Category: MAM

DDB Mudra’s “Game Responsibly” campaign wins Bronze Lion at Cannes Lions Awards 2022

Mumbai: In a first for Indian gaming, DDB Mudra’s “Game Responsibly” campaign for Battlegrounds Mobile India (BGMI) bagged the Bronze Lion at the Cannes Lions Awards 2022. Conceptualised by DDB Mudra, the first-of-its-kind campaign from Krafton addressed issues of continuous gaming, while reinstating in-game safeguards introduced by BGMI.

Widely recognized as the global benchmark for creative excellence, the Cannes Lions Awards celebrate creativity across disciplines with specialist awards. As a crowd-favourite game with over a hundred million registered users, DDB Mudra and Krafton campaign focused on building awareness amongst players to cultivate healthy gaming habits while promoting responsible gameplay.

The slew of awards for this campaign began with a Grand Prix at Spikes Asia Awards, supported by two Golds, a Silver and three Bronze. The film then went on to win a Gold and a Bronze Lotus at Adfest 2022, three golds and a silver at the ABBY’s, a Graphite Pencil and three Wood Pencils at D&AD, seven Blue Elephants and ten Baby Elephants at Kyoorius. The icing on the cake came at the Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity, wherein the film garnered four shortlists and bagged a Bronze Lion in the Film category.

The campaign film employs the iconic gameplay sounds of BGMI as a metaphor for excessive gaming wherein the protagonist is shown mimicking the sounds incessantly. Humour is employed to drive home the features introduced by BGMI to combat continuous gaming, including OTP authentication for minors and limits on daily in-game spending. The film organically embeds the problem of over-gaming and its subsequent solution of parental control features into a relatable narrative that appeals to multiple audiences.

Speaking on the film’s stellar performance at awards shows, DDB Mudra Group chief creative officer Rahul Mathew said, “Film isn’t usually the medium that we’re known for as a country. So, to have a film that has been celebrated on every stage globally is quite an honour for all of us.”

“This is a historic moment for us, and we are incredibly proud that our collaborative work with DDB Mudra has been so highly awarded. The campaign had a plethora of challenges to creatively spreading awareness about in-game safeguards, and bringing gamers, families, and friends on the same page. Here at KRAFTON, Inc., our efforts are focused on ensuring safe, and responsible gaming while prioritising our gamers’ mental and physical wellbeing. The campaign was successful in reiterating BGMI’s responsible gaming measure in a manner that resonates with multiple audiences.” said Krafton head of India Publishing Minu Lee.

“The Game Responsibly” campaign not only speaks to gamers but also brings their friends and parents into the conversation. By educating all three audiences, the campaign shows that there are simple solutions for an obsession that may otherwise have serious long-term effects.

July 6, 2022
EaseMyTrip partners with Value 360 Communications; gives away its PR-related activities

Mumbai: The leading travel tech company EaseMyTrip has entrusted the New Delhi-based PR firm Value 360 Communications as their public and media relations partner.

The agency will be responsible for strategic planning and meticulous management of all PR-related activities for EaseMyTrip.

From FY’20 till FY’22, EaseMyTrip grew its profit at 78 per cent CAGR thus reflecting its impeccable track record of achieving sustainable growth in the travel sector. Consequently growing via word of mouth, the company undertook several technology-led innovations to increase its operational efficiency. Furthermore, EaseMyTrip achieved another milestone by joining the elite club of India’s first hundred unicorns while remaining bootstrapped and consistently profitable.

The company remained profitable even during the pandemic times, highlighting the resilience of its highly efficient cost infrastructure and business model. After establishing a key foothold in the air ticket industry, EaseMyTrip started focusing on expanding its non-air verticals. The company strategically gained inorganic growth by acquiring innovative companies across diverse travel segments and evolving into a complete travel ecosystem.

Speaking on the association, EaseMyTrip CEO and co-founder Nishant Pitti said, “Over the past 14 years, EaseMyTrip has taken pride in being a customer-centric company and has focused on efficiently catering to the rising needs of customers and offering a wide range of value-added services, a practice that has remained unhampered during the course of the pandemic as well. We are excited to have Value 360 Communications as our PR firm and confident to achieve new heights with their set of expertise in the field of PR. Together, we aim at creating focused and robust PR campaigns that will help in developing consumer-centric and engaging communications.”

