MxMIndia

Tag: Webchutney

  • To lead its digital marketing strategy

    Webchutney bags Godrej Professional hair mandate

    Dentsu Creative Webchutney has won the digital mandate for Godrej Professional hair brand from Godrej Consumer Products Limited (GCPL). The account was won following a multi-agency pitch and will be serviced from the agency’s Mumbai office.

    As per the mandate, Dentsu Creative Webchutney will lead the digital marketing strategy and execute innovative campaigns for Godrej Professional. Leveraging expertise in data, technology, and advanced marketing, the agency will deliver digital solutions and unforgettable brand engagements. This partnership aims to establish Godrej Professional as the preferred choice of brand in salons, driving growth and enhancing consumer loyalty.

    Said Aradhita Utterkar, Head – Marketing, Godrej Professional: “The decision to collaborate with Dentsu Creative Webchutney was driven by their exceptional ability to combine creativity with strategic insight. We are excited about the potential this partnership holds and look forward to creating impactful campaigns that not only enhance our brand but also inspire our audience.”

    Added Nikhil Kumar, Managing Partner (West), Dentsu Creative Webchutney: “This is undoubtedly a special win for all of us. The win further validates our digital-first mindset and our ability to leverage new-age possibilities while contextualizing them to the business opportunities in play. We truly feel humbled by the team’s belief in us and look forward to partnering with them in their journey ahead.”

  • Explores impact of digital transformation on advertising and marketers

    IAA hosts first digital event TechPulse

    By Our Staff

     

    The India Chapter of International Advertising Association (IAA) hosted its first-ever onground digital event, TechPulse.

     

    The theme of the event, “Digital Transformation: Implications for Advertising and Marketers,” saw discussions on opportunities and challenges presented by the digital landscape. Said Neena Dasgupta, Chairperson, IAA TechPulse, and CEO & Founder of The Salt Inc Consulting, CEO of Aidem Ventures: “With TechPulse, we brought together some of the brightest minds in the advertising and market industry. Going forward, IAA TechPulse will provide a platform for industry professionals to learn, share, and collaborate on the latest developments in the field.”

     

    IAA India chapter TechPulse kicked off with a minute of silence in honour of Siddharth Rao, Co-Founder WebChutney (acquired by Dentsu) and Punt Partners. Neena Dasgupta and Avinash Pandey, President – IAA India Chapter and CEO, ABP Network, set the context for the event before a conversation by Megha Tata, CEO Cosmos-Maya, and Anant Goenka, Chairperson, IAA TechPulse & Executive Director, The Indian Express Group, on the change in content delivery in linear and integrated context.

     

    The main event began with a session by Neeraj Roy, Founder & CEO of Hungama Digital Media Entertainment Limited, on the role of technology in India’s digital foundation and the opportunities it presents for maximizing efficiency. The event also saw a session by Charulata Ravi Kumar, MD of Accenture, on the topic of digital disruption and its impact on socio-economic changes.

     

    Karthi Marshan, Advisor, Kotak highlighted on the need for cautiously adopting the latest developments specifically in the areas of Banking and Finance. Niraj Ruparel, Emerging Tech Lead at GroupM/WPP presented some novel applications of Generative AI. Tarun Katial, Founder & CEO of COTO App discussed the marketer’s dilemma in the conversational AI era and how to solve it.

     

    TechPulse also featured a panel discussion on “Marketing Solutions in a cookie-less world,” moderated by Nandini Dias, Former CEO, Lodestar UM. The panel members, Prasad Shejale, Founder & CEO, Logicserve Digital, Sanjay Sindhwani, CEO, Indian Express Digital, Siddharth Dhabade, Managing Director, MiQ, and Neil George, Managing Director, Nivea India, discussed the challenges and opportunities of marketing in a cookie-less world.

     

    Satya Raghavan, Director Marketing Partners at Google India, highlighted developments happening at Google in understanding consumer behaviour given emerging environmental and contextual constraints. Shilpa Sadana, Associate Director of Sales at Affinity Global Advertising and Ritu Mittal, Head of Marketing and Digital at Bayer Consumer presented a case study highlighting the significance of research insights in formulating creatives for digital platforms.

     

    The need for integrated media measurement and possible guidelines for it was presented by Priya Choudhary, Director of Business Solutions & Insights at Google India. This was followed by an panel discussion, moderated by Vivek Malhotra, Group CMO (India Today Group) and COO Consumer Revenue, focused on the new world of cross-media measurement. The panel members, L V Krishnan, CEO, TAM Media Research, Anand Chakravarthy, Chief Growth Officer, Omnicom Media Group, Vishal Chinchankar, CEO, Madison Digital, Gowthaman Ragothaman, Founding CEO of Aqilliz, and Prasun Basu, Head of Growth and Digital Transformation, Kantar, discussed the need for cross-media measurement and the challenges that come with it.

