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Category: MAM

  • Dentsu Creative group India onboards Anu Gulati as executive creative director

    Dentsu Creative group India onboards Anu Gulati as executive creative director

    MUMBAI: Dentsu Creative group India has announced the appointment of Anu Gulati as executive creative director. In her new role, Gulati will work with the group’s key talents to further drive and strengthen the network’s creative capabilities, thereby enhancing the client’s market growth. She will be based out of the network’s Delhi office and will report into dentsu Creative group India group chief creative officer Ajay Gahlaut.

    Gulati brings with her over 15 years of experience in the industry. Earlier, she has held creative leadership positions at agencies like Ogilvy & Mather and DDB Mudra. In her previous roles, she has worked with brands like 7Up, McDonald’s, Sprite, KFC, Pizza Hut, Indian Tourism, UNICEF and WWF, to name a few. Additionally, she has also been pursuing her love for writing as a scriptwriter. Gulati has been a part of several award-winning campaigns that have bagged multiple national and international wins at the much-coveted Cannes, Kyoorius, One Show, Abbys, and D&AD.

    Speaking on the appointment, Ajay Gahlaut said, “Anu Gulati is a rare creative person with an uncanny talent for creating interesting and engaging advertising that is also very effective in the marketplace. Exceptional talent, the mental stamina for extreme hard work and an obsessive desire to create a stellar piece of work on every brief, make Anu a valued member of any creative team. We are thrilled to welcome Anu on board; and look forward to seeing her weave her particular brand of magic into our brands.”

    Anu Gulati added, “Unlike the usual setups, dentsu provides a unique and integrated environment. With the kind of talent and intent this place is brimming with, I am confident that these teams can do wonders not just for the network but for the advertising industry at large.”

  • GUEST COLUMN: Meet Generation Alpha- What our youngest and newest consumers are wanting marketers to know

    GUEST COLUMN: Meet Generation Alpha- What our youngest and newest consumers are wanting marketers to know

    My eight-year-old son is fascinated with playing table tennis using disposable cups. Before this it was origami planes made out of waste paper and right before it, he was collecting empty water bottles and using them to invent a series of games that he played with the neighbourhood friends. And this isn’t my son alone. I’ve talked to enough Gen Alpha kids, and most of them are brimming with ideals and ideas that influence them at a micro & macro level. While the pandemic and parental control has kept this generation under wraps, it’s time now that we pay attention to this under 12 years of age segment who is slowly and steadily emerging & finding their much-deserved place in the sun. 

    While my older teenage son epitomizes the Gen Z vibe at home, my younger Gen Alpha is not one to miss out on the spotlight. Born in or after 2010, Generation Alpha shares its birth year with the legendary iPad. Which explains why he treats the device like his Siamese twin. This generation has grown up in a digital environment. While technological advances shifted the human race, the Gen Alpha is the ultimate expression of this advancement. They live their life through screens and speak in a language that doubles up their on-screen and off-screen presence. Their physical and digital worlds are blurred. The Gen Alpha will be the most technologically advanced generation, having grown up amidst artificial intelligence (AI), advanced healthcare, robotics & mobile devices in their day-to-day lives. And this isn’t a bad thing at all. The technology that this generation has access to is used for almost everything- entertainment, education, communication and connection. 

    Parents of this generation, mostly millennials, are also far more willing to spend on their children as well. And they are also a lot more welcoming of influence from their Gen Alpha kids. Most children hold a lot of power over their parent’s purse strings and have an almost open budget to spend through digital channels and brands like Amazon & other shopping platforms. 

    And while this generation will only become a cohort if they have common experiences, concepts, language and vocabulary that differentiates it from previous generations, there is no harm in finding some commonly seen traits that provide marketers more clarity on reaching them better. 

    Their futures aren’t going to be entirely virtual 

    While the Gen Alpha has been raised in a largely technological world, their entire future isn’t going to be necessarily virtual. Gen Alpha will interact with other human beings, and a work-from-home future may not rid them of the human connection. Marketers will certainly need to look beyond the digital world, to create differentiated connect with this generation which fosters the need for physical interaction and interpersonal connect. 