Excited about the partnership, Value 360 Communications founder and director Kunal Kishore said, “We are pleased to begin our alliance with EaseMyTrip for the mandate of Public Relations. EaseMyTrip is a self-made company which completely bootstrapped itself till IPO. They are the pioneers in the online travel industry and are directed to become the only trusted travel company backed with technology. We intend to collaborate for some amazing work together and creating campaigns that are resourceful, innovative, and stimulating and support them to achieve their communication objectives.’’

July 5, 2022
Essence bags integrated media mandate for Plum

Mumbai: A global data and measurement-driven media agency WPP’s GroupM, Essence has won the integrated media mandate of beauty brand Plum in India. Essence will work on this mandate out of their Mumbai office.

As a part of this partnership, Essence will manage strategy, media planning and media activation for Plum’s brand marketing activities. With its pioneering expertise in data, technology and creativity, the agency will help scale the brand across categories and drive enhanced return on investment.

With over 180 SKUs, Plum has steadily built its customer base on both online and offline platforms. In addition to being among the top new-age beauty brands online, Plum now reaches over 250 towns and cities in India, through more than 1,000 assisted outlets and over 10,000 unassisted outlets – growing month-on-month. It is also one of the fastest-growing beauty and personal care brands on key online marketplaces.

Now it joins Essence’s diverse portfolio of clients across its Bengaluru, Delhi and Mumbai offices, covering a mix of high-growth, technology-driven startups as well as established local and global companies. Since Essence’s entry into India in 2016, the agency has seen an increasing demand by companies for its transformational data-driven approach to marketing, unified use of media and creativity to deepen relationships with consumers, and expertise in accelerating brand and business growth.

Speaking of this association, Plum chief marketing officer Shivani Behl said, “Consumer behaviour is ever-evolving, and reaching out to the new-age digital consumer is a process that involves constant learning and feedback. With this context, it is imperative to keep a keen eye on data, and expand our reach to newer audiences and cater to the ever-changing demands of our existing ones. Hence, collaborating with Essence to leverage their expertise in technology, media and marketing was a logical next step. We are looking forward to this association and we hope it helps us in achieving the business vision we have chalked out for ourselves.”

Essence India managing director Sonali Malaviya commented, “Plum is an exciting, fast-growing and purpose-driven beauty brand, which shares Essence’s commitment to data-driven growth and marketing that adds value to people’s lives. Leveraging our cutting-edge use of analytics and technology, we are looking forward to collaborating with the team at Plum as its strategic partner, to help create new growth opportunities for the brand and the business.”

July 5, 2022
Laqshya Media executes pan India OOH campaign for Nissan Magnite

Mumbai: Laqshya Media Group executed a high decibel, pan India Out of Home (OOH) campaign for Nissan Magnite across all metros, mini-metros, state capitals, and Tier 3 and 4 cities. Strategically designed to reach Magnite’s target audience, the campaign was executed at multiple locations in each city, with high-impact, large format OOH sites placed at key urban touchpoints, including key arterial routes, main traffic junctions, central business hubs, auto-hubs, and commercial retail areas, among others.

The campaign was designed to highlight how the SUV’s bold exteriors, roomy interior, powerful turbocharged engine, and advanced safety technology establish it as the perfect city adventure companion for discerning Indian customers.

Speaking on the campaign, Laqshya Media Group COO Amarjeet Hudda commented, “The Nissan Magnite OOH has been a very prestigious project for us. To bring to life the big, bold, beautiful and charismatic appeal of the SUV, we selected the most iconic, large format impactful OOH sites nationwide across cities.”

He added, “The campaign used technology extensively to strengthen reach and visibility for Nissan India’s target audience. For example, we deployed an in-house advanced AI-powered OOH planning tool strategic hyperlocal AI-powered reach planner (SHARP) to identify the most strategic touch points as per campaign TG in each city. Also, we undertook GPS /GPRS-based monitoring to make our outreach more effective.”

July 5, 2022
GOZOOP group bags integrated marketing mandate for Fit AF

Mumbai: GOZOOP group has bagged an integrated marketing mandate for Fit AF, a homegrown whey protein brand. The brand aims to bridge the manufacturing and flavour gap existing in the Indian health & fitness industry.

As part of the mandate, GOZOOP group will be enhancing the brand’s positioning among the target audience with strategic communication. They will be responsible for optimizing the brand search engine results and digital media capabilities as well as maintaining a consistent voice across media platforms through PR strategies. Leveraging the new age vision and mission of the brand, GOZOOP Group will also ideate and manage influencer led communications to reach out to a larger set of audiences.