     

    The last session was by Amer Jaleel, former Group Chief Creative Officer and Chairman of MullenLowe Lintas Group, on the importance of creativity in the world of technology, data, and methods.

     

    The event also announced innovation awards to recognise the enterprises and the foresight of individuals to implement innovative thoughts into action. The innovation awards were identified under four segments – Marketing, Media, Agency and Platforms:

    :: Prasad Pimple, EVP and Head of Digital, Kotak Life was presented the innovation award for going deep into customer mindset segmentation and linking psychographic triggers to behaviour to unlock value across all digital activities.

    :: Niraj Ruparel, Emerging Tech – Lead at GroupM/WPP for diving deep into Conversational AI and Metaverse and bringing the two together to unlock and implement some of the best experienced innovations.

    :: Neha Barjatya, Director Marketing, Google India for combining the power of platforms and the ambition of empowering rural women to create sustained opportunities and strong communities.

    :: Vivek Malhotra, CMO India Today Group and COO Consumer Revenues for innovating on integration content, context and audience behavior to grow the customer base exponentially.

     

  • Gaur will report to Gahlaut

    Arjuna Gaur is CCO Webchutney & DentsuM

    By Our Staff

     

    Dentsu India has announced the appointment of Arjuna Gaur as Chief Creative Officer (CCO), Dentsu Webchutney & DentsuMB.

     

    In his new role, Gaur will work towards expanding the creative mandate for both the agencies. He will lead creative thought leadership across the network and combine the expertise of Dentsu Webchutney and dentsuMB to deliver future-forward creative solutions for clients. Gaur will report into Ajay Gahlaut, Group Chief Creative Officer India (GCCO), Dentsu Creative India.

     

    Commenting on the appointment, Gahlaut said: “It is a privilege to have yet another brilliant creative onboard as part of the team. Arjuna is a rare creative person who is equally adept at traditional and new age media. Apart from being an advertising creative, he is a musician skilled at playing multiple musical instruments. He also restores old computer systems. He has added great value to the brands that he has been associated with. We are looking forward to him significantly raising the creative quality of our output and adding even more value to the solutions that we provide to our clients.”

     

  • Will focus on accelerating the agency's expansion across key business lines

    Harsh Shah is Managing Partner, Webchutney

    By Our Staff

     

    Harsh Shah
    Harsh Shah

    Dentsu Webchutney, the digital creative agency, has promoted Harsh Shah, erstwhile Executive Vice President (EVP), to the role of Managing Partner.

     

    In his new role, Shah will report into Sidharth Rao, CEO, DentsuMB Group, and will focus on accelerating the agency’s expansion across key business lines.

     

    Sidharth Rao
    Sidharth Rao

    Commenting on the elevation, Rao said: “Harsh has risen through the ranks over the decade that he has spent at Dentsu Webchutney. He is a testament to the agency’s unique history of consistent homegrown leadership. I have no doubt that he is the right choice to unlock Webchutney’s exciting new phase of growth, as a key part of the wider Dentsu Creative brand. With his proven record of growing people, businesses, and culture at the agency, Harsh is poised to accelerate our creative and business ambitions.”

     

  • Celebrates the tradition of Lumba Rakhi

    Webchutney shoots Tanishq Raksha Bandhan film

    By Our Staff

     

    Tanishq has launched its latest digital film on Raksha Bandhan. The film is conceptualised by Tanishq and Webchutney.

     

    Speaking about the campaign, Ranjani Krishnaswamy, GM – Marketing, Tanishq, Titan Company Ltd, said: “Raksha Bandhan has always been a beautiful occasion to celebrate diverse relationships, their special bonds and reinforce the promise of taking care of someone – and that needn’t be just a brother-sister equation. #SistersByChoice is our humble attempt to showcase and celebrate the unique tradition of Lumba Rakhi capturing a loving banter between a sister and her sister-in-law that spreads happiness and positivity. With our latest campaign, we hope to celebrate the underlying promise & emotion around Raksha Bandhan which is all about love and care.”

     

    Added the Strategy X Creative duo from Dentsu Webchutney, Shambhavi Ramanathan and Binaifer Dulani: “Women uplifting women is the underlying theme of our times. We’re elated to add a new dimension to the Rakshabandhan conversation by shining the spotlight on progressive womanhood. We’ve challenged the baggage around the dynamic shared by sisters-in-law, and portrayed a newer and more nuanced narrative with #SistersByChoice.”

