Category: Media and Advertising

  • Baggit’s Kaanchan Shah joins Eggfirst as client services director

    Baggit’s Kaanchan Shah joins Eggfirst as client services director

    MUMBAI: Eggfirst has appointed Kaanchan Shah as client services director. In her second stint with Eggfirst, Shah will be based out of the agency’s Mumbai office.

     

    Eggfirst CMD Ravikant Banka said, “Kaanchan brings for clients more than two decades of rich experience in marketing and a rock-steady commitment to excellence. Considering the pace of our expansion and the vision for future, she is a delightful addition to the management team to help us achieve the planned growth.”

     

    Shah added, “Eggfirst has always been like a second home. My earlier stint with Eggfirst, as senior account director planning left an indelible mark and coming back was inevitable.”

     

    Shah was previously with Baggit, a fashion accessory segment company. Prior to that, she also worked at JWT-Fortune.

  • United Mediaworks ropes in Satish Mundhe as VP – media sales

    United Mediaworks ropes in Satish Mundhe as VP – media sales

    MUMBAI: United Mediaworks has appointed Satish Mundhe as its VP – media sales, where he will be responsible in getting newer associations resulting in advertising and marketing revenue.

     

    Mundhe joins United Mediaworks after a stint of nearly a decade at Inox Leisure where he was a senior member in the ad-sales and marketing department. He was instrumental in carrying out innovative strategies for various clients and was also responsible in conducting premiers and special screenings for clients to generate additional revenue and get brand mileage.

     

    Mundhe said, “I am very glad to join United Mediaworks. They have been doing some great work and now are looking to expand their presence across markets in India. This gives me an opportunity to apply my knowledge and expertise and help them build a stronger business model. I am looking forward to working with them.”

     
    United Mediaworks co-founder and joint managing director Ashish Bhandari added, “We are glad to have Satish on-board with us. He is a highly accomplished and competent media professional. With his level of focus, dedication and commitment, we are sure United Mediaworks will achieve greater heights sooner than imagined.”

     
    With more than 15 years of experience in the marketing and sales field, Mundhe has worked with a wide range of brands like Multi Screen Media’s television channels, Axis Bank and Adlabs Imagica amongst others.

  • Govt asks media to refrain from speculative reports on high-level vacant posts

    Govt asks media to refrain from speculative reports on high-level vacant posts

    NEW DELHI: The media was today asked by the Government to refrain from writing news articles based on speculation.

     

    The Finance Ministry appeared to be irked by reports in certain section of the media about the outcome of selection process for the post of MD & CEO of five Public Sector Banks (PSBs) recently.

     

    The Ministry said most of these items are based on speculation that is far from truth.

     

    Such news items based on speculative names create unnecessary confusion not only among the candidates who are part of the selection process but also among the members of public at large.

     

    It may be mentioned that the process of selection is kept confidential and, therefore, the result can only be known after the approval of the Appointments Committee of Cabinet (ACC). 

  • Saumen Chakraborty named chairman of ESC

    Saumen Chakraborty named chairman of ESC

    NEW DELHI: Intellisys Technologies & Research CEO and managing Director Saumen Chakraborty has taken over as chairman of Electronics and Computer Software Export Promotion Council (ESC), for the period 2015-2017.

     

    He was elected as chairman in the first meeting of the newly elected members of the Executive Committee held in Delhi recently. Elin Electronics (New Delhi) director B S Sethia and I2T2 India (Hyderabad) chairman Prasad VSS Garapati were elected as vice chairmen for the same period.

     

    ESC is India’s largest electronics and computer software trade promotion association with a pan-India membership base of over 2200 and its focus is on IT exports. ESC in partnership with its members has been able to address many of the challenges in the export front effectively and position the industry to reap the benefit from the next IT growth wave. The Council is endeavoring to create an enabling environment for the IT industry, SMEs in particular, rebranding the industry to showcase their expertise, innovations, and also aligning with the Government both at the Centre and States’ level to create a healthy export friendly environment.

     

    Chakraborty said, “Currently India is in the cusp of a digital and manufacturing revolution. Roll out of government programmes like Digital India, Make in India, Financial Inclusion etc. is creating vast spaces for virtual and brick and mortar industries to grow and support each other. Our effort in ESC will be to leverage these opportunities to create quantum leaps in the IT segment, particularly in the export efforts.”

