ITV

Category: MAM

  • BOUNCE Inc onboards Tarandeep Singh Sekhon as chief business officer

    BOUNCE Inc onboards Tarandeep Singh Sekhon as chief business officer

    Mumbai: KidZania’s former marketing director, Tarandeep Singh Sekhon, has joined freestyle sports company BOUNCE Inc. as its new chief business officer for India.

    Sekhon, with over two decades of experience in the entertainment industry, is now all set to drive business growth at BOUNCE and bring his expertise to strengthen the brand in India. He will be responsible for sales, marketing, and strategic development for BOUNCE in the country.

    After a successful seven-year stint at KidZania, Sekhon was responsible for building brand affinity and driving footfalls to its centers. Prior to KidZania, he led the marketing mandate for EsselWorld, Water Kingdom, and Fame Cinemas.

    BOUNCE Inc. is an international brand with a presence across 16 countries, and in India, it has set up the country’s largest trampoline park, combining elements of the world’s most exciting freestyle activities in a 40,000 sq. ft. indoor arena.

  • Rasna founder Areez Pirojshaw Khambatta dies at 85

    Rasna founder Areez Pirojshaw Khambatta dies at 85

    Mumbai: Rasna Group founder & chairman Areez Khambatta Benevolent Trust and Rasna Foundation chairman Areez Khambatta Benevolent Trust and Rasna Foundation Areez Pirojshaw Khambatta passed away on Saturday, a statement from the group said.

    Khambatta, who was also the former chairman of the World Alliance of Parsi Irani Zarthostis (WAPIZ), past president of Ahmedabad Parsi Panchayat, and vice president of the Federation of Parsi Zoroastrian Anjumans of India, passed away at the age of 85.

    Khambatta has contributed immensely to Indian industry, business, and most importantly, societal development through social service as the commandant of Ahmedabad Home Guards & Civil Defense for 20 years. His efforts in entrepreneurship development and societal services have been recognised with a lot of awards, to name a few: He was awarded the Home Guard and Civil Defense Medals as well as the Paschimi Star, Samarseva, and Sangram Medals. He was also honoured with the National Citizen’s Award for outstanding contribution in the field of commerce by the former president, Dr. Shankar Dayal Sharma. The finance ministry awarded Khambatta the Samman Patra for his contribution to the national exchequer as the highest tax payer in Gujarat. He was felicitated by the Ahmedabad Parsi Panchayat and was chosen as the first “Outstanding Parsi of Ahmedabad.”

    Khambatta’s “Rasna” brand today quenches the thirst of millions of Indians at an affordable price of hardly Re 1.00 with fruits, vitamins, and nutrients. Also, through his industrious efforts, thousands of jobs are generated directly and indirectly across India, and with his developing fruit-based products, millions of farmers have gotten better value for their crops across the country.

    Rasna is a true example of the “Make In India” brand, available in millions of homes in India and across 60 countries around the world, and has always been a market leader in a segment dominated by MNCs.

    Under his chairmanship and guidance, the Trust and Foundations have been involved in various projects to do with health care, education, scholarship, etc., from which thousands of people have benefited.

    Khambatta leaves behind a legacy for his wife Persis, children Piruz, Delna, Ruzan, and daughter-in-law Binaisha, and grandchildren Arzeen, Arzad, Avan, Areez, Firoza, and Arnavaz to follow.

  • Dettol launches a new multi-use antiseptic cream

    Dettol launches a new multi-use antiseptic cream

    Mumbai: Dettol, a germ protection brand, has launched Dettol Antiseptic Cream in India. This ‘Made in India’ product is formulated and crafted specially to cater to the first aid needs of Indian consumers. In a company statement, Dettol revealed that a pack of 30 mg of Dettol Antiseptic Cream is priced at Rs 60 and is now available both online and offline pharmacies in India.

    With the launch of this antiseptic cream, Dettol aims to create a niche for itself in the cuts and wounds segment, building on its existing antiseptic liquid heritage.

