creates course programs, exams, and lab projects for professionals across the world. The company successfully prepares them for the complete certification exams with ease. Simplilearn has over 300 short-term courses across business, technology, marketing and creative domains that enable professionals receive certificates from accredited bodies. It has its footprints in the US, Australia and Singapore.

     

    Vedanarayanan Vedantham, Head of Marketing, Simplilearn said, “Working with the Lodestar UM team was a pleasure. Their knowledge of the media space coupled with their strong focus on customer delight made them a pleasure to work with”.

     

    Commenting on the win, Nandini Dias, CEO, Lodestar UM said “We are happy and proud to have been trusted with Simplilearn and will partner the client across all its media needs. We are confident that with our differentiated offering and in-depth understanding of e-commerce and technology Simplilearn will further consolidate its leadership.”

     

    Vaishali Verma, Chief Operating Officer, Lodestar UM, Bangalore said, “I am delighted at the win of Simplilearn. They are defining this category and we look forward to partner them in their growth through our differentiated planning approach.”

     

    The win adds significant weight to Lodestar UM’s client portfolio, which includes marquee clients such as J&J, Coca-Cola, Mahindra & Mahindra, Samsung, Amul, Tata, Wipro, Zivame etc.