     

    “ESC is fortunate to have Chakraborty as the chairman at a time when the IT industry is gearing up for permeating the culture of innovation across the spectrum to enable India to stay ahead in the ICT industry. He can give a proactive leadership to the industry in strengthening Intellectual Property Rights (IPR) of India’s knowledge based IT industry, both in products and solutions, which is the need of the hour along with market oriented R&D to meet for customer expectations of the overseas markets. That will help leapfrog India’s IT exports in the coming years,” ESC executive director DK Sareen said.

     

    A technocrat with around 23 years of experience in the IT industry, Chakraborty leads a team of experts drawn across geographies to revolutionize the whole concept of video conferencing on a global scale.

  • Tourism Ministry launches new ‘Atithi Devo Bhava’ TVCs starring Aamir Khan

    Tourism Ministry launches new ‘Atithi Devo Bhava’ TVCs starring Aamir Khan

    NEW DELHI: A new series of television commercials (TVCs) on the theme of ‘Atithi Devo Bhava’ with actor Aamir Khan were launched here by the Tourism Minister Mahesh Sharma.

     

    A brochure titled “India – the Land of Yoga” was also launched at the function organized in New Delhi.

     

    The four films made on the theme of “Atithi Devo Bhava” spread awareness about ways to extend hospitality to tourists visiting India by adopting an honest and helpful attitude, as well as maintaining cleanliness and hygiene. 

     

    Khan is the brand ambassador for these films, which have been directed by adman Prasoon Joshi. 

     

    Joshi said, “‘Atithi Devo Bhava’ is the core of our culture and we must promote is as our USP for the purpose of tourism.” 

     

    The four films launched today will be telecast on various television channels to spread the message across the country. The films also aim to educating people about the importance of tourism and touristic values. 

     

    While launching the brochure “India- the Land of Yoga”, Dr Sharma said that the celebration of International Yoga Day is a matter of pride for India and many countries of the world are supporting us in this endeavour. The brochure on Yoga includes details of Yoga destinations, which will help to promote Yoga as a tourism product.

     

    Dr Sharma thanked Khan and Joshi for making these films and helping in boosting the image of tourism in India. He said that security, hospitality and cleanliness are the main strengths of tourism in India and the Ministry is working on a mission mode to achieve these objectives. 

     

    The Minister also said that the Indian Government has launched a Helpline 1363 or 1800-111-363 to help the foreign tourists and guide them on their arrival in India. The helpline will be available in 12 foreign languages within a month to facilitate the foreign tourists. Currently, the Helpline is available in Hindi and English. 

     

    The Minister also announced the setting up of a National Medical and Wellness Tourism Board to boost medical tourism in India. “The Board will help to bring together and showcase on an international platform the various streams of medicine available in India including Ayurveda, Yoga, naturopathy, Unani and low cost allopathic treatments,” Dr Sharma added.

     

    In another important step to promote tourism, Dr Sharma announced four new theme based circuits under the Swadesh Darshan scheme that will be developed in the next year. These four circuits are Wildlife Circuit, Spiritual Circuit, Desert Circuit and Ramayana Circuit. These four circuits will be in addition to the five circuits already being developed by the Ministry of Tourism.

  • IPC appoints Dentsu as marketing agency in Japan

    IPC appoints Dentsu as marketing agency in Japan

    MUMBAI: The International Paralympic Committee (IPC) has appointed Dentsu Inc as its exclusive marketing agency in Japan for the 2015–2020 period.

     

    As such, Dentsu has acquired the exclusive rights to sell IPC partnership packages as well as IPC sponsorship packages for ten of the sports over which the IPC has jurisdiction (IPC sports) to Japanese companies.

     

    The ten IPC sports are: Athletics, Swimming, Powerlifting, Shooting, Alpine Skiing, Snowboard, Ice Sledge Hockey, Cross-Country Skiing, Biathlon and Wheelchair Dance Sport.

     

    In addition to these package sales, Dentsu will provide support for the IPC’s promotional activities in Japan as well as for communications between the IPC and its Japanese sponsors.

     

    Moreover, Dentsu will work together with the IPC to enhance the IPC’s marketing programs with the aim of furthering the spread of Paralympic competitions worldwide.

     

    Founded in 1989 and based in Bonn, Germany, the International Paralympic Committee aims to develop sports opportunities for all people with an impairment.