    The company has also unveiled its new TVC, “Har Ghar ka First Aid,” to raise awareness about catching an infection by not addressing minor cuts or wounds.

    As per NielsenIQ’s consumer research, only 56 per cent of consumers use any form of branded first aid products, while the remaining 44 per cent use basic home remedies or avoid applying anything, with a marginal few consulting a doctor.

    Commenting on the product launch, Reckitt regional marketing director of South Asia – health & nutrition Dilen Gandhi said, “As market leaders, it is our responsibility to address consumer gaps with products that cater to the needs of the Indian consumer. Dettol antiseptic cream is an over-the-counter product that consumers can use to treat minor cuts and injuries and prevent the spread of infection on open wounds. With this cream, we want consumers to manage their first aid needs more effectively and efficiently. This ‘Made in India’ product is a simple and safe product built on Dettol’s iconic antiseptic liquid heritage.”

  • Colvyn Harris to be conferred with AAAI Lifetime Achievement Award 2022

    Colvyn Harris to be conferred with AAAI Lifetime Achievement Award 2022

    Mumbai: The Advertising Agencies Association of India (AAAI) has announced that the AAAI Lifetime Achievement Award for 2022 will be conferred on advertising veteran Colvyn Harris. This is the highest honour to be given to an individual in India for his/ her outstanding contribution to the advertising industry.

     Harris has had a long and successful career in the Indian advertising industry spanning over 40 years. His career was built in one company – JWT (now Wunderman Thompson), a WPP Group company, across varied roles, across India and JWT Sri Lanka where he was managing director.  He began his career at Hindustan Thompson Associates (HTA), and went on to assume the role of CEO at Contract (now Contract Advertising), and then was designated JWT South Asia CEO.

    During his tenure he built the most formidable full-service agency, most admired for its creativity, scale and reputation. He has worked on India’s most admired brands, notably Hero, GSK- Horlicks, Boost, Citibank, Ford, Airtel, Nestlé.  He ended his career as executive director global growth & client development at JWT. He was also managing director marketing at L. Catterton Singapore, a global private equity company, part of LVMH, where his role was to help their investee companies working with the CEOs and chief marketing officers for achieving their growth and branding objectives globally.

    Harris took a lot of interest in Industry matters. He was a jury member at the Cannes Lions in 2015, in the Effectiveness Category. He was also president of the Advertising Agencies Association of India (AAAI) in 2010 and chairman of the Goafest in 2009 and 2010. During his chairmanship, Goafest grew much faster and was recognized as the largest festival in India for celebration of creativity.

    Harris has been a speaker at London Business School, at the Wharton India Economic Summit, Spikes Asia 2010 and chairman of numerous forums, including a speaker at the World Economic Forum India. He was a WPP nominee to the World Economic Forum Global Agenda Development Council for four years. Under his leadership, JWT won several Global Awards, numerous Cannes Lions, including India’s First Grand Prix while he was CEO.

    Making the announcement, AAAI president Anupriya Acharya said, “Harris is in every sense a true pioneer and visionary. Apart from singlehandedly making JWT a top agency, he has also contributed significantly to the industry in various capacities, including as president of AAAI. He’s been a key driver and pivotal force in establishing Goafest as the largest advertising festival in India.  I am pleased to say that the entire committee was unanimous in selecting Harris as this year’s AAAI’s Lifetime Achievement Award winner. He is truly deserving of this honour.”

     For the record, the AAAI Lifetime Achievement Award is presented annually to an individual who has been a practitioner of advertising for twenty-five years and had been in the top management position; has been or continues to be an active participant in industry bodies and or made significant contributions in shaping the industry priorities which enabled the advertising industry to grow, prosper and  become more professionalized;  individual  known for his integrity, ethical practice and leadership qualities; contributed to his company/companies growth by innovative thinking and taking them in newer directions; involved in projects of social consequence which is seen as a role model for the industry at large and had been an industry veteran.

