Mumbai: In today’s digital world, the way that companies connect with their customers and cater to their preferences is key. The digitally empowered consumers of today have more choices than ever before, as the online medium becomes the new battleground for brands to up their marketing game and retain their connection with consumers. At the Indian Digital Brand Fest 2022, organised by Indiantelevision.com to be held on 12 October at Mumbai’s ITC Maratha Hotel, we take a deep dive into how businesses can leverage evolving technology to be their allies. The second edition of the Digital Brandfest brings together a host of industry experts, brands, advertisers, tech-platforms, top marketing professionals from across the spectrum and solution providers accelerating digital growth in India under one roof to analyse the digital transformation happening in the industry, propelled by new-age tech. The Digital Brand Fest 2022 will host 40 plus speakers and over 200 delegates from new-age D2C brands as well as the legacy consumer companies of India, in the largest gathering of digital brands. The one-day physical event boasts over ten sessions of panel discussions, fireside chats, and keynote knowledge sessions by the digital doyens on a host of industry relevant issues that discuss the trends shaping the future of marketing and advertising for brands. The summit is carefully curated around sessions to guide the market players with the right insights, strategies, and tech solutions and partners to build future-proof brands. The summit will also look at the latest trends driving the change in consumer behaviour and how it has impacted the industry’s growth. Google India’s director of business solutions & insights Priya Choudhary will address the keynote session at the summit, which will see participation from top industry speakers such as Warner Bros. Discovery director of marketing, South Asia Azmat Jagmag, dentsu India Media COO Bhaskar Jaiswal, Lokmat Media sr. EVP & head of digital business Hemant Jain, HDFC Bank VP & head of digital acquisition, content, & social media marketing Jahid Ahmed, Godrej Consumer Products vice-president & head of media services Subha Sreenivasan Iyer, Essence India VP of media activation Rahul Marwaha, GroupM India’s Niraj Ruparel, and many more. In a special address, Divya Karani, CEO, Media South Asia, dentsu will weigh in on “navigating advertising in a madtech world” in a special address. Indiantelevision.com group founder, CEO & editor-in-chief Anil NM Wanvari will engage mediasmart vice president, India and SEA Nikhil Kumar in a candid fireside conversation. Another special session will see JioAds CEO Gulshan Verma address the elite gathering on the topic ‘Unlocking opportunities-India beyond metros.’ The subjects and themes of discussion at the second edition of the IDBF summit will include content marketing for web 3.0, the metaverse marketing playbook, the martech stack roadmap for D2C brands, Among the topics covered are crossing the chasm: direct to programmatic, identity in a cookie-less world, and new-age internet users—challenges and opportunities. TV9 Network is the presenting partner for the event, which is co-powered by mediasmart. Adgebra and TellyChakkar are the associate partners, and Playflix & One Take Media Co. are the industry support partners. The event is executed by ITV 2.0 Productions.
Category: MAM
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Wieden + Kennedy India appoints Anirban Roy to lead strategic planning
Mumbai: Anirban Roy has joined Wieden + Kennedy India’s leadership team to head strategic planning for the Delhi and Mumbai offices. He will be operating out of the Mumbai office.
Anirban’s exposure has been rich, having worked on several brands at various agencies and various cities. In his last role, he was head of strategic planning for McCann Worldgroup in Delhi. Prior to that, he worked at Ogilvy and Saatchi. He has worked in Delhi, Bangalore, Mumbai, Kolkata, and Manila, where he steered strategic conversations at Nestle, Yum Foods, BMW, Amazon, Coke, and Unilever, among others. He has also helped script the brand narrative for some of India’s unicorn start-ups like Licious & Flipkart.
Speaking of his appointment, Roy said, “Very few people in their lifetime get to work in a place that’s revered for its irreverence & celebrated for being a ‘cathedral of creativity’. I am grateful to Ayesha and Paddy for this opportunity and feel lucky to be a part of this team that will write a new chapter for W+K India. Looking forward to the dance.”