  • ShopClues makes key senior leadership appointments

    ShopClues makes key senior leadership appointments

    MUMBAI: ShopClues has hired top talent in leadership ranks of its category division. The company has appointed Nitin Kochhar as AVP and Animesh Kumar associate director.

     

    Kochhar will maintain and build the strong foothold of various categories on the website including home and kitchen, electronics, tech products etc.

     

    Kochhar said, “I’m thrilled to be a part of one of India’s fastest growing e-commerce ventures. My goal will be to leverage category exposure in electronics, FMCG, baby care, books and office supplies and apply it at ShopClues. ShopClues is in an exciting phase of growth and expansion and I’m happy to come on board at this crucial stage.”

     

    Kumar added, “I’m always looking for new challenges in my career and with ShopClues I have another opportunity to deliver significant results. The marketplace and its differentiated value proposition hold tremendous potential in India. I will be keenly involved in managing category performance including SKU rationalisation, vendor relationships and contract negotiations which form a very vital aspect of any e-commerce business.” 

     

    ShopClues co-founder and chief business officer Radhika Aggarwal said, “We are most pleased to have Kochhar and Kumar on board. Our broad range of unstructured categories is one of our USPs and therefore this division is very significant for our marketplace model. Nitin and Animesh are best suited to head this division as both have over a decade of relevant experience and have played a pivotal role in turning around the e-commerce businesses they have been a part of. We look forward to the positive impact of their leadership, dynamism and proven abilities in scaling business growth.”

     

    Former Flipkart senior director of business development, Kochhar has over 10 years of professional experience.

     

    Kumar, who has been the founding team member at Fashionara, has 11+ years of leadership experience and has previously worked with companies like Indus-league, Reliance Trends Ltd. and Bharti Wal-Mart.

  • Digital Marketing Integration: foreseegame.com backs brands in consumer engagement

    Digital Marketing Integration: foreseegame.com backs brands in consumer engagement

    MUMBAI: Digital marketing is a foundation stone of any marketing strategy nowadays and with the plethora of devices taking over television and print media world, there is now an even bigger need to come up with a successful digital marketing strategy to make brands known to the public at large.

     

    Real time data analysis helps in optimising campaign effectiveness wherein requisite changes can be made in a relatively lesser time span as compared to traditional marketing thereby providing a holistic approach to effective campaign management.

    Kolkata-headquartered digital media company foreseegame.com, which has tied up with more than 105 brands including Emami, Jabong.com, Spencer’s, Khadim’s, Myntra.com, adda52.com and LimeRoad to name a few among others, acts as a bridge between brands and their customers to build strong bonding, which further leads the customers to become brand loyal consumers

     

    foreseegame.com is a medium where people can register and play games for free and get rewarded directly by the brands themselves. Through such engagement programmes, the brands can see these people converting into customers soon. The constant engagement with brands excites consumers to test the products and services.

     

    The consumer engagement platform, which is a wholly owned subsidiary of Microsec Enterprises, is eyeing to associate with approximately 500 brands by the end of current fiscal year 2015-16. It is a value innovation in digital brand promotion and marketing media. This new age platform provides a two way engagement and a win-win partnership through direct interactions between brands and consumers.

     

    foreseegame.com CEO Supriya Nair said, “Through our platform and engagement games, brands can engage with people from any age group who are internet savvy. Brands can place themselves in the mind of our game buddies (foreseegame.com users) and build more consumers.”

     

    foreseegame.com is a platform for branding, close interaction with the mass and also helps in communicating latest offers & offering by the associating brands.

     

    “It is a medium, which covers the full cycle of engagement by providing solution of rich engagement, and establishing an emotional connect between the brands and foreseegame.com users. Our platform provides a focused consumer engagement campaign/ solution. Brands stand to gain undiluted consumer attention towards its products and services by the way of fun-filled interaction,” the CEO said, explaining what foreseegame.com has to offer to clients.

     

    Businesses are trying hard to win the marketing battle by implementing all sorts of digital and traditional campaigns. Some work, some don’t, some go terribly bad. The toughest part of digital marketing is that there are thousands of places where marketing campaigns are placed; websites, social media, TV, radio, blogs, video streams etc. Arriving at the ROI (Return on Investment) from all these different campaigns is a difficult task, and hard to get accurate reports out of them, Nair further explained.