With a unique blend of protein and distinguished flavors, the aim is to offer a wholesome fitness regime and be the preferred partner for enthusiasts that live, breathe and speak fitness in a truly Indianised way. Fit AF operates under the parent company Fitride Labs Pvt. Ltd.

Fitride Labs chief executive officer & director Aman Lalwani shared, “We believe that it is an impeccable communication strategy that helps a brand set itself apart in a populated market. It helps in the establishment of a truly distinct image that consumers can relate to. With GOZOOP Group’s experience along with their passionate & creative workforce, we are positive that it will be a victorious partnership.”

July 4, 2022
Health insurance platform Plum appoints Mukul Kanchan as its head of finance

Mumbai: Plum, an employee health insurance platform, has appointed Mukul Kanchan as its head of finance. Mukul has assumed charge from June 2022 and will be working closely with the founders to solve complexities as the business scales up at a faster clip. Mukul will support scaling the business with sustainability, building financial prudence and robustness, acquisition initiatives, and fundraising. He will also strengthen risk management practices and compliances at Plum.

Mukul is an investment banker and a private equity investment professional. He comes with over 16 years of experience in leading finance, M&A and business development functions in prominent start-ups and global corporations such as Clix Capital, D. E. Shaw & Co, E&Y and Aten Capital among others. In his earlier role as CFO at Clix, Mukul drove the acquisition of GE Capital India entities in 2016 which was later renamed as Clix, simplified the legal entity structure of the group, drove M&As and partnerships, and led the overall finance function.

On his new role as head of finance at Plum, Mukul Kanchan said, “In a world of high-growth tech start-ups, a finance leader must become a strategic partner to their CEOs. From staying conservative to displaying aggression, from valuing cost-cutting to chasing opportunity cost, from controller to being an enabler, and from playing by the book to writing a new playbook, the new age finance leaders must act as a catalyst for growth and aspire to change the game.”

Plum co-founder and CEO Abhishek Poddar said, “Mukul is a highly adept finance leader and will be an invaluable asset to Plum’s leadership team. Having worked at some of the most robust financial services organisations, not only does he bring the expertise needed to run our finance function, he also has a critical understanding of what it takes to drive growth and operational excellence. Having worked with Mukul for some time now, I have experienced his superior intellect and leadership abilities and am excited to work closely with him as we execute the next phase of Plum’s journey.”

July 4, 2022
Hirol Gandhi becomes Ogilvy India’s president and head of office for Mumbai & Kolkata

Mumbai : Ogilvy India announced that effective 1 July 2022, Hirol Gandhi has taken over as president and head of office – Mumbai and Kolkata.

A postgraduate from NMIMS, Gandhi has been an Ogilvy ambassador for 22 years. He has championed many success stories across clients and in varied leadership roles in Ogilvy, said the agency in a statement. Gandhi has championed work across brands like Vodafone Idea, Cadbury, Parle, Bajaj Pulsar, Brook Bond Red Label and SBI Life Insurance, among others.

In his 18 months stint as the managing partner of Ogilvy Mumbai, he steered the Mumbai office through the challenging Covid times and drove both employee care and business growth in equal measure, according to the agency.

Ogilvy India group president VR Rajesh said, “The next three years are the years of transformation for Ogilvy in India. Hirol is an extraordinary future focused leader who also has an astute sense of business. We need a champion like him to accelerate our journey into modernising our largest office.”

On his new role, Hirol Gandhi said. “After having successfully partnered brands in their growth and transformation journey, this is an equally exciting and challenging opportunity – chart the next chapter for Mumbai and Kolkata offices, and further accelerate the transformation agenda. I’m really looking forward to my next phase at Ogilvy.”

July 4, 2022
Havas Media Group India appoints A K Rao as senior vice president of Havas Sports & Entertainment

MUMBAI: Havas Sports & Entertainment, the sports & sponsorship vertical of Havas Media Group India, has appointed Arun Kumar Rao as senior vice president. He will be based in Gurgaon and will report to R Venkatasubramanian, president (investments) & head of Havas Sports.

Earlier this year, Havas Media Group India relaunched the Havas Sports & Entertainment vertical, which offers clients opportunities by providing bespoke sports solutions with access to media and sponsorship. The team aims to provide strategic & innovative media solutions to sponsors on asset identification, allocation and maximising returns from media investments as well as developing sports and entertainment-based IPs, managing sporting talent, and producing & partnering on exclusive events.

