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Category: MAM

  • O&M India appoints Joono Simon as ECD for Bangalore office

    O&M India appoints Joono Simon as ECD for Bangalore office

    MUMBAI: Joono Simon has been appointed as the executive creative director of Ogilvy & Mather, Bangalore.


    Simon was previously heading Leo Burnett Solutions – Colombo as chief creative officer.


    Before his Colombo stint, Simon was heading the creative team in Mudra South, overseeing the Bangalore, Chennai and Kochi offices. 
     
    Prior to that, he was senior vice president and senior creative director of JWT Chennai. He has also worked across agencies such as Contract, RK Swami BBDO, SSC&B Lintas and MAA Bozell.


    Ogilvy president south Prateek Srivastava said, “We are sure that under Joono‘s creative leadership, and with the guidance of our national creative directors, Ogilvy Bangalore‘s creative reputation will shine brighter than ever before. Joono comes to us with a robust and much applauded background having won at Cannes, Spikes Asia, and at Adfest.


    Simon joins Ogilvy with 18 years of industry experience and has worked on multinational brands such as Jockey, Louis Philippe, Himalaya, Signature Whiskey, Peter England, Ford, and Pepsi Foods. He was recently named in the top 50 creative rankings for Asia Pacific.
     

  • Wyndham extends sponsorship deal with PGA Tour through 2016

    MUMBAI: The PGA Tour and Wyndham Worldwide have announced that Wyndham has extended its title sponsorship of the Wyndham Championship, one of the golf tour‘s longest-running tournaments, for four years through 2016.


    The 2011 Wyndham Championship will be contested from 15-21 August 2011 at the Donald-Ross designed Sedgefield Country Club in Greensboro, N.C., with 10-time international winner Arjun Atwal set to defend his maiden PGA Tour title.


    The Wyndham Championship is the 37th and final tournament in the PGA Tour Regular Season and plays a pivotal role in the race to the PGA Tour Playoffs for the FedExCup.
     
    The event offers the final opportunity for players to improve their seeding heading into the Playoffs, or in some instances, move into the top 125 to qualify for the first Playoffs event, The Barclays.


    PGA Tour commissioner Tim Finchem said, “We are delighted to continue our relationship with Wyndham Worldwide, especially given the critical role the Wyndham Championship has played in the schedule as the final event in the PGA Tour Regular Season. Thanks to Wyndham Worldwide‘s partnership, the Wyndham Championship has received tremendous support in the region, and our players have embraced the event, its leadership and the golf course at Sedgefield Country Club. These factors have all played a large impact on the increases in the tournament‘s charitable giving since Wyndham signed on as title sponsor in 2007.”


    In the five years since Wyndham Worldwide joined the Piedmont Triad‘s PGA Tour event, the Wyndham Championship has provided more than $1 million annually in charitable impact to organisations including the tournament‘s official charity, Wishes By Wyndham.


    Wyndham Worldwide chairman and CEO Stephen P. Holmes said, “We are excited to continue our partnership with the PGA Tour and extend the legacy of the Wyndham Championship in the Piedmont Triad. The PGA Tour and Wyndham Worldwide remain a great fit, as both hold a commitment to excellence, a dedication for others through philanthropy and a great appreciation for the time to enjoy one‘s passions.”

  • Sanjeev Bhargava is JWT Delhi managing partner

    Sanjeev Bhargava is JWT Delhi managing partner

    MUMBAI: JWT India has appointed Sanjeev Bhargava as managing partner JWT Delhi. He replaces Rohit Ohri who left to join Dentsu as its India head.


    In his new role, Bhargava will be responsible for JWT Delhi and will ensure future leadership in the agency‘s fastest growing office.


    Bhargava comes with over 20 years of experience in advertising. Prior to joining JWT, he was with DraftFCB for 18 years. He joined them in 1993 as group manager and was promoted as COO in 2003. 
     
    JWT CEO Colvyn Harris said, “JWT Delhi is our fastest growing office and Sanjeev‘s proven track record and leadership qualities will ensure our continued leadership in the market. Our client roster comprises India’s most admired and successful companies and helping them achieve their market ambitions and growth is our primary task. Sanjeev’s role will be crucial for this.”


    Bhargava added, “JWT has always been an institution that has led the way for advertising in India. The successful track record of the Delhi office is testimony to the vast resource pool of talent and leadership that exists in the organisation.”


    Bhargava has managed clients like Unilever, Nestle, Pepsi, HP, Compaq, Whirlpool, SC Johnson, Hero Honda, Naukri.com, Godfrey Phillips, Boeing, HCL, Frito Lay and Tropicana among others.


    Before DraftFCB, he was with JWT Delhi for four years and with Lowe where he started his advertising career.
     

  • Dilip Keshu is Whitefield’s CEO

    Dilip Keshu is Whitefield’s CEO

    MUMBAI: Global network of marketing solutions companies, Whitefield, has appointed Dilip Keshu as its chief executive officer with immediate effect.