     Some of the past winners of this award include Subhas Ghosal, Alyque Padamsee, Mike Khanna, R K Swamy, Piyush Pandey, Sam Balsara, Prem Mehta, Roda Mehta, Ram Sehgal, Madhukar Kamath, Arvind Sharma and others.

  • Zomato’s Mohit Gupta bids adieu

    Zomato’s Mohit Gupta bids adieu

    Mumbai: In a sundry of exits at Zomato, Mohit Gupta has put in his papers as co-founder.  He had been with the food delivery company for about four and a half years.

    Gupta’s departure marks the third high-profile departure from Zomato. Earlier this week, the food delivery major’s head of new businesses and former food delivery chief Rahul Ganjoo, had put in his papers. Also, Siddharth Jhawar, who held the position of vice president of global growth and head of the Intercity Legends service at Zomato, called it a day.

    Gupta joined Zomato in 2018 as the head of food delivery. He was subsequently elevated to co-founder in 2021 to oversee new businesses when Ganjoo was made the CEO of food delivery. Before joining the food delivery major, Gupta was the chief operating officer of travel portal Makemytrip. He has also worked at PepsiCo during his career.

    Kamayani Sadhwani, a director at Zomato-owned quick commerce company Blinkit, has taken over from Jhawar as the head of the Intercity Legends service. Prior to taking on the role at Blinkit earlier this year, Sadhwani has also worked at Coca-Cola India, Bain, Accenture, and McKinsey.

  • Havas Media Group to implement attention data into planning tools globally

    Havas Media Group to implement attention data into planning tools globally

    Mumbai: Havas Media Group (HMG) on Friday announced the expansion of its proprietary global identity-based audience planning platform Converged – with two bespoke tools that harness the power of attention to deliver meaningful media experiences.

    HMG is the first agency network to implement attention data into planning tools on a global scale, with these new tools enabling investment in attentive, sustainable, and economic media exposures.

    HMG’s new Meaningful Media Planner (MMP) harnesses attention data from Lumen’s continuous eye-tracking panels to rank and score over 9,000 domains at a format level for the average attention they are likely to deliver. This data is used in conjunction with vetting of domain safety from Supply-Side Platform (SSP) partners, Demand Side Platform (DSP) data, and Havas’ proprietary domain categorisation algorithm to create a comprehensive assessment of media placements on metrics such as viewability, attentive seconds, and view rate in relation to domain, device, media type, and format.

    This wealth of data allows planners to best direct investment against the specific KPIs of a client’s campaign.

    Complimenting the MMP is the Meaningful Social Matrix (MSM) – a proprietary tool that measures social ad placements by their attention in relation to cost and brand suitability. MSM draws upon proprietary platform and ad placement level attention data from Lumen, campaign performance Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) aggregated from historical Havas owned data, and brand suitability scoring based on the Conscious Advertising Network’s manifesto to give planners a detailed view of the social ecosystem and create a social campaign that is optimal for their clients.

    “Attention optimisation is a rare ‘win win’– consumers are delivered content that connects them to the causes and people they care most about, while brands have the opportunity to deliver their message more economically and sustainably,” said Mx Development global managing director Jon Waite. “With MMP and MSM we’re bringing attention metrics into the planning phase, allowing marketers to make more strategic, informed decisions in selecting media sources that will deliver valued and trusted media experiences.”

    HMG’s commitment to attention has complimented the agency’s efforts to improve sustainability and media investment ROI by reducing tech fees and intermediaries within the supply path, increasing working media, and better supporting content owners. In tests across core markets, MMP curation and HMG’s supply path optimisation were able to achieve 70-80 per cent of every dollar spent ending with the publisher, as compared to 50-60% when buying on the open market.

    MMP and MSM are under continuous development to offer planners new metrics and insights into media effectiveness. In Q4 of 2022, HMG will unveil a new version of these tools that allows direct sustainability assessment by incorporating data from Scope3 to score placements by their carbon emissions.