    Influence is a big part of these kids’ vocabulary 

    Generation Alpha is influential and also easily influenced. When it comes to influencing their parents, the Gen Alpha holds the purse strings for holidaying, electronic gadgets, eating out and car purchases. But when it comes to being influenced, these kids are already beginning to have a steady presence on social media- and YouTube is a big part of their lives, where they follow influencers who are especially talking the Gen Alpha language. A lot of the Gen Alpha are also beginning to become influencers in their own right. The creator economy bug has bitten them too and creating and uploading their videos on social media handles, especially YouTube is fairly common. 

    Build trust and transparency through open dialogue 

    As Gen Alpha ages into becoming full-fledged consumers, they are going to demand social and ethical practices from corporations. They are well aware of damages being caused by corporations and are going to be drawn towards organisations who are claiming to repair and do good. All this is going to be through responsive technology- not one-way communication. Gen Alpha has grown up using platforms that help them converse and not just passively consume. They want to be a part of the solution and connect and communicate through open, transparent and honest channels. 

    The author is Rutu Mody-Kamdar Founder Jigsaw Brand Consultants

  • Grapes Digital bags the digital AOR mandate for CP Plus

    Grapes Digital bags the digital AOR mandate for CP Plus

    Mumbai: CP Plus has signed Grapes Digital for its digital AOR mandate. The company has won the mandate following a multi-agency pitch and will service the account from its New Delhi office.

    As a result of this partnership, Grapes will look after the brand’s 360-degree digital presence, from social media creatives to digital campaigns. As per the mandate, the agency will be responsible for executing the digital duties of the brand, such as media planning and buying, creative and digital branding and strategy, and SEO. The collaboration is aimed at developing cohesive value for the brand with the help of earned initiatives.   

    Speaking on the development, CP Plus executive director Ananmay Khemka said, “Being one of the recognised brands in the advanced security and surveillance solution, our constant endeavour is to provide the best range of products and services catering to the security needs of India. In the last few years, CP Plus has witnessed unmatched growth. We are quite enthusiastic to expand our business. Thus, digital plays a crucial role in building the business. We are impressed with Grapes’ vision for our brand. We are quite optimistic that Grapes expertise and nuanced understanding of digital media will fuel our vision”.

    Commenting on the win, Grapes CEO and co-founder Shradha Agarwal said, “We are pleased to associate with CP Plus as their digital partner. It’s a market leader in the security and surveillance industry. The demand for cameras and other surveillance products has witnessed an uptick demand owing to safety reasons. Also, the consumer behaviour pattern is changing, and there is a lot of scope in the market to perform well in the coming year. With a strategic approach and creative thinking, we look forward to creating great work in new and unprecedented directions for the brand. With our expertise in digital solutions, we strive to increase the visibility of the brand and create top-of-the-mind recall value amongst consumers”.

  • Vinay Rao joins as Langoor’s head- client success

    Vinay Rao joins as Langoor’s head- client success

    Mumbai: The digital marketing agency Langoor has appointed Vinay Rao as its head of client success. He will lead strategizing and digital transformation on key accounts.

    Vinay will help brands achieve their goals by bringing the focus back on business and enabling strategies that help them create a prominent presence in new markets. He will be the driving force behind a brand’s storytelling to build credibility, promote awareness and engineer conversion with clients.

    Welcoming him on board, Langoor CEO Venugopal Ganganna said, “At Langoor, we are always scaling up and adding new clients to our roster. To ensure that our clients receive all the support and advice they need and to help their business grow, we decided to onboard Vinay. He is very driven and has innovative ideas and effortless communication skills that he brings to the table which is crucial for our business. Vinay’s vision for Langoor aligns perfectly with ours, making him the ideal match for the role.”

    Speaking on his appointment, Langoor head (client success) Vinay Rao said “I am thrilled to work with a firm as dynamic, creative and motivated as Langoor. The environment in the firm is very exciting and it’s an opportunity which couldn’t have knocked at my door at a better time such as now. Venu is a great leader and I look forward to working with him and giving our customers all the support that they need to grow and prosper.”

    In his last role, Vinay was responsible for the digital marketing & communications mandate for Blume Ventures, one of India’s top-tier venture capital firms. He has also previously worked on the digital transformation mandates of early stage, challenger, and digitally native brands in ITES & SaaS, E-commerce, FMCG, healthcare, fitness and wellness, home interiors, retail, real estate, non-profit, airline, electronics and consumer goods. 