    Keshu will be based in Whitefield‘s New York headquarters, and oversee the firm‘s global operations in London, Bangalore and Chennai.


    Keshu comes to Whitefield Marketing Group from Xchanging, a FTSE-listed company. As both a member of Xchanging‘s management board and group chief customer officer, he ran sales, relations, service and marketing functions across US, UK, Europe and Australia. 
     
    Previously, he was a member of the board and CEO of Scandent Solutions, which he took public. Subsequently, Scandent was renamed Cambridge Solutions, which was acquired by Xchanging in 2008.


    Keshu said, “Whitefield stands at the threshold of a changing world of marketing, equipped with the best tools, processes and domain skills to help clients market new products in global geographies through innovative media solutions.”


    Whitefield chairman Neeraj Bhargava added, “Dilip is exactly the tenacious, agile leader we need, with the right track record to grow Whitefield. His extensive global management experience and deep understanding of the shift from traditional media to digital prepares him well to build a company capable of delivering innovation and sustainable growth.”


    Keshu holds a Master of Technology degree from the Indian Institute of Technology and lives with his family in Princeton, New Jersey.


    Whitefield aims to increase marketing ROI by applying insight, harnessing new technology, exercising creativity, and exploiting scale and global reach. The company‘s client list includes retail, advertising, travel, entertainment, and media brands.

  • Dharmendra provides best opening for India’s Got Talent

    Dharmendra provides best opening for India’s Got Talent

    MUMBAI: The third season of Colors’ talent reality show, India’s Got Talent, has surpassed the opening day performance of all other non-fiction launches in 2011.


    In this fresh edition, Colors has roped in Bollywood actor Dharmendra as a jury member to share the panel with Sonali Bendre and Kirron Kher.


    India‘s Got Talent‘s opening day (29 July) average rating was 3.91 TVR while it peaked at 5.4 TVR. As per data provided by Colors, the show has surpassed the debut of Star Plus’ biggest dance reality show Just Dance, which scored a TVR of 3.7 TVR, to become the top opening scorer.


    Among the other top-rated reality shows in the year were Guinness World Records – Ab india Todega, which opened with a 3.3 TVR, followed by Khataron ke Khiladi – 4 (both Colors) with 3.0 TVR. Zee TV’s Saregamapa Li’l Champs had opened with a 2.7 TVR.


    Incidentally, with each successive season, India’s Got Talent as a property is getting bigger. The first season of the show opened to a 2.4 TVR while the second season saw a debut day rating of 3.1 TVR. In the first season, Bendre and Kher were joined by Shekhar Kapoor as the third judge, while in the second season Sajid Khan had replaced Kapoor.
     
     
    Colors said that the reach of the show as well as the time spent on watching it is increasing with the successive seasons. In the first season, the show had a 9.8 per cent reach for the first week, which went up to 12.4 in season two and 13.3 in the current season. Overall time spent also went up from 15 minutes in season one to 17 minutes in second season and 21 minutes in the current season.


    Meanwhile, Star Plus continues to rule the Hindi general entertainment channel (GEC) space. Powered by the telecast of the IIFA awards ceremony, which clocked a 4.3 TVR, the channel added 29 GRPs (gross rating points) and closed the week with 345 GRPs (316 GRPs in the previous week).


    Colors could not up its ratings despite India’s Got Talent’s strong opening and flagship fiction show Balika Vadhu occupying the top slot among the Hindi GECs (6.1 TVR). The channel clocked 266 GRPs in the week compared to 267 in the preceding week, according to TAM data for the week ended 30 July for the Hindi speaking markets,



    Zee TV maintained its third position but shed 12 GRPs to close the week under review with 208 GRPs. Sony Entertainment Television saw a marginal drop in ratings and closed at No. 4 with 190 GRPs (193 GRPs in previous week).


    Sab stayed steady with 125 GRPs (last week 124). Imagine TV, which launched the Rakhi Sawant-hosted new reality show Gajab Desh Ki Ajab Kahaaniyaan, saw a five GRP climb to close at 71 for the week. Star One got just 37 GRPs while Sahara One trailed behind with 30 GRPs.

  • European Tour launches latest campaign on YouTube

    European Tour launches latest campaign on YouTube

    MUMBAI: They are more accustomed to producing fireworks on the golf course, but could The European Tour‘s best golfers set alight a barrel full of gunpowder on a pirate ship in the Scottish seas with a single strike of a golf ball?


    The Every Shot Imaginable campaign, which was launched today on The European Tour‘s YouTube channel, endeavoured to find out as a select number of the best golfers in Europe attempted to utilise their prodigious talents in the most bizarre of fashions.


    The campaign, which previously featured Englishman David Howell striking a gong in the middle of an Irish lake and Simon Khan shooting down an airborne clay pigeon with a wedge shot in the deserts of Dubai, took to the highlands of Scotland this time around.


    In a live shoot from start to finish, European Tour pros Jeev Milkha Singh of India, Spain‘s Pablo Larrazabal, Scotsman Stephen Gallacher and Grégory Bourdy of France attempted to hit a gunpowder-filled barrel placed on a fishing boat-turned pirate ship 135 yards out to sea from Fort George Castle in Inverness, Scotland.