     

  • His achievements have and will change the way digital advertising is perceived in India

    It’s Sidharth Rao. The MxMIndia Mediaperson of the Year 2019

     

    By Pradyuman Maheshwari

     

     

    Greetings! It’s D-Day all over again. December 20, 2010. The day when we said we would announce the MxMIndia Mediaperson of the Year 2019. Unlike various other awards and presentations, this is done via MxMIndia, not through an event. So we aren’t dictated by the demands (and exigencies) of sponsors and the constraints that venues and budgets put us under. We like to compare it with the Time magazine’s Person of the Year. Just an online announcement. We are sure you will join us in the celebration of who our 2019 Mediaperson of the Year is.

     

    First a quick look at how we are different from various other awards/title presentations:

     

    First, it’s not based on a survey. It’s not based on any industry poll. It is based on a study conducted by us through the year. This makes the decision-making tougher, as we can’t pass the blame on to research. Or the collective view of the industry. Or of a jury.

     

    Second, it’s an A&M industry study. Agreed CEOs of big clients are important, but we are looking at CMOs and not CEOs of well-marketed organisations.

     

    Third, we look at performance through the year, and do not base it on the highs of the last two quarters of a year which tend to influence any voting-based process at the yearend.

     

    Fourth, it’s about performance in the year. The highs and highs achieved in this calendar year.

     

    Fifth, we give you a clear reason why we have chosen the winner

     

    Sixth, we are as sincere and honest about the awards as one can get. A few years back there were suggestions that we should make it an on-ground event. But then that comes with its own set of issues (and compulsions). We even had one large media group expressing its interest four years back. But we think it could’ve influenced our decision-making.

     

    So: the MxMIndia Mediaperson of the Year 2019 is an online presentation. It’s an accolade that’s for the truly well-deserving. And for the True Achiever of 2019 in the Indian Media, Advertising & Marketing arena.

     

    With the backgrounders done, here’s  how we went about our task.

     

    We maintain an online notebook that records important developments of the year. It’s also a drill that ensures one can do recaps etc with ease.

     

    For the Mediaperson of the Year, one reviews names, quarter-wise. This ensures the choice of the winner doesn’t suffer from the recency factor.

     

    We looked at various names. We couldn’t miss the achievements of the various media biggies as they went on consolidating operations.

     

    We had also asked our readers for their nominations, and we added these to the come to a shortlist of five.

     

    Ladies and Gentlemen, We have great pride in announcing that the 2019 MxMIndia Mediaperson of the Year Award is:

     

    Sidharth Rao

    CEO and Co-Founder, Dentsu Webchutney

    Sidharth Rao

    He was all of 19 when he started a digital agency called Webchutney. He was its co-founder and CEO. Six years back (in 2013), the agency was acquired by the Dentsu Aegis Network and hasn’t looked back ever since.

    Dentsu Webchutney was the most-awarded Indian agency at the Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity in 2019. And has won numerous awards – at the Goafest Abby, at the Kyoorius Awards and almost everywhere else. The year also saw the release of Rao’s book ‘How I Almost Blew It’

     

    Rao is also an angel investor, was the co-founder of Network Play, which became one of the largest brand ad network in less than three years and was later acquired by European media conglomerate Bertelsmann AG.

     

    So how did we arrive at our decision: 

     

    The year 2019 has been pretty horrible for the media, advertising and marketing ecosystem. Achche Din didn’t happen. In fact the line that’s used is: Burre din kab jaayenge.

     

    This state of the economy has had a huge impact on the business of media. Profits are down, work has reduced and the bottomlines have been severely impacted.

     

    So we looked at all the small, medium-sized and large companies that did very well in the year. While there has been a fair amount of great work done despite all the odds, we didn’t find an individual’s achievement striking enough for being a ‘Person of the Year’. There is of course the argument that the very ability to navigate and profit in a tough year is by itself an achievement.

     

    We couldn’t agree more. So to the media and advertising industry and all the professionals who are part of it: kudos. You are all super-achievers.

     

    But in all of this, we found Sidharth Rao’s achievements stand out. Digital has been growing over the years, but one of the reasons why it hasn’t grown enough so far is because it’s always been compartmentalised and hence never considered as mainstream advertising.

     

    Rao’s achievements of the year have changed that. And will do that forever. He’s not your pinstriped suitwallah adperson. He’s not a turtle neck T-shirt wallah techie. He belongs to the breed of industryfolk who have done things quietly and have done it over the years.