  • CleverTap acquires San Francisco-based Leanplum

    CleverTap acquires San Francisco-based Leanplum

    Mumbai: CleverTap has completely acquired San Francisco-based Leanplum, a leading multi-channel customer engagement platform. The acquisition, originally announced on 19 May, was closed in a record time of three weeks. It becomes revenue accretive for CleverTap from 1 June 2022.

    With this acquisition, CleverTap has strengthened its footprint in the US and Europe. CleverTap will combine the product stack of both organizations and extend its world-class solutions & technology to all its customers and prospects worldwide.

    Leanplum co-founder Momchil Kyurkchiev has joined CleverTap’s leadership team as chief strategy officer. With the completion of the acquisition, CleverTap also welcomes marquee investors Norwest Partners, Shasta Ventures, Canaan, and Kleiner Perkins as its shareholders.

    “We are very excited to welcome Momchil and all Leanplum employees to the CleverTap family and expect full integration of the two companies, including an integrated product in the market to get completed over the next three to four quarters,” said CleverTap co-founder and executive chairman Sunil Thomas.

    “With this acquisition customers will now have a wide variety of product features and options to choose from the best of both product line-ups (A/B testing, segmentation, campaigns, journeys etc.) At the same time, the acquisition provides a much bigger growth, exposure and learning opportunities for employees and collectively we will now become a dominant force with a large global footprint,” he added.

    “As we expand globally, we are looking to retain as well as grow 100 percent of the Leanplum customers by bringing all combined capability on one platform in due course. We also plan to increase our headcount in the US and Europe. Together, we aspire to be recognized as a SaaS talent powerhouse built on a strong people-first culture driven by values and equality,” added Sunil.

    CleverTap chief strategy officer Momchil Kyurkchiev commented, “The Martech landscape the world over is evolving at an exponential rate and hyper-personalized digital engagement at scale is the need of the hour. I am sure that together, Leanplum and CleverTap will address this need and continue to drive innovation in this space. CleverTap and Leanplum individually have had a robust presence in terms of geographical reach, industries, and categories. Collectively we will now become a dominant force with a large global footprint.”

  • NCLAT dismisses Amazon’s appeal against suspension of transaction with Future Group

    NCLAT dismisses Amazon’s appeal against suspension of transaction with Future Group

    MUMBAI: The National Company Law Appellate Tribunal (NCLAT) has dismissed Amazon’s appeal against the suspension of transaction with Future Group, and upheld the Rs 200 crore penalty imposed by the Competition Commission of India (CCI). It has directed the US-based e-commerce major to pay the amount within 45 days. Amazon can challenge the NCLAT order in the Supreme Court.

    Last week, the NCLT adjourned the hearing of Amazon’s petition opposing the initiation of insolvency proceedings against debt-ridden Future Retail during a virtual hearing in the matter.

    Earlier, this year in January, US giant Amazon Holdings NV had moved the NCLAT against the CCI. Its case is against CCI’s 17 December where the anti-trust watchdog had suspended and revoked its approval for the deal with Future Group alleging misrepresentation.

    As per the anti-trust watchdog’s 17 December order, Amazon was fined Rs 202 crore by CCI for allegedly misrepresenting and suppressing information while seeking regulatory approval in 2019 to buy a stake in Future Group.

    The move followed a Delhi High Court judgement on 5 January that suspended Amazon’s arbitration proceedings in Singapore against estranged partner Future Group for contract violations, giving the debt-ridden Indian retailer a reprieve.

    The high court had pushed the arbitration proceedings owing to the CCI order. As per the CCI’s 57-page order, it said that the approval for the Amazon -Future deal would be kept in abeyance.

  • Leo Burnett India launches ‘Speakeasy with Dheeraj Sinha’ Season 3

    Leo Burnett India launches ‘Speakeasy with Dheeraj Sinha’ Season 3

    Mumbai: Leo Burnett India has announced Season 3 of its thought leadership initiative ‘Speakeasy with Dheeraj Sinha’. The podcast will be a weekly series focusing on the theme of “leadership businesses brands in the new age.” 

    Evolving from a brand-building forum to a platform presenting holistic business outlook, ‘Speakeasy with Dheeraj Sinha – Season 3’ promises intuitive and engaging conversations, with 10 new captains who have taken the driver’s seat to lead businesses.  

