ITV

Category: AD Agencies

  • Dentsu International merges The Story Lab with C’Lab in India

    Dentsu International merges The Story Lab with C’Lab in India

    NEW DELHI: Dentsu International has announced the merger of its celebrity, influencer, and sports marketing division C’Lab with its global branded content division The Story Lab (TSL) in India. Deepak Kumar, erstwhile director C’Lab, will now lead the business in India as country head TSL.

    The unification of these two agencies is aimed at simplifying clients’ needs in the content space and leverage TSL’s footprint and IPs across the globe. The merged entity will operate under the TSL brand and further strengthen its foundation in the country. 

    For the record, TSL is a global content specialist that inspires and delivers innovative content solutions. These solutions, in-turn, help in creating connect with audiences and thus, deliver value to clients and partners. Some of its popular IPs are Game of Clones, Ninja Warrior, No Sleep No FOMO, and a host of other exclusive IPs and branded content properties. C'Lab, meanwhile, specialises in creating tactical content in the space of sports and entertainment. In its last three years of operations in India, C’Lab has created some very effective campaigns with celebrities and influencers.

    With the merger of these two entities, TSL will work with brands to innovate the art of storytelling. It will also introduce global learnings into the local market, infused with local understanding. The merged capability will help enhance the current offering and provide access to global IPs with local flavor.

    Kumar said, “‘Content is king’ is an old adage but the relevance continues. Its significance, in fact, has increased manifold during the lockdown and further fueled with the advent of newer platforms. It’s an exciting and challenging time to be in this business wherein harnessing a brand’s interest and relevance to the consumer will be the key guiding force for us.”

    dentsu COO India – media brands Haresh Nayak added, “As we enter an era of simplification, this move will only help clients achieve single-window content solutions. TSL will redefine content across multi-platforms and multi-devices, offering brands immersive experiences. Our global and local experiences will only help brands to get the best of both worlds.”

  • Enormous Brands’ Rahul Tekwani launches Branding Edge Strategic Communication

    Enormous Brands’ Rahul Tekwani launches Branding Edge Strategic Communication

    NEW DELHI: Former Enormous Brands strategist Rahul Tekwani has launched his own venture, Branding Edge Strategic Communications and Advisory. The agency will focus on developing a brand and reputation programme to achieve business goals, build awareness and credibility, and enhance the long-term enterprise value of clients. 

    On the brand side, the company will be providing 360-degree services which include branding, design, digital strategy and research, and data-driven storytelling and influencer engagement strategies.

    Branding Edge Strategic Communications will also offer media strategy, customised investor relation program, capital market and transactional advisory, crisis management services, and social communication public sector units as part of its reputation management advisory. 

    Branding Edge managing partner Rahul Tekwani said, “I felt this was the best time to enter the communication strategy business. The brand and the reputation agencies have not found it easy to adapt to the changing landscape of media and the client business. We feel the core focus of the marketing strategy today needs to be primarily business-driven.”

    He further added, “I personally feel data will take the pole position in branding. The recent study by market research companies also showcased how 83 per cent of data-driven companies in India reported gaining critical business advantages during the pandemic. Our core focus remains to unlock the full potential of clients’ data with our strategy-based approach and give our client edge in the domestic and international markets.”

    The team of Branding Edge comprises strategists, senior creatives, investment bankers, corporate lawyers with more than two and a half decades of transactional experience.

    The company has offices in Mumbai and Delhi and will set foot in the south and east market by next financial year. 

  • Syed Amjad Ali launches content & brand strategy platform Catalysts

    Syed Amjad Ali launches content & brand strategy platform Catalysts

    NEW DELHI: One of the founding members and former president of Mullen Lowe Lintas, Syed Amjad Ali has announced the launch of his own start-up – Catalysts. The newfound agency will focus on content and brand strategy. 

    Ali had moved on from Mullen Lintas earlier this month, after spending more than 25 years at the company. 

    As shared by Catalysts in a press statement, the agency is working on two pillars: content and consulting services. It proposes to move into other verticals through partnerships. Catalysts will particularly leverage data and communicate meaningfully on non-TV assets.