    The European Tour members Darren Clarke, Martin Kaymer, Graeme McDowell, Rory McIlroy, Louis Oosthuizen and Charl Schwartzel winning the last six Majors in a row.


    But when faced with the “Gunpowder” challenge, it took hundreds of attempts before one of the Tour‘s top golfers could hit the gunpowder barrel and set the sky alight.


    Speaking at the launch of the “Gunpowder” edition of the Every Shot Imaginable campaign on YouTube, Jeev Milkha Singh said, “Shooting the film was a crazy experience here in Scotland. We had more than 300 tries for the gunpowder shot before one of us hit the barrel and lit the fire-crackers. It was raining and the winds were too strong but that was the challenge and all enjoyed it.

  • Liberty ropes in Hrithik Roshan as brand ambassador

    Liberty ropes in Hrithik Roshan as brand ambassador

    MUMBAI: The footwear brand, Liberty Shoes, has roped in Indian actor Hrithik Roshan as its brand ambassador.

    With this move, Liberty is aiming to connect with the youth by giving the brand a vibrant and youthful makeover.

    Roshan comments, “It feels great to be a part of a home grown brand which has been constantly serving the world-wide audience since more than 50 years. Besides, the collection is superbly- stylish yet comfortable, just how we all like it.”

    In sync with the association, Liberty would introduce new products across all brand portfolios. The collection would soon be available in the market by the end of the month.

    Apart from this, Liberty is aggressively planning to strengthen its Southern markets by opening up at least 50 stores in South with a total of 100 stores all over India.

  • Olive bags Max Healthcare’s digital account

    Olive bags Max Healthcare’s digital account

     
    MUMBAI: Olive e-Business has bagged the digital account of healthcare brand Max Healthcare.

    The pitch that took place recently also involved agencies such as Web Chutney and eDynamic.

    Olive will be the digital and technology partner for Max Healthcare responsible for its complete web revamp. The account was earlier handled by a Bangalore based agency pepper square.

    Olive will now handle Max Healthcare‘s digital strategy which includes launch of Internet properties, social media initiatives, search marketing initiatives, digital advertising campaigns, mobile applications, and other web technology initiatives.

    Max Healthcare marketing and product planning AGM Arpita Mukherjee said, “Olive was the obvious and best choice as when it came to understanding our domain needs, they were bang on target. We look forward to a fruitful association with them.”

    Olive e-Business head – strategy and creative Siddhant Johri added, “The ease with which we make the switch beyond domain limitations helped us win this key account.

  • Zeel hires Sulekha Sharma as ad sales national head

    Zeel hires Sulekha Sharma as ad sales national head

    MUMBAI: Zee Entertainment Enterprises (Zeel) has brought back Sulekha Sharma as deputy vice president and national head, ad sales.

    Sharma will report to Zeel ad sales EVP Ashish Sehgal.

    It is a home coming for Sharma after a gap of two years. She was with UTV World Movies since February 2010 as associate VP and national head, ad sales.

    Prior to that, Sharma was zonal head, north and east, Zee Cafe and Zee Studio.

    Zeel executive director – revenue and niche channels Joy Chakraborthy said, “Zee fosters a culture of welcoming former employees with good track records and who want to re-join the organisation.We are glad to have Sulekha back with us.

    ” Sharma began her career in the editorial department with Strategic Newspaper.com in 1999 and spent two and a half years there. Her stint with ad sales started when she moved to The Times of India, where she was head of sub office, Visakhapatnam.

    After spending five and a half years there, she moved to Zee, where she spent two years and four months, before moving to UTV World Movies.

  • Kantar extends contract with WNS for market research support services

    Kantar extends contract with WNS for market research support services

    MUMBAI: Business process outsourcing company WNS has renewed its contract with the insight, information and consultancy group, Kantar.

    In the renewed contract, WNS will focus on further strengthening the market research operations center of excellence that delivers a range of market research operations, including survey programming, coding, data processing/management and charting.

    The WNS team will also provide support for production and hosting of live interviews in market research through a team of application support professionals and drive significant productivity enhancements using Six Sigma and Lean expertise. 
     
    Kantar Operations CEO Sharon Potter said, “We are delighted to extend our partnership with WNS. The company has a highly professional and experienced delivery team, which clearly understands our project goals and requirements. This has enabled us to realize significant cost efficiency and business value operationally.”

    WNS Global Services Group CEO Keshav R. Murugesh added, “We believe this reinforces our client‘s belief in our expertise and solutions. Over the last five years, WNS has helped Kantar build a strategic asset in the form of the Market Research Operations Center of Excellence. Both partners will continue to build on their capabilities to deliver world-class services that will help the Kantar Group to outperform. With our deep commitment towards ensuring operational and service excellence, I believe we should see further success in this relationship.”

    WNS delivers a range of business processes to support the market research industry, including survey design and management, data management, processing, presentation, report writing and high-end marketing analytics.