    As a part of this show, Leo Burnett- South Asia CEO & BBH India’s chairman Dheeraj Sinha will be in conversation with business and brand leaders who share their experiences, insights and journey in scaling up brands & businesses. An enlightening chat for listeners, full of insights, creative ideas, brand case studies, and future trends. 

    Joining Dheeraj in season 3 will be speakers who helm some of the most reputed brands including The Man Company co-founder and managing director Hitesh Dhingra, Lumikai Fund general partner Salone Sehgal, Loco founder Anirudh Pandita, Bajaj Auto Ltd head of marketing Narayan Sundararaman, Blue Tokai Coffee Roasters co-founder and CEO Matt Chitharanjan to name a few.  

    The previous two successful seasons saw some of the distinguished guests from every walk of life with diverse portfolios, coming onboard to decode valuable market insights from the brand perspective. Some of the great leaders from previous seasons were from Google, Mahindra & Mahindra Ltd, Kimberly Clark, Daily Hunt & Josh; Hero Vired, India Quotient and many more. The success of the previous season has crossed 1.2 million + listeners and fans. 

    Speaking about season 3 podcast, Sinha said, “We are thrilled to launch Season 3 of our podcast. This podcast started as an idea to deep-dive into the processes of brand building in the new age, understand the evolution of cultural trends & the start-up landscape. As with the previous seasons, the upcoming episodes are packed with thought-provoking insights in the sphere of leadership, businesses, and brands. This has been an immensely gratifying journey and I want to thank both my listeners and guests for joining in this initiative.” 

  • Global wellness brand, VAHDAM India appoints Sneha Beriwal as chief marketing officer.

    Global wellness brand, VAHDAM India appoints Sneha Beriwal as chief marketing officer.

    MUMBAI: Global wellness brand, Vahdam India has appointed Sneha Beriwal as its chief marketing officer to shape, drive, and execute its marketing strategy, the company announced in a statement.

    Beriwal will be leading the entire marketing function at Vahdam India globally & will report to the founder/CEO Bala Sarda.

    He brings in over 17 years of experience. Before Vahdam, she worked at Aditya Birla Group for five years where she started as AVP – marketing at Aditya Birla Payments Bank, and then became the head – brand & campaigns at Aditya Birla Fashion and Retail– Pantaloons, before serving as joint vice-president, marketing at Aditya Birla Health Insurance Company in 2022.

    She has also worked across diverse consumer goods companies that include Nestle, Dabur, Westmill Foods and Novartis.

    “I’m very excited to welcome Sneha to our team. She has joined Vahdham at an exciting time of growth and brings a tremendous amount of marketing expertise with her. As chief marketing officer, she will be leveraging her capacity for storytelling and brand building to help the company usher in the next level of growth,” said Sarda.

    “I am excited to partner in Bala Sarda’s vision of building a Global brand from India. Vahdam has all the ingredients ready for creating a very unique and compelling brand. The vision, the product and the ambition to create something global is a combination that’s unique to Vahdam, and that is what has excited me to join Vahdam. I want to use my experience in brand building, storytelling and focusing on the customer and contribute to this growing purpose led organization,” said Beriwal.

    Vahdam India was founded in 2015 by Bala Sarda with a mission to build a home-grown Indian brand for the world. According to the company, it has raised over Rs 290 crore in funding from marquee funds like IIFL, Sixth Sense Ventures, Fireside Ventures & more.

  • GUEST COLUMN: How conversational AI is helping adtech brands maximize advertising ROI

    GUEST COLUMN: How conversational AI is helping adtech brands maximize advertising ROI

    Mumbai: The role of Artificial Intelligence (AI) in adtech has become pivotal over the years. It started with simple bots that helped customers with basic queries and requests through voice or text & now has evolved into sophisticated conversational AI. It is capable of Automatic Speech Recognition (ASR) for taking voice inputs and formulating a context-specific response in real-time. After all, understanding natural language and providing a meaningful response is the key to creating a seamless experience for customers, and this is where conversational AI comes into play.

    Traditional online advertising was not successful in engaging customers

    As digitization has exponentially increased in the past years, it has become difficult to cater to customer demands manually, and automation has been widely experimented with in the adtech sector. The drawbacks of conventional chatbots ranged from being disengaged and irrelevant to frustratingly non-conversational. The seemingly robotic nature of digital advertisements led to a lot of digital campaigns going to dust.