    "The pandemic shifted goal posts and threw open opportunities. As budgets shrank, resources became tight and consumer attitudes shifted, efficiency and efficacy became more important. Locations became irrelevant. Virtual meetings enhanced punctuality and conversations became fruitful. This shift mandated a new sensibility, a new attitude and a new thought process. It can no longer be business as usual. However, given the size and baggage of the legacy setups, the struggle to change will continue. Next year, we would be at least five years ahead of time; it’s that kind of shift. One needs to be nimble in order to catch up. That’s at the heart of this opportunity. This process might have started long ago but the pandemic made it real and accelerated it,"  the statement read.

    Catalysts comes with the promise to always hunt for interesting brand stories no matter where they come from, and then collaborate and explore how best it can be told. The communication will be customised and tailor-made to fulfil aspirations. 

  • PitchWorx simplifies designing presentations with Nimmio

    PitchWorx simplifies designing presentations with Nimmio

    NEW DELHI: PitchWorx, a creative design agency, has launched its integrated online platform – Nimmio, developed to deliver visually compelling presentations. The online platform provides quick access to pre-designed, and fully-editable presentation slides that entice and engage the audience.

    For almost a decade, PitchWorx has been creating presentations, animated videos, branding, graphic design, and web design solutions for clients mainly – start-ups, SME’s, large corporations, and government organizations. Later, the company realized that the clients wanted a quick turnaround while retaining the design liberty. Through Nimmio, the company strives to provide visually cohesive and high-quality designs while ensuring that the sense of ownership is retained with the client.

    PitchWorx CEO & founder Dharmendra Ahuja said, “Getting the brand message across the target audience requires breaking down of relevant data into an interactive presentation design. To create highly impactful marketing pitches, we have come up with the launch of Nimmio. The online platform provides pre-designed presentation slides that grab and sustains the audience’s attention. The slides can be downloaded anytime, anywhere. This results in driving efficiency and boosting the conversion rate.”

    “As we grow, we have plans to expand Nimmio’s library into designing social media posts, posters, flyers, brochures, logos, invitations, business cards, and more. Along with this, we have plans to create a marketplace where designers can showcase and sell their design templates across the globe. We are aggressively working on making Nimmio a global marketplace for designers. This will play a crucial role in discovering and connecting them with relevant opportunities around the world”, he added.

    Nimmio boasts a range of highly interactive features that empower people with design thinking capabilities to turn their ideas into reality within a few clicks. Its library is equipped with fully-editable graphic assets and resources to deliver the perfect pitch in no time. Additionally, it provides access to unlimited professionally designed and ready-to-download presentation slides at an affordable cost.

    The platform works on three different pricing plans, flexible for one time or frequent users. For one-time users, it offers the ‘Pay as you go’ model where you pay the cart value with no commitments. The ‘Monthly Plan’ is ideal for intermittent users who want value for money, and the ‘Yearly Plan’ is perfect for frequent users with unlimited downloads. 

  • Wondrlab makes first acquisition with What’s Your Problem

    Wondrlab makes first acquisition with What’s Your Problem

    NEW DELHI: Platform-first martech company Wondrlab has made its first acquisition with What’s Your Problem (WYP), a creative agency which started over five years ago. WYP founder, MD & CCO Amit Akali will now be the co-founder at Wondrlab. Malabar Capital Advisors served as financial consultants for the acquisition. 

    Akali comes with nearly 25 years of experience. Before founding WYP, he was national creative director at Grey India, along with being part of the Grey Global Creative Council.  

    In a short time, WYP has established itself as one of the fastest-growing creative agencies in India, winning accolades at international awards like Cannes Lions and Clio, along with content agency of the year at Goafest. It has also been the most awarded agency from India at the APAC Effies.

    WYP will remain a separate brand and become a part of Wondrlab’s content platform. The acquisition comes just a month after Wondrlab’s launch and will be followed by a series of high-impact reveals.

    Wondrlab founder & CEO Saurabh Varma said: “I had the opportunity to watch WYP during a pitch and was incredibly impressed by their thinking, passion and ability to solve clients’ problems in a meaningful way. I decided to connect with Amit and over a few conversations realised that we had the same purpose and belief in the kind of work we wanted to do. We both believed in the power of creativity and the future which data and technology can serve us. We both felt that our future is in building our own platforms. It is truly amazing seeing WYPs journey and the incredible job Tejas Mehta, Ruchita Zambre and the entire team has done and the reputation they’ve built for it. I am proud that Amit joins us as a co-founder. I could not have asked for a better partner to help us shape and drive our creative firepower. WYP is our first acquisition and we will continue to curate, partner, launch and acquire as we move forward.”