Havas Media Group India CEO Mohit Joshi said, “Sports is a major driving force for the media & marketing industry, and we want to lead this space by assisting media rights holders in optimising their properties, creating more winning partnerships with leading & emerging brands, and co-creating unique engagement opportunities for brands by offering integrated media solutions that include digital, on-ground, and on-air experiences, which will help maximise returns and connect meaningfully with audiences. I look forward to Venkat and the team scaling up Havas Sports & Entertainment to newer heights, and welcome Arun to the Havas Family.”

Havas Media Group India president (investments) & head – Havas Sports R. Venkatasubramanian added, “With the resurgence of Havas Sports & Entertainment and a slew of major & emerging sporting events in India, we are witnessing a multi-fold increase in sports marketing and brand sponsorships. Arun’s vast experience will add a new dimension to the vertical and accelerate our growth plans.”

“I am thrilled to be joining the Havas Media Group India team and to have the opportunity to expand Havas Sports & Entertainment’s expertise in sports marketing and sponsorships. I am excited to work with meaningful brands from diverse industries, collaborate with leading and emerging sporting events, drive innovation, and make a meaningful difference. I’m looking forward to a fantastic inning with Havas.” said Arun Rao.

With over 20 years of diverse work experience, Rao comes with a vast experience in sports marketing & sponsorships, media ad sales & marketing, strategic marketing, DTH & digital sales, business development, and digital content development & acquisition. He has worked as an independent consultant, helping brands, start-ups, and sports clubs in setting up marketing & sales strategy, and revenue generation through sponsorships.

Before this, Rao has worked with Indian Super League (ISL) teams – Odisha FC & Delhi Dynamos FC, Dish TV, leading broadcast and print media networks – Discovery Networks, The Walt Disney, 9XM, Manorama TV, Fashion TV India (FTV) and The Time of India Group. Apart from this, Rao has also worked with leading advertising agencies like TBWA India, Rediffusion and Percept Advertising and managed brands like Bharti Airtel, Electrolux – Kelvinator, Birla Yamaha, and NTPC.

July 4, 2022
PokerBaazi.com unveils ‘You Hold the Cards’; onboards Shahid Kapoor

Mumbai: Online poker platform PokerBaazi.com has launched its new brand campaign ‘You Hold the Cards’ featuring their brand ambassador and Bollywood actor Shahid Kapoor.

With the campaign titled ‘You Hold the Cards’, the brand aims to create awareness about poker as a skill-based sport and establish that in poker, the game is under your control, and one can emerge victorious based on skills, determination, and right strategy.

As part of the campaign, a brand film has been launched featuring Shahid Kapoor, which showcases him as the protagonist who goes through various unexpected situations that aren’t under his control. However, he continues to focus on his game on the PokerBaazi app and finally comes on top with his true resilience and skills. The film attempts to debunk the myth of luck playing an upper hand in poker while the reality is that skill is the key element to success.

Speaking on the campaign launch, Baazi Games co-founder and marketing director Varun Ganjoo said, “Poker is a sport, period. Poker is also a lot of fun. We are extremely thrilled with the launch of our campaign “You Hold the Cards” and excited to have Shahid Kapoor as our flagbearer. The idea of this campaign is primarily to create awareness around poker as a skill sport which the brand film captures beautifully. This is a big step forward towards making poker a household game in our country. While our approach is digital-first, the campaign shall be promoted across all possible avenues aligned with our target audience.”

Shahid Kapoor said, “When I was introduced to the key insight behind the PokerBaazi campaign, ‘Experts are made, not born,’ it resonated with me instantly and got me all excited. Being able to control one’s fate with the right planning, strategy & sheer grit, and eventually emerging victorious is almost identical to our lives. I strongly believe that the campaign will showcase online poker as a sport which is equally fun & thrilling and will win the hearts of the audiences.”

The campaign designed and conceptualised by Wieden+Kennedy, will go LIVE across channels including social media, OOH, OTT amongst others.

Commenting on the campaign, Wieden+Kennedy creative directors Amrish Kondurkar and Sunayna Sabharwal said, “Poker is a new space in the world of gaming apps in India and it does come with its baggage of being exclusive for only those who know how to play the game well and therefore makes it a bit limiting. We wanted to treat this campaign as a way to build a personality for the brand which is truly distinct. While the category goes behind the usual areas of winning/making money, we created a space which came from a true-life insight and could make people feel they had a chance. That’s where the tagline, Pokerbaazi, ‘You hold the cards’ came from. To clearly establish that what matters is your skill and not luck.”