    The result often used to be a loss in customers rather than a hike due to an uncontrolled and unthoughtful message being conveyed via the use of ineffective chatbots. A general lack of understanding of the customer’s intent and providing them with a specific solution were the topmost issues in the area of customer support. A lot of brands are now trying to implement conversational AI into their existing AdTech stack with varying levels of success. Some are doing it right, while others still have a long way to go.

    The modern-day consumer demands more than being sold a product

    Personalisation can be boosted from the very inception of a customer journey through predictive analysis. This innovation helps companies in customer personification, giving them access to a lot of structured data throughout the customer journey. The AI can analyse all the data available on a particular customer and predict what they want based on past behaviour. This enhances the prospects of call-to-action, directly impacting the revenues by 21 percent organically.

    The customer’s AI-generated avatar helps build a personalised experience in an omnichannel ecosystem for advertisements. The analysis is effective across these channels, and the consistent brand voice communicated to the customer imparts a sense of connection that aligns with the customer’s mindset. This plays a critical role in keeping them engaged as building upon previous impressions becomes easier and cost-effective due to reduced cost per acquisition (CPA). Customers are no longer just numbers on a spreadsheet; they are individuals with unique goals and needs. This is why conversational AI is such an essential technology for advertisers today.

    Conversational AI uses intuitive technologies to interact with their customers

    Conversational AI is a game-changer for the adtech industry. It is creating new opportunities for brands to maximise their advertising ROI. It offers in-depth customer insights that help adtech companies understand, adapt and respond to customer needs, thereby improving engagement and sales.

    It helps businesses create targeted audiences based on data analysis around various factors, including age, gender, location, and more. This helps deliver specific content to different groups of people, boosting engagement and sales. Predictive analysis by AI significantly reduces turnaround time, making it easier for companies to meet deadlines without sacrificing quality or spending more money on additional resources like hiring full-time employees for each department (like marketing).

    Conversational AI can analyse conversations between consumers and brands, which allows businesses to predict what their customers want next. This data can then be used to personify a consumer’s identity as part of their journey through the sales funnel so that they feel more connected than ever before.

    Summing up

    As the industry moves towards conversational commerce, it has become clear that conversational AI will play a fundamental role in driving this change. And because it’s built into an existing CRM system, the existing infrastructure can be used without having to make significant changes or upgrades. AI-powered chatbots are, therefore, the future of customer service, with the industry poised to reach a whopping $14 billion by 2025.

    The author is Amitt Sharma, Founder and CEO, VDO.AI

  • Purplle raises $33 mn in Series E from Paramark Ventures, existing investors

    Purplle raises $33 mn in Series E from Paramark Ventures, existing investors

    Mumbai: Online cosmetics retailer Purplle raised $33 million in Series E funding from South Korea’s Paramark Ventures as well as existing backers Blume Ventures, Kedaara and Premji Invest, the company announced on Friday.

    With the latest round of funding, the startup takes its total funding to over $215 million and joins India’s coveted unicorn club with a valuation of $1.1 billion.

    Purplle.com has gone through four rounds of funding from reputed investors in closing 2021 with $140 million.

    “We are humbled by the conviction of our investors in brand Purplle, being a testament to the value we have created over the years,” said Purplle.com co-founder and CEO Manish Taneja. “We welcome our new investor, Paramark Ventures, and look forward to cross-country synergies. The infusion is an opportunity to further our mission of building the beauty industry in India with technological investments, scaling of our private brands, and industry-first innovations. Staying true to our purpose of making Purplle ‘Har Indian Ka Beauty Destination’ we are strongly positioned for the next phase of accelerated growth.”

    “We have been tracking Purplle for several years now. We are deeply impressed with the team and platform that the founders have built over the years and are glad to be partnering with them at this stage.” said Paramark Ventures founder and managing partner Chunsoo Kim.

    “Purplle is addressing the enormous vacuum in the beauty and personal care industry in India in a way that the rising demand from massive Indian consumers can be best served beyond the limited set of customers in a few major cities. And, we find the team’s determination and endeavour to build a long lasting business to serve such needs of the Indian market through technology and customer delight both apparent and inspiring,” further added Kim.