     

    A truly deserving winner of the 2019 MxMIndia Mediaperson of the Year title.

     

     

  • Agency reveals its undercover Search campaign to raise mental health awareness

    Dentsu Webchutney’s Project Re-Search urges adults to go beyond Blue Whale Challenge

    By A Correspondent

     

    Dentsu Webchutney revealed Project Re-Search, an initiative started in November 2017 to measurably increase mental health awareness in India, starting with its first campaign, Beyond the Blue Whale. The campaign turns a Google search for the Blue Whale Challenge and its associated terms to a search for mental health difficulties in children, instead. This undercover search campaign has been active since November 2017, attempting to divert traffic from all ‘Blue Whale Challenge’ related searches, to relevant topics around mental health.

     

    Commenting on the initiative, PG Aditya, Senior Creative Director, Webchutney said: “Post the Blue Whale Challenge, we had to ask ourselves: where now from here? What is the right takeaway for parents and adults from this? And how do we equip ourselves when say, the next avatar of a Blue Whale surfaces? The masses hadn’t received that information from the large institutions that drove the sensation around Blue Whale. And we decided to take it upon ourselves to change that.”

     

    Added Anushma Kshetrapal, founder, Color of Grey Cells:  “Project Re-search uses the Blue Whale Challenge as a wake-up call. And aims to direct an adult’s invested concern in it towards some of the oft ignored mental health difficulties that could have made our children vulnerable to it. The hope is that adults ‘re-searching’ through this initiative take their first step towards learning about issues we’ve ignored as a society for far too long”.

     

     

  • The film effectively sheds light on Dyslexia

    DentsuWebchutney creates campaign for Jaslok Hospital

     

     

    Leading Mumbai hospital, the Jaslok Hospital, has launched a drive to spread awareness about Dyslexia among parents and teachers. Conceptualised by DentsuWebchutney, ‘The Dyslexic Captcha’ campaign makes people experience Dyslexia first-hand.

    “We are committed to innovation and compassion in healthcare and wellness. Our vision for this campaign was to make our audience understand the perils of Dyslexia. With this idea, we hope to make a difference in how Dyslexia is seen and understood,” said DrTarangGianchandani, CEO, Jaslok Hospital and Research Centre.

    Added Gaurav Soi, Executive Vice President, DenstuWebchutney: “Jaslok Hospital is one of the leaders in the healthcare category. This campaign is a testament to Jaslok Hospital’s innovative approach as well as our core belief of staying at the forefront of bringing creative ideas to life via technology.”“This idea puts parents and teachers in the shoes of Dyslexic children. It not only makes them aware but also gives them an experience of Dyslexia through an interesting media innovation. We are quite sure that it will bring a positive change,” said Gurbaksh Singh, Chief Creative Technologist, DentsuWebchutney Innovation Lab.

  • After a competitive on-boarding process, the two companies finalised their contract

    Dentsu Webchutney is Rentomojo’s digital agency

    By A Correspondent

     

    Furniture and appliance rental firm Rentomojo has signed Dentsu Webchutney to shape its digital agenda.

     

    Geetansh Bamania

    After a competitive onboarding process, the two companies finalised their contract. Dentsu Webchutney’s Bengaluru team will now take the startup brand to the urban, young, working audiences and their mandate includes social media, digital content, video, and acquisition programmes. “Rentomojo is building a category and in this process, connecting with our audience & engagement is the prime objective,” said Geetansh Bamania, founder – Rentomojo, “It’s imperative to not just talk but also to listen to our audience. We look forward to establishing communication pegs in an interesting way that connects with the audience – something that Dentsu Webchutney was able to showcase during their introduction with us. We are confident that together, we will create great work.”

     

    Gautam Reghunath

    “Rentomojo and the growing rental economy excite us a lot. Consumer behaviour in this category is very counterintuitive from the typical consumption culture and the concept of owning one’s own. We’re thrilled at the opportunity to helping establish Rentomojo as a key player in the space.” says Gautam Reghunath, Senior Vice President and Branch Head, Dentsu Webchutney Bangalore. “We have great admiration for Geetansh and his team’s vision and in a space as short-lived as digital, we’re two teams now working as one – ready to roll good, effective ideas when they strike.”