  • TV ad volumes of personal healthcare sector rose by 2% in Jan-Sep’22: TAM AdEx report

    TV ad volumes of personal healthcare sector rose by 2% in Jan-Sep’22: TAM AdEx report

    Mumbai: In comparison to January-September 2021, the personal healthcare sector’s ad volume trend witnessed a two per cent rise in television during the same period in 2022. In a report released by AdEx India, a division of TAM Media Research, rubs and balms topped the list of personal healthcare categories on TV with an ad volume share of 20 per cent.

    Antiseptic creams and liquids (17 per cent), digestives (12 per cent), medicated skin treatments (11 per cent), a variety of OTC products (11 per cent), vitamins, tonics, and health supplements (nine per cent), cough lozenges (six per cent), antacids (three per cent), condoms (two per cent), and analgesics and cold tablets (two per cent) were the top ten categories that accounted for 93 per cent of total ad volumes between January and September 22.

    Reckitt Benckiser India topped the list of the top 10 advertisers in the personal healthcare sector with more than a third of sector ad volumes in Jan-Sep’22, followed by Procter & Gamble and Smithkline Beecham with a 10 per cent and seven per cent share, respectively.

    Additionally, the report found that over 500 brands had advertised on television between Jan-Sep ’22, of which 42 per cent share of the ad volumes were accounted for by the top 10 brands. Moreover, the report stated that over 200 exclusive brands had advertised within the personal healthcare sector during the same period.

    The top two channel genres, general entertainment channels (GECs) and news, had an equal share of 29 per cent of the sector’s ad volumes. Movies (23 per cent), music (12 per cent), and kids (three per cent) are the other three channel genres that account for 95 per cent of the sector’s contribution to TV ad volumes.

    Furthermore, the report obscured the fact that feature films were the top programme genre, accounting for a 26 per cent share of the sector and its volumes, and that the top three programme genres combined for 58 per cent of the sector’s ad volume.

    On TV, prime time was the most preferred time-band for the sector ads. The combined share of all three time bands, prime time, afternoon, and morning, stood at more than 70 per cent of ad volumes.

    According to the report, advertisers in the personal healthcare sector preferred ad lengths of less than 40 seconds on television. While 20-40 second and less than 20 second ads combined for more than 98 per cent of total ad volumes between January and September’22,

    Ad Insertions in the personal healthcare sector on digital mediums increased 2.6-fold between January and September’22 of this year compared to the same period in 2021.

    The top 10 categories of the sector had a 95 per cent share of ad insertions during Jan-Sep’22 with hearing aids topping the list with a 30 per cent share, followed by vitamins/tonics/health supplements (24 per cent) and range of OTC products (11 per cent) and corporate-pharma/healthcare (11 per cent).

    The top 10 advertisers in the sector on digital were led by Sundries Hearing Solutions with a 30 per cent share of ad insertions, followed by Sun Pharmaceutical and Johnson & Johnson at four per cent each.

    Display ads were found to account for more than half of sector ad insertions between January and September 22 under the banner of creative types and digital platforms. Among the digital platforms, desktop video topped with a 31 per cent share, which was followed by desktop digital at 23 per cent and mobile display at 17 per cent, the report claimed.

    In the print advertising medium, the personal healthcare sector discovered a three per cent fall in ad space during Jan-Sep ’22 in comparison to the same period in 2021.

    The report further pointed out that in the list of the top 10 categories, vitamins/tonics/health supplements lead the chart with a 23 per cent share of ad volumes.

    According to the findings in the report, the top 10 categories accounted for 93 per cent of the total share. SBS Biotech was the top promoter during the period with a 35 per cent share of the total ad space. Furthermore, it is observed that the top 10 advertisers garnered a 65 per cent share of the sector’s ad space.

    1,400 brands were present during the Jan-Sep’22 period, where the top 10 brands had a 41 per cent share of the sector’s ad space. In addition, from January to September’21, the report discovered over 700 exclusive brands in the personal healthcare sector.

    Hindi accounted for 51 per cent of the sector ad space for languages, followed by Marathi at 17 per cent and English at eight per cent.