Commenting on the hire, W+K India president Ayesha Ghosh said, “With Anirban’s valuable perspective, we intend to steer the fundamental brand thinking and look forward to building lasting brand relationships. While we’ll always have room for brands that want to do short-term projects, the real test of an agency lies in building brands over years, like W+K has done with Indigo. Anirban has steered important brand conversations for many big MNC clients, as well as for start-ups, and in doing so, has helped them win Effie, Cannes, AME, Kyoorius, and D&AD awards. I’m really excited to see him at work at W+K.”
W+K India CCO Santosh Padhi added, “Client, creative, account management, and strategic planning are the four key pillars of advertising that build and hold the foundation of a brand and help grow its business. I’m happy that we now have the fourth pillar in order, with Anirban, to help our brands grow stronger, bigger, and bolder.”
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Pocket Aces elevates Vinay Pillai to head of strategy
MUMBAI: Homegrown digital entertainment company, Pocket Aces, has elevated Vinay Pillai to the dual position of head of strategy and head of clout. Vinay joined Pocket Aces in 2020 to scale Clout, its influencer management business, and has played a crucial role in getting it to a leadership position.
In this enhanced role, Vinay will work on establishing key strategic partnerships that will not only aid in scaling the current revenue and profitability but also cement Pocket Aces’ leadership position in the sector long-term. Prior to Pocket Aces, Vinay was the co-founder of dekkho, India’s first content streaming OTT platform. Post dekkho, he headed the OTT platform at The Viral Fever, called TVF Play.
Vinay is a computer science engineer and an MS from Columbia University, New York. He spent most of his career in product and strategy consulting with companies like DramaFever, DocPlace, and Booz in the US before returning to India.
Commenting on his new position, Vinay Pillai shared, “I am extremely excited to take up this crucial additional responsibility to shape our strategic direction along with Aditi. Leading Clout over the last few years has been an absolute pleasure, and I have thoroughly enjoyed building it from scratch to a market leader today with an amazing team. Additionally, I look forward to now working with Pocket Aces’ finest leaders across other business units to help them scale our company to even greater heights. We have prided ourselves on always doing things in a data-backed way with a huge impetus on innovation. I feel honoured to now get to contribute in a Pocket Aces wide central capacity with our stellar young team and would like to thank Aditi for the opportunity.”
Pocket Aces co-founder & CEO Aditi Shrivastava said, “For the head of strategy role, I wanted someone who would work alongside me to add to our vision of taking our cutting-edge media business to the next level. Vinay is a non-linear thinker. He has founder blood, as well as a blend of consulting and operational experience. These give him a unique vantage point on how to take on incumbents while also giving him the hard operational expertise of scaling businesses on the ground with growing teams. Vinay has done an excellent job of scaling Clout, and I’m excited to see him in this enhanced role. Vinay will be working closely with the rest of our management team, who will take the lead in putting our strategic direction into action.”
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Admitad appoints Neha Kulwal as APAC managing director
MUMBAI: Admitad has appointed Neha Kulwal, formerly the country manager, as the Asia-Pacific managing director. Admitad’s India operations were launched with the vision of becoming the largest, most trusted partner network and martech & fintech solutions provider. The company is confident it can increase growth in the entire APAC region under the leadership of Neha Kulwal, it said in a statement.
Having joined Admitad six years ago, Neha Kulwal has established a solid market position for the company, increasing the business volume five times and attracting new clients across diverse industries. Neha has built a steady team of more than 50 people working for the company in the region today. Her ability to act as a team leader and as a true people person gained her respect throughout the entire Admitad family and beyond.
Since 2020, the company has increased the size of its partner portfolio in India and added a significant number of advertisers and publishers as partners and clients. The total sales generated by Admitad tools for brands almost doubled between 2019 and 2021. Top-tier brands such as Flipkart, Croma, Ajio, BoAt Lifestyle, Samsung, Myntra, Kotak, Mcaffeine, and Times of India enjoy long-term, profitable partnerships with Admitad in the APAC market.