     

    “By using foreseegame.com, brands can engage with people and register the brands in the minds of people. Going forward, brands stand to gain undiluted consumer attention towards its products and offerings. The constant engagement with brands excites consumers to test the product and ultimately become the customer of the brand,” she said.

     

    In order for brands to win on the digital battlefield, understanding what digital channels and what types of digital content perform is the vital first step in “planning.” Digital advertising is set to become the fastest-growing global advertising segment over the next five years according to McKinsey, with projected compound annual increases of 15.1 per cent by 2018, compared to five per cent for TV (including advertising, out-of-home advertising, and cinema).

     

    Smart digital marketers are now investing and building integrated digital campaigns around high-impact channels while understanding how content insights, production and measurement fuel their performance.

     

    “Consumer engagement is required, but that should not just be limited to an interaction with customers. It should be more like a long-term affair, wherein key consumer insights should also be taken into account,” opined Nair.

     

    When asked if the company takes consumer insights into account, she said, “Brand ideas are often the culmination of consumer insight and the brand offer.”

     

    Speaking on how brands benefit by integrating with foreseegame.com, Nair said, “New brands can make foreseegame.com users to get to know about them and their products and service whereas, existing known brands can maintain their grip in a stronger way to its existing consumers and also can build new consumers base.”

     

    foreseegame.com with its various campaign models helps brands to reach their target group directly. “Brands with campaign model like ‘Opinion Square’ can take a public opinion on their existing and upcoming products and services which would help them to modify as per the market requirement. Similarly, ‘Treasure Hunt’, another campaign model helps to get more traffic to the website/social media pages of the brand, which popularise their website/social media pages,” she said.

     

    “Dedicated campaign around the associated brand build strong connect between the brand and game buddies where they get a chance to win offers and offerings directly from the brands. foreseegame.com instils a pride of winning, as game buddies (foreseegame.com users) participate in the brand dedicated games and win the offer,” Nair concluded.

  • Dentsu APAC elevates Ted Lim as chief creative officer

    Dentsu APAC elevates Ted Lim as chief creative officer

    MUMBAI: Dentsu Aegis Network has promoted Ted Lim to chief creative officer of Dentsu Asia Pacific excluding Japan. Prior to this, Lim led Dentsu’s creative offering for Southeast Asia. 

     

    Dentsu Asia Pacific (ex Japan) CEO Rohit Ohri said, “Ted has done a great job in building a culture of creativity and innovation in Southeast Asia and will now will bring those skills to an even bigger job across the region. I look forward to working closely with Ted to bring to life Dentsu’s core proposition of Good Innovation outside Japan and in the process, build and enhance our company’s creative reputation.”

     

    Previously, Lim was executive creative director and deputy chairman at Naga DDB Malaysia and chief creative officer at Leo Burnett Singapore before joining Dentsu in 2013.

     

    Lim, who will now work with over 20 offices across 10 countries, said, “Fortune follows fame. Do work that makes our clients and their brands famous, and money will follow.”

  • DDB Mudra south & east appoints Rajat Ray as associate vice president

    DDB Mudra south & east appoints Rajat Ray as associate vice president

    MUMBAI: DDB Mudra south & east has roped in Rajat Ray as its associate vice president. Based out of the agency’s Bengaluru office, he will be reporting to DDB Mudra south & east executive vice president Sujay Ghosh. .

     

    Ray joins DDB Mudra, fresh from a five year stint at Ogilvy & Mather, where he was last designated client services director and led the consolidated advertising team on the IBM account. Before that, he was associated with prominent agencies like Euro RSCG, Ogilvy (earlier stint) and Fountainhead.

     

    Ray has had extensive experience across sectors both B2C and B2B, including but not limited to FMCG, consumer durables, real estate, healthcare, lifestyle, BFSI and IT and brings to the table, a high degree of proficiency in digital marketing.

     

    Ray said, “I’m extremely excited about my new assignment at DDB Mudra and look forward to navigate through the unique opportunities and challenges that the alco-bev category presents. In the short span while I’ve been here, I’ve been struck by the overall levels of energy and enthusiasm. I am impressed with some of the work emanating from this office clearly indicative of the high level of strategic thinking and creative talent it has at its disposal.”

     

    Cherian added, “I am happy to welcome Rajat to the DDB family. Rajat brings with him strong creative agency experience handling global brands & businesses. He is an excellent people’s person and demonstrates strong leadership skills.”