    The genre of general interest publications has captured 98.7 per cent of the sector’s ad space. According to the report, 24 per cent of ad space in the personal healthcare sector was with various promotional offers, and volume promotion had a 74 per cent share of ad space among sales promotions.

  • Weekend Unwind with: Locomotive Global Media business affairs head Kanupriya A Iyer

    Weekend Unwind with: Locomotive Global Media business affairs head Kanupriya A Iyer

    Mumbai: With another weekend upon us, it is time to unwind with the latest Q&A edition of Indiantelevision.com’s Weekend Unwind—a series of informal chats that peek into the minds of corporate executives through a fun lens in an attempt to get to know the person behind the title a little better.

    In this week’s session, we have Locomotive Global Media’s business affairs head and senior producer Kanupriya A. Iyer.

    As head of business affairs and senior producer, Kanupriya works closely with co-founder and principal Sunder Aaron to lead Locomotive Global Media’s film division as well as oversee all business operations. Iyer is responsible for driving the company’s growth through all aspects of content development and production required to scale up the company’s position and meet its objective to become the leading content production company in India.

    With an experience of 12 years in the Indian entertainment industry, both as a management executive and producer, Kanupriya combines her sharp business acumen with a belief that the world can be changed, one film at a time. Her in-depth expertise in content and business development makes Kanupriya a key asset for Locomotive Global Media.

    So, without further ado, here it goes…

        Your mantra for life

    Very little is needed to make a happy life; everything else is a bonus.

        A book you are currently reading / plan to read

    I am rereading “Caste” by Isabel Wilkerson.

        Your fitness mantra, especially during the pandemic

    I believe yoga is best for both body and mind.

        Your comfort food

    Anything warm and vegetarian served in a bowl.

        When the chips are down, a quote or philosophy that keeps you going.

    It won’t matter in five years.

        Your guilty pleasure

    Big tub of popcorn and a cheesy Bollywood film.

        When was the last time you tried something new?

     I tried artificial nails yesterday 🙂

        A life lesson you learnt the hard way

    Every story has multiple perspectives; yours is one of them.

        What gets you excited about life?

    I acknowledge my privilege to be able to make choices every day that shape my future.

        What’s on top of your bucket list?

    Northern lights in all their glory.

        If you could give one piece of advice to your younger self, what would it be?

    Don’t waste time impressing people; just have fun.

        One thing you would most like to change about the world

     Living life like a checklist with complete disregard to nature.

        An activity that keeps you motivated or charged during tough times

    I love reading and playing video games.

        What lifts your spirits when life gets you down?

    Cooking a multi-course meal for the family.

        Your go-to stress buster

     Binge watching tele-shopping ads.

  • Merzigo has reached the leading position in Turkey with a 40% market share, says Yigit Dogan Celik

    Merzigo has reached the leading position in Turkey with a 40% market share, says Yigit Dogan Celik

    Mumbai: Merzigo, a leading Turkey-based technology company that offers video monetisation and channel management solutions for producers, broadcasters, and distributors in the global advertising-based video on demand (AVoD) market, has been a key player in presenting riveting content across the globe. The man behind the success story of the firm is Merzigo’s chairman and founder Yigit Dogan Celik.

    Born in 1988 and a graduate of MEF International School (in Istanbul, in the year 2007), Celik studied law at the University of East Anglia and business administration at Regent’s University (in the UK, in the year 2012). He kicked off his career in 2014 as a country representative at Havelsan, a prominent software and development company.

    In 2015, he went on to establish his own business and serve as the co-founder and head of sales at Merzigo. He became the chairman of the board of directors in 2019 at the content syndication company.

    Celik also continues to draw attention in Turkey and Europe with Key Networks Group’s continued investments in the OTT industry, production, and distribution. PowerHouse, an incubation centre under Key Networks Group, regularly invests in different technology and AI projects.

    He took important and strategic steps that contributed to the level of success that Merzigo has achieved today. His decisions led the organisation towards leadership in the digital marketing sector, both domestically and globally.