    Wondrlab co-founder & CCO Amit Akali said, “What we’ve achieved at WYP has been phenomenal. Today, we are a 60-member team at our new BKC office in Mumbai. The momentum in the last year has been even greater, with us being probably the only agency that’s grown manifold in the lockdown. We’ve been lucky to create some of the most talked-about work in the last few months, be it the iconic Johnnie Walker Travelling Billboard, Tanishq ‘Ekatvam’ or the IPL campaign for Dailyhunt. A big thanks to Praful who helped me start WYP with the other co-founders. To Tejas, who has played a key role in our growth and continues to do so. Along with every past and present employee who’s always looked at WYP as their own family and given it their all. We are thrilled to be a part of Wondrlab. I am excited about the new, even larger, playing field we’re getting. The integration is almost seamless as the vision is identical. In a digital-first era, platformisation and technology are the drivers of customised solutions for brands.” 

    He added, “When I first spoke to Saurabh and the other co-founders Vandana and Rakesh, it was uncanny how we share the same goals, ambitions and ideals. Together we aim to be a technology and creative powerhouse.”

  • Genesis BCW wins national PR mandate for IndiaFirst Life Insurance

    Genesis BCW wins national PR mandate for IndiaFirst Life Insurance

    NEW DELHI: Genesis BCW has been appointed as agency on record for IndiaFirst Life Insurance Company Ltd (IndiaFirst Life), following a multi-agency pitch.

    Genesis BCW will strengthen IndiaFirst Life’s core brand value of being a trusted business leader in the life insurance and pensions sector, leveraging through an integrated communications approach combining strategic counselling and communication, media advocacy, crisis preparedness and driving thought leadership in the banking, financial services and insurance (BFSI) space.

    “We are delighted to announce Genesis BCW as our communications partner as we take our #CustomerFirst philosophy ahead,” said IndiaFirst Life Insurance Company Ltd deputy CEO Rushabh Gandhi. “By leveraging Genesis BCW’s expertise and long-standing experience, we aim to enhance IndiaFirst Life’s brand visibility and connect among all our stakeholders. We are confident this partnership will help us communicate our purpose as a brand and build on our vision of securing lives and creating value.”

    “This is an exciting opportunity for us to support one of the youngest and fastest growing life insurance companies in the country in its communications journey,” said Genesis BCW CEO Deepshikha Dharmaraj. “We are living in a world of heightened ambiguity, and IndiaFirst Life aims to give their customers assurance in these challenging times. We look forward to spreading their message of #LifeIsFullOfCertainties and help them build strong relationships with their stakeholders based on trust and values.”

  • Subhas Warrier launches Sensibly Weird Company

    Subhas Warrier launches Sensibly Weird Company

    NEW DELHI: Prominent adman Subhas Warrier, who has earlier worked with agencies like Ogilvy and Mindshare, recently launched his own advertising agency, Sensibly Weird Company. He has partnered with former head of department (visual arts) at the National Institute of Creative Communication (NICC), Bengaluru, Shyam Musthafa. 

    Based out of Kochi, Sensibly Weird Company is going to be a small multidisciplinary creative solutions company and a design house. It is already associated with clients like Hama, Xavax, Toni & Guy, Cater, etc. 

    Boasting of over three decades of experience in the industry, Warrier has earlier handled brands like Ford Motors, Pond’s, Emirates Airline, Gulf Air, Air Arabia, British Petroleum, Jockey, 3M, Taaza Tea, IBM, Knorr Foods, Sunsilk Shampoo, Close Up, Sensodyne, Intercontinental Hotels, Citibank, and Qatar National Bank.

    Musthafa, on the other hand, has worked with brands like Forum Mall (Prestige group), The Chennai Silks, Food Stop Diner, Milou, Jain Tubes, Kings Beer, Indel Money, Masala Box, and Vivafit, among others. 