They further added, “We kept the tonality fun with a strong attitude so that a regular person with a smartphone would feel like taking a shot. Whether it’s the film, the music or the print campaign, each touch point goes back to our attempt to make the Pokerbaazi app a must have on their phone.”

PokerBaazi.com’s announcement of its association with Shahid Kapoor earlier this week comes at a time when the platform recently recorded a billion poker hands being played on its app since its origin in October 2014. The customer-first platform, co-founded by a group of passionate poker lovers, has acquired the top rank in the segment and this campaign, according to the brand, is certainly going to level up poker in India.

July 4, 2022
GUEST COLUMN: Influencer marketing trends to keep on your radar in 2022

Mumbai: There is no denying that digital marketing in the modern era is an essential part of brand building and expansion. Not only does digital marketing open doors for brands to connect personally with their customers, but it also enables interactions across countries and cultures. Ad spending in the digital advertising market is projected to reach $565.20 billion in 2022. While digital marketing has several effective techniques that have made it the most influential form of promotion, one particular branch that stands out is influencer marketing.

Influencer marketing is a form of marketing where brands choose certain ambassadors or people, who are not celebrities in the actual sense but have a high social media following, to promote their products or services. Due to the boom of social media in recent years, this form of marketing has seen a tremendous rise with every brand, little or large, opting for influential people on social media to promote their products and services. According to the Digital Marketing Institute, an online forum that teaches various digital marketing techniques, around 70 per cent of the younger audience worldwide tend to trust influencers while making purchases.

Findings by the research firm MarketsandMarkets reveal that influencer marketing is set to become a $24.1 billion industry by 2024, globally. Seeing this exponential growth it is only fair for brands to know the latest trends in the sector in order to expand their reach and generate higher revenues.

Rise of nano & micro-influencers

The rise of nano & micro-influencers is a trend that seems to be at an all-time high in recent times. As per the Financial Express, high-end celebrities accounted for only about 27 per cent of the influencer marketing spend while the remaining 73 per cent was spent entirely on micro and nano influencers in India. The primary reason for this is that the engagement that comes with micro-influencers exceeds that of high-end celebrities by about seven times.

Nano and micro-influencers have a smaller base, generally one that they are familiar with and interact quite frequently with their followers. This makes the customers feel a personal connection with the figure causing building of trust. Through these influencers, brands can execute focused campaigns cost-effectively.

Short-form videos will continue to rule social:

As attention spans shift from minutes to seconds, short video promotions will always remain the king of social media. Features like Instagram’s Reels and YouTube Shorts are made to cater to the short attention span of the modern world.

Brands tell their stories via a number of video formats, including product teasers, explainer videos, behind-the-scenes and user-generated content. Connecting with Bharat by partnering with creators on Indian short-form video platforms is a big opportunity that is yet to be tapped on.

Regional content will thrive:

In recent months, there has been an exponential rise in the regional content that brands generate for promotional purposes. As per a report published by Financial Express, there are about 210 million monetizable internet users who speak vernacular languages in India.

This demand for vernacular content has caused regional content-creators to carve out a strong niche for themselves. Consumers feel a strong connection with the influencer and the familiarity of the lingo gives the influencers a high trust and reliability index.

The shift from ‘one-off’ campaigns to ‘always on’ strategy

The industry is shifting from experimental influencer marketing spending to planned budgets. Brands are more focused on building long-term partnerships with creators who can be the voice of the brand across all stages of the marketing funnel.

Rise of B2B influencer marketing

B2B influencer marketing is one dominant trend that will emerge in the influencer marketing sphere in the times that lay ahead. In a recent article carried out by Garner, it was reported that around 80 per cent of sales in the B2B spaces are now being made digitally.

B2B brands are for sure to leverage key opinion leaders and content-creators on platforms such as LinkedIn & Twitter in order to shape and spread their brand narrative.

Given that now, a national advertising regulator like ASCI is issuing guidelines for influencers, the industry is being given its due and influencer marketing is being treated as a force to be reckoned with. Going forward, influencer marketing will only become a stronger part of digital marketing strategies for brands.

The author is Opportune Ventures founder Kanishk Kanakia.

July 4, 2022