Neha Kulwal said, ” I am delighted and truly honoured to receive this recognition. This is the beginning of a new chapter in Admitad’s journey in the region. I am confident that APAC, given its immense growth opportunities, will live up to its full potential in driving our business to greater heights. We started Admitad’s India operations with a clear vision of becoming the biggest and most trusted partner network. I am very proud of what we as a team have achieved in the last six years and, with this new responsibility at hand, I intend to grow our APAC operations by replicating the India success story.”
“Neha Kulwal is a truly top player and an inspiring leader of the digital economy. We appreciate her experience and her business sense, and could not think of anyone being a better perfect fit for our ambitious goals in the region. It will be exciting to see more Admitad APAC projects and initiatives set benchmarks in this market,” said Admitad founder and CEO Alexander Bachmann.
Admitad has recently moved into the new office in Gurugram, offering additional businesses and solutions beyond its partner network, including Tapfiliate, ConvertSocial, Univibes, and Coupon Whitelabel. In the near future, the company will continue to invest in developing its infrastructure in APAC.
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Havas Media Group bags Firefox’s integrated media mandate
Mumbai: In a multi-agency pitch, Havas Media Group India won the integrated media mandate for Firefox, the top premium bicycle brand in India and a subsidiary of the Hero Cycles Group.
The mandate includes responsibilities for offline & online media, and SEO. The account will be handled by Havas Media Group managing partner (head-North1) Roopali Sharma in the agency’s Gurgaon location, under the direction of the company’s president & chief client officer Uday Mohan.
Firefox, a global leader in the premium and mid-premium bike categories since its establishment in 2004, offers an extensive and exclusive range of luxury motorcycles and accessories.
The company sells high-end, stylish mountain bikes, road bikes, city bikes (or hybrid bikes), bikes for women, kids, & juniors, electric bicycles, and adventure & outdoor gear including backpacks, bike panniers & pouches, jerseys & t-shirts, and windcheaters & breakers.
In addition to its e-commerce-enabled website, Firefox Bikes has more than 500 outlets and customer experience centres spread out across tier 1 and metro cities in India.
Firefox Bikes CEO Sriram Sundresan said, “At Firefox, we are driven by a passion for biking and adventure. Being the pathbreakers, Firefox takes pride in revolutionising biking as a means of transformation, and we’ve seen tremendous growth in the adoption of biking as a preferred lifestyle choice. In Havas, we found a partner that shares a similar passion for connecting brands and consumers through meaningful media experiences. We are delighted to have them on board as our media partners and look forward to a great partnership.”
Havas Media Group India CEO Mohit Joshi said, “We are proud to have bagged the integrated media mandate of Firefox, a niche category brand that has pioneered the growth of premium biking in India. With people getting increasingly aware of leading a healthy lifestyle and embracing sustainable ways of living, there has been a paradigm shift in the preferred mode of transportation – from conventional ICEs to EVs to bicycles. We look forward to an adventurous partnership by further strengthening the brand’s journey and its vision, as it forges meaningful connections with its consumers.”
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Lloyd launches new campaign with Sourav Ganguly
Mumbai: Lloyd, owned by Havells India, has launched its first ad film with Sourav Ganguly, who was roped in as the brand ambassador earlier this year. The campaign is targeted at the West Bengal region.
The film is intended to build trust for the consumer durable brand, highlighting the key product benefits and value in a highly cluttered market. Through this film, Lloyd is focused on driving differentiation and delivering on its brand promise of ‘Khayal Rakhenge, Khush Rakhenge’.
The storyboard of the ad film takes an amusing route to hold the audience’s attention, wherein Sourav Ganguly engaged in a light-hearted banter with an enthusiastic salesman. The narrative evokes a sense of humour as the salesman tries to equate the Lloyd product performance with Sourav’s on field performances. The film cements the brand promise by showcasing the superior features in a quirky way to create a strong brand connect.
The new Lloyd campaign for West Bengal is being extensively covered in print, digital and below the line (BTL). A major print campaign in leading newspapers like Telegraph, ABP, Dainik Bhaskar has been rolled out. Along with print, digital has also been focused to promote the ongoing Shubo Durga Utsav on high traffic websites like Facebook, Youtube, IRCTC, Zee Bengali and ABP. For on ground promotions in stores activities across West Bengal are taking place, wherein consumers have a chance to win assured prizes and participate in bumper prizes including SUV and Lloyd products weekly.