  • Zero Gravity Communications bags 7 new clients amid lockdown

    Zero Gravity Communications bags 7 new clients amid lockdown

    NEW DELHI: While Covid2019 has led to a struggle for survival for some of the integrated communication consultancies, it has turned out to be an opportunity for Zero Gravity Communications. The Ahmedabad-headquartered consultancy was quick to adapt to the new normal through leveraging creativity, communication and collaboration. The team tapped sectors such as health and wellness, e-commerce and education and intensified its investment into digital strategy and showcased its landmark achievements in the domain. 

    While many firms struggled to hold the fort to their existing clients, Zero Gravity Communication achieved a unique distinction of onboarding seven clients amid lockdown. The new addition to its clientele includes Nimba Nature Cure, Roastea, Clear Water, Jivraj 9, Asia NEI from the CK Birla Group, Clearth, Hygiene Labs, and Troikaa Nutrascience. Another trend is the diversification of its portfolio into health and wellness. It has onboarded some interesting firms in this segment like Synershield Z- a Troikaa. Nutrascience’s immunity medicine, Imbue – a women’s hygiene and intimate wash, and Clearth – a sanitiser range. The diversification will enrich its portfolio and hasten its expansion due to its ability to cater to new segments.

     Zero Gravity Communications founder and CEO Khushboo Sharma credited her team #theideapeople for this remarkable success. "The pandemic has demonstrated the resilience and adaptability of integrated marketing consultancies. We foresee agility and out-of-the-box thinking to become enablers to navigating exigencies. Upon the imposition of the lockdown, our team worked virtually and brainstormed on strategy and creative ideas that had the potential to resonate with consumers. We channelised our energies into digital as it had gained currency during this unprecedented time. Our collaborative efforts and perseverance lead to our success. We intend to redefine the communication landscape by evolving continuously to cater to changing tastes and preferences of consumers."

  • IdeateLabs to raise $5 million for next leg of data-centric growth

    IdeateLabs to raise $5 million for next leg of data-centric growth

    NEW DELHI: Sure there were a few hiccups, but if there’s one industry that benefited from the Covid-2019 lockdown, it is digital marketing. With even the most conventional players tapping into the digital space, not just for communications but also for primary-level sales, the industry witnessed a great inflow of business, and as mentioned time-and-again, made progress amounting to what it would have otherwise done in the next four-five years. 

    Now, powering ahead on the back of this good fortune, IdeateLabs – a leading independent digital-first creative agency – is embarking on an extensive expansion plan: growing its business overseas and, most importantly, investing in deep data technologies to better help clients. 

    Managing director Amit Tripathi shared, “Covid has been a very good period for us. Of course, we struggled, cash disappeared for a while but in the larger picture, digital opportunities came up in the forefront. We acquired a number of clients during the lockdown period and are helping a number of new entrants in the digital space to scale up their businesses. We are helping a boutique brand scale up their online presence, supporting the endeavour of a multi-brand FMCG outlet to set up their own e-commerce platform etc.”

    In 2020, IdeateLabs secured the mandate for a number of clients including Hafele, TATA Tele Business Services, UTI Mutual Fund, TransUnion CIBIL, IDC, Jalesh Cruises, among others. 

    Tripathi stated that they also utilised this time in thinking beyond their existing capabilities and further promoting their data-centric platform Icogz.com, a one-of-a-kind tool that unifies digital accounts to provide real-time data and insights. They are planning to raise $5 million in an ongoing funding round and are already in advanced-level talks with a number of sponsors across the globe. 

    “We realised a grey-space in the market with the growing number of data sources and the amount of information that we have in store. There is no one turning this data into intelligence. So, we embarked on this journey a few years ago and created a comprehensive CRM system that gets everything from your marketing spends, to your leads and strategies, on a single platform. We built this entire product and acquired clients across India, Middle East, and the north African region,” Tripathi elaborated. 

    He added that so far the product development and platform building for Icogz.com has been done with their internal investments. With the new funding, Tripathi is looking forward to expanding and extending the creative and data services across the globe.

    Focus will remain on team-building; exclusively for Icogz.com, he is planning to expand his team size by a 100 per cent in the next few months. These hirings will happen in India, the UK, and GCC regions. 

    “We are looking forward to hiring a number of data-scientists in our Indian offices. These, however, will be geo-agnostic positions and we might be having brilliant minds from across the globe working for us here. We will also be beefing up our offices in the UK with fresh, dynamic talent,” he shared. 