     

  • AtHomeDiva aims at simplifying beauty solutions for consumers by offering a full range of at-home beauty and styling services

    AtHomeDiva communicates about beauty problems of women

    By A Correspondent

     

    AtHomeDiva, Quikr’s on-demand at-home beauty services brand has rolled out a campaign encouraging women not to wait to look great. Created by Dentsu Webchutney, it consists of a series of videos showing the stories of three women who are at different stages of life, sharing a variety of reasons on why they tend to postpone their salon time. Never-ending household tasks, pregnancy related fatigue and the unwillingness to step out after a hectic week are some of the reasons. Through the series, Webchutney precisely highlights the times when going to a salon for women isn’t as easy as it sounds and successfully positions AtHomeDiva as an easy and convenient option.

     

    AtHomeDiva aims at simplifying beauty solutions for consumers by offering a full range of at-home beauty and styling services including hair, skin and make-up by qualified beauty professionals. From quick skin beauty rituals to relaxing spa sessions, the brand doesn’t fail to spin a surprise for all the women who often wished they could get their salon home. The best part? They always have exciting special packages for all your beauty needs.

     

  • Morning Fresh has extended its creative wingspan and introduced 'The Bro'ster' in collaboration with Web Chutney

    Morning Fresh unveils campaign to promote ‘The Bro’ster’

    By A Correspondent

     

    Morning Fresh, a restorative hangover cure and a natural drink to detoxify alcohol was conceptualised mid 2015. Morning Fresh has now extended its creative wingspan and introduced ‘The Bro’ster’ in collaboration with Web Chutney.

     

    The Bro’ster is the first ever talking coaster to keep you company through the evening; much like that one sober friend who’s got your back and beyond on a night out. Witty, charming, and occasionally mean, he says what he means about your drinking curve, which is displayed on an LCD screen on the coaster. At the end of the session, he delivers a unique MF code that a user can tweet to receive and discover their drinking personality based on his/her drinking style along with a complimentary bottle of Morning Fresh to help them wake up bright and chirpy.

     

    Commenting on the campaign, Mitali Tandon, Cofounder, Morning Fresh said: “At Morning Fresh we are always trying to push the envelope to create an innovative and fresh experience for our customers. As a young brand, it is important for us to find ways to engage with our audience in a meaningful and relevant way. The Bro’ster was a great way to do this and merge modern technology with cultural insights. We’re starting with a few pubs and bars in Bengaluru, and hope to scale it to serve more patrons. Above all, it is exciting to see the role real–time data can play in the F&B industry.”

     

    Adding more to the concept, the WebChutney Team said: ” Several attempts have been made to make coasters a more interesting product- from experimenting with shapes, sizes and design to content. But we believe The Bro’ster stands out purely because of its utility and potential to optimize your entire evening. As the data that the Bro’ster takes in isn’t only used for throwing out contextual messages that spark a smile, but is linked to real time customized rewards- right from ordering food for the ones who are going too slow, to ordering a cab for the ones who’ve gone overboard. Morning Fresh was a great brand to partner with to devise this experience. As an urban, ambitious brand, its promise of providing a hangover-free, responsible drinking experience perfectly matched the purpose that an interactive coaster could serve.”

     

  • An innovational campaign for Turquoise Cottage Pub involved a tweet powered clock that moved backwards when a tweet was sent using #HappyHoursRewind

    Dentsu Webchutney unveils #HappyHourRewind concept

    By A Correspondent

     

    Dentsu Webchutney Innovation Labs has launched a campaign that gives the category of Happy Hours a much needed twist. Launched at Turquoise Cottage, a youngsters frequented pub, #HappyHoursRewind allowed people to, simply, turn back time. With a quick tweet, they could rewind the clock and make sure that happy hours never ended.

     

    “Hundreds of bars all over the world run the same old schemes of extending Happy Hours, which begs the question – what does a bar have to do to stand out?” said Gurbaksh Singh, Chief Creative Technologist, Dentsu Webchutney Innovation Labs.

     

    Elucidating on the campaign he said, “The aim was to infuse freshness into the concept of ‘Happy Hours’ through technology.  For this idea, we experimented with an old school analogue clock, and integrated it with the digital sphere through twitter. We hacked into the clock and engineered it to move anti-clockwise when specific tweets were sent, giving us a way to rewind time.”

     

    This innovative campaign received more than 250 tweets in a single night, and resulted in Happy Hours going on till midnight even though the clock still showed 9pm!

     

    The installation was set up in Turquoise Cottage and patrons were invited between 7pm – 9 pm to tweet with their views on ‘Why happy hours shouldn’t end’ using hashtag #Happyhoursrewind.

     

    This is a pilot campaign that was undertaken at Saket outlet and will be replicated at other locations too, shortly.