Lloyd executive vice president Rajesh Rathi said, “Our intent is to focus on communication which not only exceeds the work Lloyd is putting in to make differentiated products but also grows the trust in the Lloyd brand. We will continue to drive meaningful engagements to extend /widen our consumer connect and strengthen our presence in the region.”
Speaking over the ad film release, Havells India executive vice president Rohit Kapoor said, “Our attempt is to bring our product closer to our consumers and make their lives easy and convenient. Our latest ad with Sourav Ganguly is our attempt to build greater trust and affinity for Lloyd. We are confident, with him as the face of the campaign, the consumers’ belief in the brand will grow manifold and help solidify our strategy of going deeper into homes”.
Talking about the campaign launch, Sourav Ganguly said, “I am delighted to collaborate with a brand like Lloyd for their campaign promoting their incredible line of product with top-of-the-line features and superb quality. Lloyd has established itself as one of the most reliable consumer durable brands in India with its superior technology and I am honoured to be a part of a campaign that reiterates their promise of keeping their consumers as their first priority.”
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Shaadi.com takes internet by storm with #ShaadiKarniHaiKya
Mumbai: Shaadi.com has started a new Twitter trend #ShadiKarniHaiKya. With this, the matchmaking platform has hopped onto a Twitter opportunity, turning it into a witty and fun way of promoting its brand on social media.
When Sagar (@sagarcasm) tweeted – Bahot kar rahi ho, shaadi karni hai kya?, Shaadi.com promptly retweeted – Itna brand name use kar rahe ho, #ShaadiKarniHaiKya?, thereby sending the Twitterati into a frenzy to join the banter and making the hashtag the top trend of the day.
Shaadi.com’s #ShaadiKarniHaiKya trend took the Internet by storm, chartering #1 on Twitter’s all India trending page with over three million impressions within a few hours. Unable to resist joining in and outwitting each other with their funny spin on the one-liner, over 7000 tweeple engaged in the activity. The campaign saw everyone, from influencers like Trendulkar (@Trendulkar) and SwatKat (@swatic12) to brands from across domains, get creative and chime in with their own take on the phrase. Some of these hilarious takes include, Dominoes’ – Last slice offer kar rahe ho, #ShaadiKarniHaiKya? and Dunzo’s – Unka address add karke groceries manga rahe ho, #ShaadiKarniHaiKya? Meanwhile, brands such as Disney+ Hotstar, Meesho, Myntra, CoinSwitch Kuber, Lenskart, Mad Over Donuts, Kotak Life, Upstox, Cleartrip, McDonald’s, SUGAR Cosmetics, Boat, Amazon MiniTV, Samsung India, and many more, too joined the bandwagon with their funny tweets alongside the super shark and founder of Shaadi.com Anupam Mittal, himself.
Itna brand name use kar rahe ho, #ShaadiKarniHaiKya? https://t.co/pJqgeB9kEG
— Shaadi.com (@ShaadiDotCom) October 6, 2022
Talking about the trend, Shaadi.com associate director- social media & creative Devesh Rohmetra said, “Singles in India often struggle with picking up on hints. So when our favourite tweleb, @sagarcasm, posted a tweet about it, we jumped at the opportunity and made a hashtag out of it. And through this activity, we, along with netizens, created an encyclopaedia of 5000 (and increasing) fun ways to drop hints and to pop the real question #ShaadiKarniHaiKya?”
The quirky activity witnessed Twitter users engage with the interesting tweet format in a fun and relatable manner while, at the same time, it also saw Shaadi.com help the audience navigate the problem of identifying hints and signals in the nuances of their daily lives. Not just that, but the campaign also enabled the brand to successfully and organically break through the online clutter on social media and build upon its high brand recall value with the hashtag.