    In an interview with Indiantelevision.com, Celik discusses Turkey’s content market, Merzigo’s presence at Mipcom 2022, his interest in Indian content, and much more.

    Excerpts:

    On the objective behind such a big presence of Merzigo at Mipcom 2022

    Merzigo is a video monetisation and digital solution company for content rights owners, production houses, and broadcasters across the globe. We are already doing business with clients in the Americas, Europe, the Middle East and North Africa (MENA), and Asia through our offices in Istanbul, Mumbai, and London.

    At Mipcom 2022, our main goal is to focus on initiating new partnerships with potential clients and strengthening our position in the markets we are already active in. Our aim is to reach out to the ever-increasing base of partners and showcase our strong content offering. We expect to increase our already strong footprint globally and create stronger and more meaningful partnerships with our existing clients and newer prospects. We aim to further expand our global clientele so that Merzigo can become the leader in the AVoD market.

    On achieving the success you have at 34, about your journey pre-Merzigo and after setting it up

    Merzigo was founded in 2015 as a response to the market’s video monetisation needs. Our technological approach, expertise, and our own solutions helped us rapidly increase our market share and provide our domestic and international clientele with the best services available. As per our strategies, we have reached the leading position in Turkey’s market with a 40 per cent market share.

    Also, in line with our global vision, we continue to increase our market share to strengthen our position. As of 2022, Merzigo continues its activities under the newly restructured Key Networks Group, reaching a total of 400 employees. Merzigo’s leadership and knowledge in the digital sector’s monetisation and knowledge are elevated to a new level by these global strategies.

    On the Turkish adex market – whether it’s small or large, how advertising has evolved over time, especially in terms of digital video and AVoD, and how it is growing today

    Merzigo has a global presence. You can say that we are present wherever YouTube is present. We have been in the AVoD business since our establishment, and we have witnessed the market’s growth towards a more positive stance towards the AVoD model. We believe this shift will only accelerate due to the global landscape and the growing importance of accessibility. As you know, even major subscription video on demand (SVoD) platforms are considering AVoD plans that include advertisements. Hence, we believe we are on the right track. 

    On witnessing a tapering off of CPMs post opening up after the lockdowns

    Cost per mile (CPM) is a good indicator of how valuable advertisers find your videos and audience for achieving their own business goals. Your revenue will not be equal to your CPM times your views because CPM reflects what advertisers pay, not what you earn. Advertisers can control which geographies they’d like to reach with their ads. Different locations will have different levels of competition in the ad market, so CPMs will vary by geography.

    If there’s a shift in where most of your views are coming from, you may see a shift in the CPM. For instance, if you previously had views from a geography with higher CPMs but are now getting more views from geographies with lower CPMs, you may see a decrease in your CPM.

    On partners’ asset monetisation that you are managing on Turkish digital video platforms, which ones have managed to generate maximum revenue and why, and why have the others failed

    Survivor Turkey, The Voice Turkey, Turkey Got Talent, Fox TV in Turkey, and globally published Turkish series such as El Sultan (Magnificent Century), El Poder del Amor, and various international series channels launched in India, and from Spain, we signed a deal to monetize RTVE series are among our top channels.

    We also took over the management of some of Turkey’s leading free TV channels, multiplying their revenues per year by 10-fold during our first year. We are providing content in the following languages: Turkish, Spanish, Arabic, Romanian, Portuguese, English, French, Serbian, Italian, Urdu, Hindi, German, and Polish. Our content offerings are a perfect blend of emotion, drama, and variety, which are synonymous with almost all cultures in the world.

    On explaining your interest in international content – especially Indian

    Gripping stories, powerful characters, and edge-of-the-seat entertainment will ensure the viewers’ loyalty and stickiness. We aim to push the boundaries of entertainment by presenting new concepts and engaging content across genres to our audience. We pick up topics that are relatable to almost all cultures in the world and present gripping stories that are a perfect blend of emotion, drama, and variety. We bank on stories, which at their very core are stories about humans – their emotions, challenges, love, relationships, victories, defeats, and courage.