    Tripathi also addressed the need for creating more skilled talent in India, especially when it comes to data sciences and, in fact, shared that IdeateLabs had been planning to launch a training program for interested individuals earlier this year. “That took a backseat because of the pandemic and we are not planning to take this ahead, at least until next year. However, that is a part of the long-term plan, to skill more talent. We have had internal sessions within our offices ever since and that will continue to happen.”

    Apart from that, IdeateLabs is also partnering with a number of smaller businesses in the UK, UAE, and other GCC countries. “We are on the lines for announcing some mergers and partnerships with companies across these markets and will be announcing some of them in the next six months,” he revealed.

    Going ahead, Tripathi’s mission is to create a conical pyramid of services that IdeateLabs and Icogz.com will offer, with data at the bottom of it and communications at the top. 

    “You cannot move forward without data but eventually communication is what culminates it all. Obviously, we will be relying on more data, marrying company data with marketing data and consolidating it all in creative communications that have the power to start discussions,” he shared. 

    On being asked about the rising concerns around data privacy and governments across the globe planning to limit the access to customer’s private data, Tripathi said he is not bothered by the ramifications of it. 

    “We are not going to create any additional data. If you talk about various digital platforms, they all have a certain side of data with them; one of them might be telling a customer’s location, other her name and age, etc. But there is one form of data that always remains with the brand, which is the data from their own stores. We will always have access to that. So, we will be utilising the on-ground data, retail data, and product sales data to deliver the best possible solutions,” he concluded.

  • Wondrlab will be an omnichannel strategist for clients: Saurabh Varma

    Wondrlab will be an omnichannel strategist for clients: Saurabh Varma

    NEW DELHI: When Leo Burnett opened the doors to his new-found agency in the middle of the Great Depression, he started a ritual of welcoming all visitors by giving them apples. At that time, many had prophesied that it won’t be long before Burnett ends up selling apples instead of giving them away. Cut to 85-years later, Leo Burnett is one of the largest agencies in the world, and its global offices still keep apple baskets on their reception desks – a sweet reminder of where it all started. 

    While this yarn has been told and retold several times, Saurabh Varma, an industry genius who spent several years working with Leo Burnett and eventually Publicis, derived inspiration from it. He also went one step further by launching his own venture, a platform-first agency – Wondrlab – amidst a global pandemic and impending economic slowdown. 

    In an exclusive conversation with Indiantelevision.com, Varma highlighted that though it is difficult to begin something in times like these, he wanted to challenge the things that he had earlier taken for granted. 

    Started in partnership with his long-term colleagues and friends Vandana Verma and Rakesh Hinduja, Wondrlab is Varma’s ambitious project aiming to help clients win in the new marketing landscape. 

    He explains, “Wondrlab is a model communications company that aims to provide disruptive services to its clients in experiential, content, and brand building strategies with a platform-first approach. We are planning to partner with platforms like Facebook, Google, YouTube, etc, to offer our clients solutions that suit their needs the best depending on which platform they are targeting. We are going to be the omnichannel strategists for them.” 

    Wondrlab will invest in creating martech platforms to provide tools to enable hitherto complex expensive bespoke executions at the push of a button. All of Wondrlab’s solutions are backed by data and automation that leads to efficiency, measurability and ROI through user-friendly platform interfaces, centralised marketing controls, personalised content and automated solutions at scale.

    Varma shares that Wondrlab is seeking some strategic alliances and acquisitions to achieve this. 

    Apart from this, his short-term goals for Wondrlab are to invest in the right people and products, support the talent development of his teams, and create spectacular work for his clients. 

    “For me, the right talent pool is the one that is always ready to evolve and learn. Since we are doing something that is industry-first, we want people who are quick learners and are capable of collaborating with various platforms to support our platform-first strategy,” he highlights. 

    Currently, Wondrlab is a 70-people team with offices in Delhi and Mumbai, but Varma and team are on a hiring spree. For the mode of work, he is seeking to find a sense of balance between remote working and presence at the offices. 

    “The whole concept of the office is a paradox now and we are looking forward to striking the right balance between the options. We will obviously be partnering with various firms and people depending on a project-to-project basis,” he shares.

    For the long term, his vision is to scale up each of the capabilities that Wondrlab promises and create a unique proposition of platform-first services, technologies, and strategies for the clients.