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Elite Pro Basketball League’s CEO Sunny Bhandarkar buys a team ‘Emerging Elite’ in Street Ball League owned by Rannvijay Singha and Harman Singha
MUMBAI: Elite Pro Basketball League CEO Sunny Bhandarkar, CMO Kaustubh Ghare, COO Pranav Prabhu and operations head Bharat Singh have bought a team in the Street Ball League owned by Rannvijay Singha and Harman Singha. Street Ball League is a one of its kind 3v3 semi-pro basketball league in India where streets meet basketball. The main aim behind buying the team is to promote the sport of Basketball in India.
‘Emerging Elite’ is the newest entrant in the league which will kick start its journey in the third season in Mumbai from 8 October 2022. The ‘Emerging Elite’ Team will include Abhyudaya Yadav, Abhishek Rathee, Abhishek Tyagi, Sidhant Shinde, Ajinkya Mane and Arvind Arumugam. Out of the six players Abhishek Tyagi, Abhishek Rathee and Abhyudaya Yadav recently represented India as Delhi Storms at the recently concluded Red Bull Half Court World Final in Egypt. Though the team went down by two points in the pre-quarters fighting Greece it gave them a lot of exposure.
Bhandarkar said, “We are really happy to buy a team in the upcoming Street Ball League. The main aim behind this move is to promote the game of Basketball in India. We believe we have a lot of potential and would love to see India qualify for the Olympics shortly and compete with the best athletes globally.”
Elite Pro Basketball League CMO Kaustubh Ghare said, “We are sure initiatives like these will help to grow Basketball in India and we want to play a crucial part in uplifting the game in India. We are also proud of Delhi Storms who played well and went down fighting to Greece which is far superior at the moment when it comes to the game as compared to us.”
Elite Pro Basketball League India’s first-of-its-kind 5×5 Pro Basketball League recently announced that they were going to organise two wildcards tryouts in Chennai and Delhi and they have received over 1200 athlete registrations. Elite Pro Basketball League which will kick start its first season early next year will feature 12 teams and has already signed over 140 athletes to play in various teams.
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WhatsApp’s privacy campaign ‘It’s coming home’ brings new TVC with star badminton player HS Prannoy
Mumbai: On Friday, WhatsApp announced the launch of a new film under its privacy campaign in India. The campaign is focused on message privacy and WhatsApp’s interlocking layers of protection that come together to offer users more control and privacy over their conversations.
Conceptualised by WhatsApp and directed by Jess Kohl, the second film under the campaign “It’s coming home” features Indian badminton player HS Prannoy, who created history by winning the Thomas Cup title in May this year.
The film brilliantly depicts the value of privacy and how the team’s WhatsApp group, cleverly named “It’s coming home,” provided them with a secure, private setting where they could not only plan their strategy but also express their emotions in times of self-doubt.
The film focuses on WhatsApp’s privacy features, such as end-to-end encrypted video calls, privacy settings like last seen, and hidden online presence, which guarantee users the privacy and security to share their most vulnerable moments and life-altering dreams, empowering them to live their dreams in private until they are ready to be shared with the rest of the world.
The film comes after WhatsApp’s earlier-in-August launch of a global brand campaign that emphasised the messaging app’s built-in layers of privacy protections added over time and how various privacy features enable and empower people to have meaningful conversations in their most vulnerable moments.
Embed Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aCsz33JHUVk
Speaking about the campaign, Meta India director of marketing Avinash Pant said, “WhatsApp’s mission is to connect the world privately and this campaign highlights the multiple ways we defend privacy so users can feel free and confident with their messages. Through this film, we want to celebrate our national champions who brought home the coveted Thomas Cup and demonstrate how WhatsApp provided them a safe space where they felt empowered to have private conversations even during vulnerable moments because they knew their messages were always protected and secure, no matter where they were. We want to show people the closeness that’s possible with WhatsApp’s built-in layers of protection without compromising on the assurance of privacy and personal space to live your dreams in private until they’re ready to be shared with the world.”
Commenting on the film, Prannoy said, “Being a part of the Thomas Cup squad was an honour, and I knew to win the title as a team, we had to communicate as a team and go through those moments of hardship, emotional vulnerability, and self-doubt together. WhatsApp was that safe space for us where we could have conversations, strategize and share our most private moments, thoughts and ambitions away from the public eye. Every time I looked at the WhatsApp group name “It’s coming home” it gave me the confidence and fervour to make my dreams a reality. In a country that loves cricket, my dream was to make people love badminton as much as I do and to inspire the next generation of players to believe in themselves and the sport.”