    Our strategy is to strike a good balance of content that works well with our audience and experiment with new and disruptive ideas constantly. And India being one of the world’s oldest and most diverse cultures, its series are a perfect blend of emotion, drama, and variety, which are synonymous with almost all cultures in the world. We believe there is tremendous headroom for growth for international content – and particularly India content – and hence we look at this as one of the key priorities for our content distribution.

    On your app being currently gestated: how will it be different from others, and what is the competition like

    ‘Baslat’ (meaning “start”) is our own OTT AVoD platform, which will be launching in Turkey in January 2023 on all platforms such as the web, phones, and smart TVs. Baslat will have an entirely different vision and intend to stand out in the AVoD market, offering an innovative and unique viewing experience for audiences in Turkey, as the viewers will be able to access premium content & original production for free. SVoD platforms in Turkey are increasing with new players entering the market, increasing the production budget and cost.

    Today, there are more places than ever to consume content. There’s a huge demand for variety in content, and audiences are more interested in the type of content and stories they can relate to. With the rise of OTT players, our focus is on how we can meet the needs of our viewers and focus on delivering different concepts and good stories to cater to the needs of both live and on-demand videos across different devices.

    On the target audience, and how will you monetise it

    We have always adapted to market demands and expectations, maintaining the standards that we have established over time and delivering high-quality content to audiences.

    The series dubbed in Turkish is a perfect blend of emotion, romance, family, and socially relevant issues that will immediately resonate with mainstream audiences. We will ensure content for all age groups.

    The most important issues are viewers’ habits when it comes to video consumption as well as piracy. We will be encouraging people to watch the content they wish to watch on a legal yet free platform. Our revenue model for Baslat will be through advertising sales.

  • Lemma ropes in Puneet Biyani as company president

    Lemma ropes in Puneet Biyani as company president

    Mumbai: Lemma, an independent supply-side platform for digital out-of-home, announced the appointment of Puneet Biyani as company president. He will take on his new role immediately and be a key contributor to enhancing Lemma’s global footprint.

    Biyani joins Lemma with over two decades of experience in business operations, finance, international marketing, and strategy. His most recent stint was with Times OOH, a subsidiary of Bennett Coleman & Co. Ltd.

    As president, Biyani will work closely with the board and the leadership team across APAC and other regions to craft the company’s business growth vision and expansion strategy into global markets. He will also oversee finance, business planning, process automation, fundraising, & business operations for Lemma across all markets.

    Having spent the larger part of his career with The Times of India Group, Biyani has extensive out-of-home advertising experience. He held the position of chief financial officer for Times Innovative Media Ltd. (Times OOH) while also leading their Mauritius business.

    Biyani has worked with global organisations like Price Waterhouse and Goldman Sachs. On the academic front, he is a gold-medal-winning chartered accountant and Harvard Business School alumnus.

    Lemma has become the go-to platform for enabling programmatic buying of out-of-home (OOH) media by a wide range of clients, including top digital media agencies, advertising giants, and major brands around the world today.

    On joining Lemma, Biyani said, “I am really excited to be part of this amazing team. Lemma has been a pioneer in the digital advertising segment. I look forward to working closely with the team on the exciting journey ahead. The space is bound to expand rapidly, and on the technology front, Lemma is well positioned to lead and shape the development.”

    “Having Biyani onboard as company president at Lemma will inject a new level of energy and innovative thinking to help accelerate the company’s growth and attain our vision of transforming DOOH into mainstream digital as we enter a new phase of scaling business,” said Lemma founder & CEO Gulab Patil.

    Patil adds, “His expertise aligns perfectly with our business expansion plan as we continue to strengthen our technology and team globally and enhance our programmatic DOOH presence.”

    Biyani will be based out of Lemma’s Delhi office and will serve as the liaison between all teams and markets from the capital city.