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‘Weekend Unwind’ with: Krazyfox co-founder Vishal Srivastava
Mumbai: With another weekend upon us, it is the 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 Krazyfox co-founder Vishal Srivastava opening up the windows to his thoughts.
KrazyFox is one of the fastest-growing multi-channel networks, offering a smooth collaboration between brands and creators with a network of over 80,000 influencers in India, the Middle East, and Singapore.
Srivastava is an enthusiastic 24-year-old entrepreneur driving the success of the influencer marketing industry in India. In just two years since the inception of his venture into Krazyfox, the revenue has doubled from the first year.
In his previous role, Srivastava worked as a business unit head at Talenzo Media. People recognise him as a thought leader in the influencer marketing industry for his startup and investment-related expertise. He studied engineering at Sinhgad College of Engineering, Pune.
So without further ado, here it goes…
Your mantra for life:
I live by only one mantra: “Be patient in learning; results will come automatically.”A book you are currently reading/plan to read
I am currently reading “The Coaching Habit: Say Less, Ask More, and Change the Way You Lead Forever” by Michael Bungay Stanier. I am reading this in an attempt not to be an advice monster.Your fitness mantra, especially during the pandemic
I have taken fitness more seriously post-pandemic. But I feel my body will take a lot more time to recover from all the stress-eating and bad food choices I made during the pandemic. However, I am doing yoga for 40 minutes daily, which helps me stay active and focused throughout the day.Your comfort food
Like every Indian guy, I love ‘Maa Ke Hath Ka Khana.’ So no cuisine can beat that taste for me. Apart from that, I enjoy eating chicken biryani.When the chips are down, a quote/ philosophy that keeps you going?
“It’s not about money or connections — it’s the willingness to outwork and outlearn everyone when it comes to your business. And if it fails, you learn from what happened and do a better job next time,” says Mark Cuban.Your guilty pleasure
I think I have a lot of guilty pleasures. The ones I am comfortable disclosing are having too much ice cream and stress-eating. So, whenever I feel the situation is not going my way, I have ice cream to chill me out, and genuinely, it works like magic.When was the last time you tried something new?
Since the inception of Krazyfox, every new task, every recent meeting, and every client is something new I am doing. So, I can say I am trying something new every hour. Every time I meet new people, I learn new lessons and have new takeaways.I am also thrilled to explore new business ideas and help them with investment and funding.
A Life lesson you learnt the hard way
In the initial years of your business, you meet different people; some want you to see them grow, and some take advantage of you as a tool to further their success. But it would be best if you weren’t disappointed or afraid of them because these people will teach you who to trust and who not. So, if you are ambitious and desire to make it big, be your pillar and be ready to embrace anything life throws at you.What gets you excited about life?
Hustle! I approach life with curiosity. Life has a lot of happiness and lessons in store for us all. I am too excited to wake up every day to find out what’s in store for me.What’s on top of your bucket list?
Climb Kilimanjaro, the tallest free-standing mountain, and get eight hours of sleep every night.If you could give one piece of advice to your younger self, what would it be?
Someone’s opinion of you doesn’t have to become your reality. Never lose faith in yourself; others are not aware of your capabilities.One thing you would most like to change about the world
Let life and relationships be the foremost priority. Every relationship you create, personally or professionally, is essential because it defines your character and personality. You will receive the same if you have ethics and respect for others.An activity that keeps you motivated / charged during tough times
I am trying my best to be disciplined in life because I have witnessed that disciplined people are always energetic and motivated. Whenever I feel low, I try to share that feeling with family and friends who care.What lifts your spirits when life gets you down?
It is often said that tomorrow is not promised. So the possibility of a new tomorrow helps me channel and navigate my mindset to get the desired outcome.Your go-to stress buster
Stress is a constant; talking to my confidante helps me relax and motivate again, whether it is work-related or personal. Also, I never mind reading something that interests me.